by Jerry Rose
If this PR thing doesn’t work out, I might have to switch to promoting up-and-coming young musical artists. I don’t really have any experience. But I do have an in. My third son, Niko, just released his first studio-produced single. It’s called Concrete. The album is coming out in a couple of weeks.
Don’t ask me for any of the details. I have no idea. He tells me, and I listen but I don’t recognize any of the names. I’m 53…soon to be 54. I don’t pretend to know or understand popular music. I think I know about three songs by the Arctic Monkeys and I feel self-conscious even admitting that. Truth be told, I only like them because they remind me of Echo & the Bunnymen…back when that was cutting edge.
Anyway, Niko has been playing guitar since he was 4. He played his first live show in I think first grade. He sang Mike Ness’ anthem “Story of My Life” for his classmates. I don’t think his teacher liked me much after that. He’s been going strong ever since. Somehow he learned to play keyboards, ukulele, drums, and even the trumpet…though he said that was really hard. He even turned his bedroom into a music studio and taught himself production and promotion.
I know I’m a proud papa, but he must be pretty good. His song “On & Off” has more than 430,000 streams on Spotify. That seems like a lot to me. But what do I know? Anyway…give it a listen. If this goes someplace and you need tickets, remember I’m with the band.