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Let's hear it for New York

I'm back from an awesome week in New York City, networking my skinny ass off at the CMJ Music Marathon - a sort of music industry trade fair where daytime seminars at NYU are complimented by nighttime shows all over the city. It was a great event and a real eye-opener, not least for the chance to meet the kind of people that work in today's music business. They're all a lot younger than you'd expect, and marked for the most part by a genuine passion for music. I lost count of the number of times members of the different panels impressed upon us that we, the musicians, are the life of the industry, and that their careers rely on finding and developing the best of the talent out there.

As the seminars wrapped up on Friday I finally caught up with Bobby Haber, founder and CEO of CMJ Music, who coordinated this amazing event along with his business partner Joanne, and who invited me to attend after a single phone call, just because he wanted to give me a break. With no idea what to expect, I found myself standing in front of a warm and friendly man in early middle age, full of energy and optimism. It was a pleasure to shake his hand.

Brooklyn was just as cool as I remembered it, filled as it is with hipsters and hustlers, bars and boutiques; on Saturday I dropped in to buy a tee shirt from Tinypants at the Love Brigade shop and check out his autumn line, before getting a drink at the Trash Bar where a band called the Amber Blacks from Colchester, of all places, was about to take the stage. Then I said goodbye to the awesome Jasper Goldman, thanked him for letting me stay, and headed up to Connecticut via Grand Central to hang out with my uncle and his family.

What now ... ?

What now is I'm back in London with a head full of ideas and a gut full of determination. I'm laying some plans that'll make the next twelve months the most productive of my life, and ensure that when I hit CMJ again next year, it'll be as one of the performers.

Last changed: Jan 10 2010 at 2:08 PM