Farner will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of “(I’m Your Captain) Closer To Home” this June. “Pinch me. 50 years,” he exclaimed. “Thank God for classic rock radio. I knew when God gave me this song it was going to be special. Thank you to the millions of fans, who bought and listened to these songs.”
“I am so blessed to have the world’s greatest fans,” he said, effusively. “The stories of fans concerning their emotional connection to this song and what it means to them individually is immeasurable in terms of appreciation and genuine understanding. Because the song evokes the spirit without visual aid it becomes a learning experience and of love, with the great I as the teacher.”
Regarding his music and songwriting inspirations, he said, “People, faith, love. Music is in my soul, it is part of me. Because I can’t read or write music definition comes in layman’s understanding of the effect of a certain guitar chord in a certain song that haunts the memory, the chorus envisioning an audience singing along lifts the songwriting experience to a new level.”
On being an artist in the digital age, he responded, “Wow, that’s a million-dollar question. It’s scary. I think we have lost a lot of soul in music. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was so much innovation. Songwriting was the key. So many people were doing so many different styles of music. Today, everyone is dropping a song every other day. Albums are a thing of the past. Artist development is a lost art.”
He continued, “Today there is so much technology, they can actually make people who can’t sing sound like great singers with a computer program. They can clean up mistakes with these programs. We had to actually sing, we had to work, work, work our asses off in the studio. Limited by the starkness and the square digital age sometimes can be perplexing because I came from the age of magnetic tape recorders and phonograph records. Analog is always gonna be better, in my humble opinion, it is inherent in nature.”
Regarding the key to longevity in the music business all of these decades, he said, “I keep my focus on my heart where my songs have emerged from and protecting the frontier of creation. Again, having the world’s greatest fans. They love you unconditionally. So it’s easy to keep doing what I have been doing for over 50 years. I get to keep bringing the music and love to the people. I feel like a kid every time I step out on stage.”
For young and aspiring singer-songwriters, he said, “Tune out all other music…when I say all, I mean all. Now, listen to your heart, there is a song waiting for you to rescue it and bring it to life here among your peers.”
On the impact of technology and streaming on the music business, he said, “I think it causes the fans to be less appreciative because of the easy instant access to the creative work. There’s no wait time involved, no anticipation building in the heart.”
For his loyal fans, he concluded, “Forgive with the same measure that you expect to be forgiven with and live a long and happy life.”
To learn more about the Mark Farner American Band, check out the official website and his Facebook page.
