Do you see anything real anymore in our society? Everything around us is plastic, lacking true substance and merit, offering not one solution for progress within our culture. We are trapped in a 12 month script that starts New Years and continues through Christmas with one goal in mind, to sell us more and more needless shit that leads to less and less happiness. Its a perpetual American trap. The late George Carlin said it best, "You have to be asleep to believe in the American Dream, because that's all it is- a dream".  

    Music is the only true barometer of where we are as a society. We in this country are in true need of a renaissance within our culture, even bigger than the 60's had to offer. Look around and what do you see in the main stream? You see people like Justin Bieber,  Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift. We are supposed to take these spoiled children seriously when they are only selling us more of the brands that keep the rest of us as slaves to our current system? We have a mainstream of music that is made up of people 16-18 years of age. These kids have no life experience and lack in the understanding of anything of true value without one real experience. Listen to the music and you will hear something hollow and devoid of any real message. 

   I don't know them in a personal capacity and neither do you so lets focus on the music they put into the world, does it have a message? Is it really saying anything? Will it be here ten to twenty years from now? We all, with a little common sense, realize the answer is as a resounding no!! They have not one thing to offer to our culture other than a personal agenda of selling the rest of us any product they can wrap around their namesake.  That is not what music was ever supposed to be, it was never meant to be be just about selling a brand or any other product you could insert into the mix. It was always about something so much bigger.  Music was about talking to a generation, changing a point of view, making people see through a lens that was bigger then the mere sphere they currently see though. It was never intended to sell you the latest fragrance or the latest plastic piece of whatever you should own, sponsored by a teenage puppet show. 

    The only way we as a people can accomplish truth and make a difference in modern day society is with our wallets and our own personal passions.  We are a system that only serves the interests of the elite who forget the rest of us while so obviously robbing us blind day in and day out.  We are the ones that make these people wealthy through buying their meaningless brands, plastic trinkets, and fake, pop infused, autotuned music.   It's time we all take a real long look in the mirror and realize if we can't continue to enrich those that already have more than enough and believed Gordon Gecko when he said, "Greed is good." 

    Washington is not going to get us there. Left, right and center are all made of the same people with one goal in mind- to protect their cash cow that enriches them and their friends.  $900 Billion dollars of our money was used to line the pockets of those that hurt us the most, almost a reward for destroying all of our family's opportunities and future dreams while they laughed in our faces. 

    That money could have been used to take care of all of the student loan debt of this nation with enough left over to help truly jump start this economy through small business and entrepreneurialism.  If you need a visual example of how this went down watch the movie To Big To Fail from HBO written by Andrew Ross Sorkin and directed by Curtis Hanson. This movie provides insight into how this country was robbed and how the ultra wealthy of this nation were rewarded instead of persecuted for a tumultuous act on the American People, the 99% of us that make this country work each day.   

     Musicians, who of you will be your generations Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Bob Geldoff or Beatles? Is what we are seeing all you are capable of? I hope the answer to that question is a resounding "Hell No!"! We have had the opportunity to interview some amazing bands on Play Music City, and we see so many of them capable of being the next generation that will convey the message of hope and change.  You have to realize that each one of the bands mentioned above truly had the most impact on our world beyond what we think. Do your own research, watch documentaries and films of these bands, and listen to their music. You will see the impact they accomplished without any fear. 

    Peaceful protesting is a great start, but it's what comes after that counts. Will you become more than what you are showing at present? Will we all stand up and reshape this country to care about its people again? Or will we continue on a status quo that is very quickly leading all of us into an abyss?  Be that change you want and create something that is sustainable for generations to come!! We need you, and we hope one day we will have the opportunity to do an interview with you. 

Keith Hilgenfeldt Executive Editor, Play Music City 

Life is an adventure make your life one so we can all benefit from your creations and create even more from what you put into the world!