The Artist versus the Art- Music Talk

Graham Craycraft

You can’t have music without having the artists to create it. My favorite genre of music is singer-songwriter which covers a wide range of genres. These artists put their lives, or lives of characters, into their songs. Often times you can find more about the artist in these songs than in any interview or article. It is one of the most pure expressions of tribulation, joy, and often suffering. For years artists have used this platform to explore their own lives, but also the world around them. People may love an artist and their music until they learn about their political, social, or religious views.

A perfect example of this is when my buddy Michael (the other guy who writes here) told me that he just couldn’t listen to Steve Earle anymore after seeing him in show on the LSD tour. Earle is a known socialist and sports the Hammer and Sickle on his drummer’s kit as well as t-shirts. When Michael saw this something changed. Even though previously enjoying Earle’s music, he couldn’t look past what he saw as blatant support for the Soviet Union including turning a blind eye to the millions upon millions of murders at their hand. Earle has even addressed his sometimes unpopular stance recently and has tried to change his attitude at concerts. He realized people come for the music and stories and not to be preached at.

Other examples come from Jason Isbell and Ryan Bingham, two of my favorite artists. It is sometimes hard to look past their clearly leftist personalities which come through in songs like Isbell’s “White Man’s World” and littered throughout Bingham’s 2019 album. And I assure you I am not just against these choices because I am not a proponent of the left. These songs and uses of political messaging seem empty and pandering. If they could be used in a way that was fulfilling then I would not have such an issue. Isbell’s song “Hope the High Road” has a line “there can’t be more of them than us/ there can’t be more.” Clearly we know what he means by “us,” but this is a sentiment that I love. Its thoughtful and true no matter who you are. No matter your view point, you often think that surely there are not more against your cause than with it.

These misgivings raise the question, should we separate the artist’s ideologies from their work? Especially works that don’t even touch on these political or social viewpoints. Should the actions or viewpoints of an artist prevent enjoyment? Take Ryan Adams as another example. His songs are usually free of any divisive messages, but news has broken about a potential sex scandal involving underage girls. Should who he is and how we see him prevent us from enjoying his music? Perhaps. If you love a song or enjoy the story then you should, I believe, continue to enjoy the song. If there is truly a point of their life that cannot be looked past, this is understandable. But as I see it, let’s not let the bad intentions or misgivings of an artist prevent us from enjoying good art.

You do not have to love or approve of the artist to enjoy their work.