life in d(rive)

My personal blog has two references to a favourite musician of mine, Brendan Benson. Imagine my surprise when I was loading the dishwasher last night and I hear his song "cold hands, warm heart" on a commercial. I looked up to see an advertisement for a new Ford vehicle. There was also a brief snippet that said "life in d[rive]" which is very close to another song title of his "life in the d." I thought it apropos to have a local Detroit artist doing a Ford commercial. However, I felt that internal tug of war when a beloved musician's music is used in advertisements or television etc. The increased recognition could boost revenues for the struggling, lesser known artists. But then will they be lured away to create more mainstream, less creative music?

In the end I say play away! Musicians got in to the industry because of a love of music. For the most part, they wanted people to hear it, otherwise it would have only been the four walls of the garage that heard them. If they end up selling out, there are always creative, new musicians to take their place. As for Brendan, I trust him to continue making the kind of music I love. Check out the commercial. Does anyone wonder what mac had to pay to have the double ad (ipod in a car commercial)?

I took this picture of BB in Boulder, CO when I was standing within spitting distance. Good times.