I’ve read a number of articles over the years about what you shouldn’t do if you’ve got a site like mine, one that is both an artist website and a professional site in the sense that it promotes the artist’s product or brand. While there is some merit in the do’s and don’ts there’s also crap and contradictions. I’m about to break the rules. Why? Because I want to. Because everyone else does and it’s not the killing blow the self-proclaimed experts think it is.

The rule I’m breaking is the “don’t put a bunch of stuff that’s not about you and your product (music/books/art whatever your creative endeavor) on your website”. I’ve been a good girl. In site redesign I got rid of (most) blog posts that were about bands I’m not in, music I didn’t make, things I do/think/read/like. Two things happened: I stopped getting tons of shit spewed from inarticulate clueless people in comments on the posts that weren’t about Gymshoes. I no longer had to deal with tons of unpleasant comment moderation. While this was a relief and the blog was more unified with the rest of the site, the second effect was devastating…the blog became boring. Oh, come on…if you’ve hung in reading my “announcement” type posts over the past couple of years, you are a True Fan—and a damn rare faithful reader. (Thanks!!)

I’ve tried to loosen things up a tiny bit occasionally, but with pop culture, current events and other people’s music off the table, there’s not much to write about. Just “my stuff” and I’d rather be creating than writing about creating, which is not that easy write about anyway. Things take time and if I blogged about the process you’d still end up bored, reading a bunch of flat nothing sort of posts. So I’d “save up” “news” for newsletters and blog posts to make sure posts were substantial and on point.

So what’s the point? Well, not too long ago I read one of those “don’t post a bunch of junk on your website” articles which also said that artists screw up by not putting themselves into their site, by not making things personal. The idea is that if people get to know you, they’ll buy your stuff. Oh, come on…you can’t have it both ways. If I write truly personal posts about my interests, then I violate the rule about not putting irrelevant stuff on the site/blog.

All of this is been rolling around in my head because I’ve released an EP, Sand In My Shoes, which is fun summer music, but also evocative of the beach in both the title and one track—and this coincides with the biggest oil spill the we’ve ever had, which is pouring unabated into the Gulf of Mexico and I live on the Gulf (though Texas beaches have escaped it so far). So here I sit with my laptop on my lap, staring at it every morning, wondering how to promote my new music and cringing at the thought of how crass and cold it must sound to people for me to say “Buy my music” which was fun at first, but as the situation with the oil spill becomes more worse each day, it becomes almost impossible for me to say because people will think of the beach when they see the title of my EP and they will not want to buy it, and they will not think well of me for trying to sell it—simply because I had the misfortune to release it this summer, of all summers…

So every day I look at the oil spill webcam and I think about how I’m not supposed to write about things that don’t promote Gymshoes music (and I’m not supposed to have that oil spill widget I just added to my sidebar) because it’s not a “done thing” for professional sites and because if I blog about how appalling the oil spill is, how heartsick I am at the devastation, how bad it all is, I’m basically giving people a disincentive to buy Sand In My Shoes. So, if you think I’m taking the disaster in the Gulf lightly, that I’m ignoring it, that I don’t care, you couldn’t be more wrong.

Here’s what I would say to you: the oceans are important, our beaches and the ecosystems of our shorelines are important to the future of our oceans because they provide places for many species of marine life to develop before venturing out to sea. They provide a habitat for teeny-tiny bottom-of-the food chain organisms—and beaches are beautiful, or at least they are when oil and tar balls aren’t washing up on them. It is important to preserve life on the beaches, in the Gulf, and in the oceans, for the sake of the creatures who live there for all or part of their lives—including people who may only just visit.

I’ve made a fun summer EP. It hasn’t been a fun summer for many people, coastal birds and marine life. Sand In My Shoes reflects the happiness of summertime, of summer vacation, that free breezy feeling. I’ll not apologize for that. That’s a valid joy, a valid feeling…even if you don’t go to the beach, even if you stay home…summer is a state of mind and I hope Sand In My Shoes helps you achieve a bit of summertime joy.