Linda Stout

I want to pay more taxes. Who would say that? Think I'm crazy? I just did another quarter of state sales taxes, will mail it out Monday, and damnit I want to be paying more. I want to sell more CDs, get my music out there. At the risk of repeating, this was overhead at a recent festival, "If we don't sell CDs, we starve." We laughed, but... It's not completely horrible. There are some outstanding consignments at record stores, inventory to refill at one store, another store to take CDs to next week, too, and there is continual good feedback about my music. I had a good interview today with a writer who's doing a story on me; he had great observations, was really nice. Sometimes people up and buy 10 CDs all at once for all their friends. One day I got 3 referrals from Whole Wheat Radio to CDBaby. I'm grateful to have an amazing private gig coming up halfway across the country, not posted on this web site because it's not open to the public. So to the nice people in Dutchess (Poughkeepsie), Ontario (Canandaigua), Tompkins (Ithaca), Schuyler (Watkins Glen), and later many from Allegany County before and during last week's very fun show at Canaseraga Coffee Co., thank you, thank you. Someone told me last week he got in his car and thought about playing my CD, also said it sounded sexy, plays it often, but he put the radio on instead, and turned out, he was happy to hear my band live from the Carriage House Cafe, the Crossing Borders radio show/Ithaca Fest collaboration. Sometimes reminders like this are worth way more than money. But I say let that flow on in, too. Perhaps someday I'll need to remind myself I said I wanted more taxes. I know lots of songwriters probably don't pay for CD sales and maybe don't get caught. But this is a real business to me and would be very bad karma (if not soliciting an audit) to do otherwise. I figure it's part of being a real professional musician. I don't want to be a flake about it. So far, the music is starting to pay off in good will, if not as much money as I'd like.