“Nothing and Everything'“
Back in the faraway world of 1998 I wrote a couple of songs with Evan Lowenstein, then of the pop act Evan and Jaron. Evan and his brother, Jaron of course, were and still are identical twins from Atlanta. Very talented, very focused and with that “make it happen” gene firing on all cylinders. Both of the songs were on their first record named (I thought unadvisedly) “We’ve Never Heard of You Either”. The record was produced by the great guitar player/songwriter/producer Danny Kortchmar and released on Island Records. As the accident will, this happened just as Island changed ownership and, as many alpha-male mammals do in the wild when they take over the tribe, the new owners killed all the young that weren’t their own and, though they’ve both gone on to do well, Evan and Jaron were dropped from the label before that record had a chance.
This was at a time before you could become an international celebrity by posting a 30-second video of feeding your kitten, burning your dinner or pranking your sister. You had to actually have talent, work your ass off and convince a record label to spend money and time getting the world to hear your music and know your name. Then work even harder touring, writing the next record, keeping the band together, keeping the label happy and praying that a bigger ape didn’t acquire your tribe. Was that a better model? Well it rewarded persistence and practice and often (not always) elevated talent and honored the truly exceptional. AND, once someone heard a song that somehow moved them, they could buy the record/cd and discover a deeper body of work. Now?….don’t get me started.
Anyway…. I liked Evan and Jaron, I liked their poorly named first record, and I’m still proud of these two songs. Hey…maybe if I can film someone’s pants falling off while they dance to “And Then She Says” and post it…!
