This is only partially a “starving artist” post. Plato said necessity is the mother of invention. This is especially true of songwriters, it seems, since we all need something to write about. Without a hole somewhere, we wouldn’t be able to fill it. Music is something I create out of a struggle for something greater. Greater success, money, understanding, guidance, love… Without the hunger for whatever’s on the next shelf up, I wouldn’t be compelled to climb.

All that being said, being hungry in the literal sense just gets old. There is a point at which “starving artist” changes from cute moniker to annoying fact of life. A working musician faces 12-hour days with a schedule that extends to 2am on weekends, usually for very little money and no job security. To have some corporate schmuck with a regular commute, a 401k, and a 2-beer lunch break treat you like some lazy hippie gets discouraging. Sometimes I think it’s sour grapes- that their hunger for something artistic or expressive has simply made them bitter.

Hunger, literally, sucks. But a spiritual hunger has led to some of the best work I’ve ever produced. Latté Days & Porter Nights is all about hunger (well, actually, thirst, but same idea). Hunger is the road sign that only the café on the horizon can satisfy. It is what keeps you driving, even if it’s an all-nighter with the band sleeping in the seats behind you.

OHMYGOD WE’RE ALL FINANCIALLY SCREWED! Or, um, maybe not. All that’s happened is our money on paper has grown so far beyond our money in actual value that the economy suddenly realized we’re living in a mansion made of credit cards. How can we as American taxpayers¹ help solve this problem?

Remember all those terrorist-loving liberals that told you not to ship jobs overseas, to buy American goods, and to find domestic energy sources? They were right. That is what will save us. Our economy is not built around lending houses to each other, it’s built around items and services of actual value. If we’re not selling American-made goods and services, we have no money.

And as my friend Chris Penn points out, if we’re borrowing money for things we can’t really afford, we make the problem worse. Our personal economies dictate our national economy and we must live within our means. Believe me, I could’ve qualified for a loan at my old day job, but I knew I couldn’t really afford a house. I didn’t yet (and still don’t) have the value in my own pocket to back up the value of a house.

Of course, I should mention that American musicians sell their American-made wares both at home and abroad via the internet and international touring. You already knew that, though.

The important thing here is to realize that the solution to our problem will not come from some complex economic magic. The problem will be solved when we as consumers start making and buying products of value right here in America.

¹This is not meant to diminish the contributions and financial woes of my friends in other nations. My point is that we as Americans seem to have forgotten that in a capitalist economy, national or global, we have to be selling as much as we’re consuming if the balance sheet is going to even out in the end.