On October 19th, members of the Houston music scene will converge on Caroline Collective to discuss the Houston music scene, how to improve it, local government’s role in artist support and to teach each other tips and tricks they’ve pulled together on the road…

Over the past several years of being a contributor and a purveyor to the Houston music scene, I’ve come to believe in the fertility and potential of our local musicians and the possibility of success outside of Houston for a large number of our local artists. This seems to be my private obsession however because in none of the cities that I frequent do these local Houston artists register even a blip. This is disappointing as many of these local Houston artists are far better than some I see at SXSW any given year. Pondering the reason for this I have come to the conclusion that there seem to be multiple barriers to entry that result in a lack of acknowledgement of the vitality of the Houston music scene. One of the largest deterrents, as I see it, is an absence of complete knowledge of the aspects that contribute to a successful music career. There are many artists in Houston doing many things correct however I do not see enough knowledge sharing between these artists that could contribute to a complete picture.

It would be incredible to see talented Houston artists mounting successful tours routing around the nation. It would be incredible too see talented local artists have the ability to carve out a successful living by playing only Houston for the duration of their career. It would be incredible to see these talented artists receive national media attention for practicing their craft successfully. That would make me very happy. And so I’ve decided to attempt to provide those options for local artists.

Along with my co-hosts of KTRU’s Revelry Report: Philip Beck and Ian Wells, we’ve decided to put together a day long discussion about the Houston music scene. Over the course of the day we hope to give artists a cursory view of how to do things that can help them practice their craft successfully specific to their personal goals. The best part is that we’re pulling from only local talent to teach these skills. Additionally, we plan to discuss ways in which the city of Houston can better contribute to musical artist’s careers.

It seems that this is a fortunate time to be calling this meeting to order. At least one major article has been written in the near past addressing the dearth of public support for Houston music, even to the point where local venues are reticent to add local artists to the bill for fear that they will contribute little to the overall attendance. Additionally, several contributing members of the Houston music scene are beginning to express malaise which stands in sharp contrast to their previously optimistic belief in the strength of local music.

To join the discussion, PLEASE visit http://barcamp.org/BandCamp and sign up. An open discussion of this sort can be a watershed moment for the Houston music scene but only if you are there to contribute.

Over the next two weeks leading up to Bandcamp, I’ll be tackling some of the facets that are part of the whole of running a successful band or managing a successful artist career as well as ways in which local governments support their musical communities. The issues that I’ll be addressing are artist management, licensing, online promotion, offline promotion, merchandising, recording, touring, web presence, and selling your music, to name a few. I’m not an expert in everything and I’ll be pulling information and expertise from local talent to complete this picture (see below). There are many people in Houston that have intimate knowledge of specific facets of these tools and tips and I look forward to highlighting their expertise and contributions.

If you’d like to chime in with your comments or suggestions for the Houston Music scene, you can call 713-568-8908 and record your thoughts (3min. max). Please introduce yourself, your affiliation and comment on any of the following questions. I’ll edit the clip and post it on the site.

1.    What do you think is unique about the Houston music scene?
2.    What do you think Houston musicians are doing better than other local artists?
3.    What do you think could be improved about the Houston music scene?
4.    What can the city of Houston do to better support musical artists?
5.    If you are attending Bandcamp, what do you hope to teach or learn?
6.    What one tip do you have for emerging local artists?
7.    What role does community play in the strength of a local music scene?

Your answers will help to frame the ensuing discussion over the next two weeks, during Bandcamp and what follows.

My PhD Thesis is entitled “The Effect of Material Organization on the Structural Properties of Porous Architectures”

The abstract follows:

Tissue engineered scaffolds are often considered “black boxes.” Post implantation, they are solely expected to provide temporary mechanical support and foster tissue ingrowth while de novo tissue forms around its matrix. This is rarely the case however, as the post implantation interaction between this foreign body and the host biological system is largely uncontrolled. A growing body of concrete results is overwriting previous holistic knowledge to provide firm and hierarchical guidelines for successful scaffold design. Two areas have recently demonstrated fertile ground for progress: 1) the mechanical strength of architecture and 2) the fluid flow properties of that architecture, both of which act on different architectural arrangements. Mechanical properties are controlled by the solid phase of the matrix, while the void space determines fluid flow characteristics.

The objective of this dissertation was to demonstrate the benefits of an analysis of the structural properties of tissue engineered scaffolds combined with the specific design potentials of computer-aided tissue engineering (CATE) for orthopaedic applications. Two overarching goals directed this research. The first was focused on antipodal properties and addressed solutions which included an interplay between opposing poles while matching biological properties and secondly, to apply that knowledge towards the design of patient specific implants. Two antipodal properties were studied; 1) modification of the solid phase was addressed with respect to structural mechanical properties and 2) modification of the void phase was studied to determine fluid flow characteristics of porous architectures. These concepts were then applied in real applications using CATE towards the goal of tissue engineered scaffolds for bone repair and drug regimen.

This year has been the most tumultous and transitional of my life. It began with a marathon writing session on the first draft of my PhD thesis. From there it was directly into teaching a semester long laboratory course, with a mid-semester pause to run a scientific conference, immediately followed by the mid March breakneck sprint of SXSW. Back to teaching and a one month stint of coffee-fueled, sleeping in the library, mental preparation and editing before defending my dissertation mid April. Not finished there, I joined partner Ned Dodington and a whole bunch of other people to get Caroline Collective ready for a June opening. All of this left me feeling fulfilled, proud and tiiiiired.

I didn’t realize how tired I was until I took a recent trip to Chicago for my sister’s wedding and finally got some space to think and talk it out. To talk about where I’d been and what I’d done over the course of the year with those not seen in a couple years as well as relatives. And as I talked about Caroline and science and arts and music I remembered something. When I set out to accomplish some of the goals that have been completed this year, I didn’t fully believe in the potential to finish them. But along the way with much support and coaching from the community surrounding me, in retrospect, there’s no question that I could accomplish them. Thank you to all who have supported me in the past and continue to believe in me, you are a driving force. And so I was finally able to catch my breath.

This site has been set up to talk about things that are resident in my head or have been kicking around lately. Some of the issues I wish to discuss have been learned through building community and running Caroline Collective over the past four months, and some of them call upon years of experience in one sphere or another.  Topically, I’ve separated the site into three parts: Academic, Music/Arts, and Portfolio. The portfolio will be a continued display of the design projects completed by myself or with my design partner Ned Dodington. In the Academic portion I’ll be presenting studies from my own and other compelling research, contextualized for general consumption, distilling the obtuse jargon that scientists are known to use. Special focus will be given to rapid prototyping as it transforms the manufacturing industry and our lives. Finally, in the Music/Arts/Culture section I’ll discuss local and national music communities, community building for arts and music, and provide a commentary to my voracious media consumption.

Like anything else, this is a work in progress (obviously there are still some formatting issues being worked out), any and all comments, suggestions, you’re wrongs, you’re rights, you suck, I agrees are welcome and encouraged. Thanks.