Summer Reading: Jen Trynin - "Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be"

I've just finished my first summer book - a great brisk read written by a musician for musicians - Jen Trynin's "Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be" (A Rock & Roll Fairy tale), published in 2006. It's a swell book, chronicling her rise from playing clubs in Boston in the early 90s, to gaining popularity with her self released LP Cockamamie, resulting in a well-documented bidding war among major labels in 1994, to her buzzband status and subsequent tours, written with much amusement mixed with disillusionment over bandmates, labels, hangers-onner and video directors.

Here's a snippet, after her signing to Warners after the bidding war, and how she's starting to hear rumblings about her 'style' (pg 180):

"I get a call from Head Honcho, who says he heard from Lola who heard from Howdy Doody that Einstein thinks I should stop making so many faces when I play guitar. I tell Head Honcho to tell Lola to tell Howdy Doody to tell Einstein that I think he should stop being so fat.
"That's not very constructive," says Head Honcho.
"Well, what the fuck is he talking about? What does that even mean?"
"We're also kind of wondering if your bass player could maybe not wear that baseball hat all the time."

(You can see the hat in the video below)

There's lots of warmth in Trynin's writing, as well as insecurity, petty grievances and more. I get a feeling she could've spilled a lot more blood on the pages, but to what ends? But if you've ever played club gigs with bands, it definitely brings you to that atmosphere. I loved reading about her days at the now defunct rock club Brownies, and being out on the Avenue B sidewalk, one I stood on a number of times in the late 90s and early 00s.

What's changed immensely (I think) from those days 15 years ago is the way bands are wooed, courted and signed. I mean, are there even such things as 'bidding wars' anymore? Do major labels still employ A & R reps and such to hit clubs and schmooze and hit up on young artists? I know there are some major labels still putting out music, but which are they and how many? I haven't checked in a while. Is everyone just scouring Web links these days? Hard to tell. If you have insights, leave 'em in the comments.

[Thanks to my drummer Gary, who said this was the best book he's read on the music business, for giving me the book.]

Here's the video for Jen's song "Better Than Nothing" that got all the labels excited back in the day.