Ted Simmons
Interview conducted April 18, 2023
by Dan Locke
It was the sounds and stories of the south that captured his imagination as a child. “The first time I heard blues music, I wasn’t very old, and had no idea what any of it meant, but it captivated me”. From Blues to Country, Folk to Rock and Roll, and RandB to Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, and with influences like Muddy Waters, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and The Band, with powerful, poignant, pretty and sometimes politically driven lyrics Ted has created a diversity of songs that cover the spectrum of the Americana experience. His lyrics range from topical social commentary to fun and humorously ridiculous tales, to the poetry of love, loss, loneliness, and longing.
What is your upbringing?
I am from a place called Newfoundland originally, which is a province in Canada, on the eastern end of North America, it’s as far east as you can go. Newfoundland has a mainland part and an island part, I grew up on the island, just outside the provincial capital called St. John’s. Newfoundland is about as remote and wild of a place as you are going to find, so I basically grew up in the wilderness, travelling into the interior to camp and fish was a regular occurrence growing up. At the same time, I also lived in a suburb that did not look any different than any suburb you could find in Canada or The United States, it didn’t have any kind of interesting story behind, it just sorted of existed. There wasn’t any cultural thing I was exposed to really, no sort of tradition to speak of, so in that way I was a blank slate, open to everything and anything.
How did you discover music?
I honestly don’t remember exactly how I discovered music, it always just seemed to be there. I do remember as a little kid being fascinated by it, and not anything specific, it was a lot of different kinds, classical, blues, country, it all seemed to move me. I do remember some pivotal moments. When I was 12 maybe, I found a Jimi Hendrix 45 in a box in the basement of my family home. On one side was Castles Made of Sand, which I listened to first, then I turned it over and listened to All Along the Watchtower, and it was like a sonic boom, I was hooked, the combination of the lyrics and the music were like nothing I had ever heard. Then I looked at the record and the songwriter was B. Dylan, I never forgot that name.
How did you start to write music?
It was shortly after the discovery of the Jimi Hendrix 45 with All Along the Watchtower on it that I started trying to write songs. I had gotten a new guitar and I was starting to take lessons, but I was much more interested in trying to do my own thing. I had become obsessed with the singer/songwriter idea, I started to listen to the classics, Paul Simon, James Taylor, things like that, and I found out who that B. Dylan person was. I also around this time discovered the blues, and with all these ideas and influences circulating I was sort of driven to try and do it myself.
Describe your music.
I would describe my music as Americana (mostly) in every sense of the concept. My songs cover a lot of ground, some blues, some country, some folk, some southern gospel, even a little bit RandB. I also mix in a little indie rock and some regular old rock and roll. My work is very lyrically driven; poetic, emotional, and political. Songs about love and heartache, songs about the downtrodden and forgotten, songs about injustice, and then sometimes, songs that are witty and funny, about humorous situations and people.
What was your first performance like?
Terrible, I am sure. The first time I ever performed in front of people outside of just jamming in a basement or a living room was in a bar in England, the owner had a guitar on the wall and offered free drinks to anyone that played for as long as they played, so I went for it. I didn’t get a regular gig but I figured if I did it once I could do it again, so it set me on my way.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the international singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
I am Canadian so I belong to SOCAN.
What makes a good songwriter?
A good songwriter, like any good artist, should be able to see society in all its flaws, pain, suffering, beauty and love and use it to tell a great story.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
My first original song is lost to time and space it was so long ago, but I do remember the first song I wrote that felt real, if that makes sense, I was 17, it was called Old Tire, and yes it was recorded. I had a little band of sorts, and we made a tape on a tape recorder that we copied and handed out to our friends.
What is the process of writing your music?
I don’t have a process really; I just like to sit at the piano or with a guitar and see what happens. I like to noodle around and see if something catches or clicks, a riff, or a chord progression, then I try and add some words, a phrase or a sentence, something that the music makes me feel.
Tell me about your latest album Dark and Dirty World?
Dark and Dirty World is a collection of songs meant to tell a complete story of a character searching for happiness, acceptance and a secure place in the world, as well as coping with grief and hardship in a sometimes humorous or satirical way, in the vein of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks/Slow Train Coming, Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever/Wildflowers, or Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run/Ghost of Tom Joad. There are two overall recurring themes. First, is the displacement of the working class and the corruption and greed that has spawned the current climate of popular unrest. Second is the emotional struggle that accompanies a failed relationship and a longing for love, companionship, and a sense of belonging that is seemingly out of reach.
How was it working with your son on the video?
I loved it, it was a really fun experience for both of us. I especially liked how much he got into doing the filming and being the director, he got better at it as time went on which was great. We had a funny experience where he kept trying to explain to me at the beginning we were using the wrong aspect ratio and I kept saying no hold the camera vertical and he kept saying it needs to be horizontal (he was right), it took a couple of times of me getting the footage home and reviewing it before I realized what he was talking about. It was a nice bonding experience to drive around looking for locations to shoot and talking about what the scenes should look like.
And how old is he?
He is 14 years old.
Any problem using copyright news clips as part of your video?
Well, it did get through the YouTube initial screening and went live but it did get tagged as having a copyright claim, which I assumed something like that would happen. The worst case scenario would have been that it did not go live at all, so the fact that it is up is a win. I knew it would be somewhat of a challenge to put all the news footage in there, but I didn’t really have a choice it is what the song is about.
Why was there a delay in the release of the album?
There wasn’t a delay, in fact I was pretty methodical about the whole thing. I had been working on the album for 5 years. It started out as something completely different, more of a folk album, but I didn’t like it, so I started on a new path, and then that was delayed because of Covid, so I could only do it in small parts, piece by piece kind of thing, and then finally I had it all together last year. Then I planned it out as a staggered approach, I released the album in January of this year, then had a small show as a sort of release party to get things moving at a place called Sourwood Cider, then I released the video, and now this month I have a big album release show, with a full band at New Scotland Brewery, which is a kind of home base for me as I spend a lot of time there and play there frequently on my own, and it is in my neighbourhood, so I thought that would be a great place to do the big release. Also, I took the time to make sure that everything was well thought out and rehearsed to make sure I got the most out of the opportunity kind of thing, promote the album, get more people talking about it locally
What are you feeling about streaming music?
I think it’s great, it evens the playing field in terms of distribution. To get a hard copy in someone’s hands before streaming you had to physically be in their presence or have a large distribution company behind you. Now people all over the world can hear your music for very little capital investment. On the other hand, I remember when selling physical copies at a live performance was more popular and lucrative, whereas streaming yields very little in revenue if you are a small artist.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
I think you would have to have taken music lessons to know that # means sharp.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Vinyl is always my first choice, I have a great record collection, the bulk of which I acquired because I was broke, and had no money to buy CDs, I am old enough that I was a young adult when CDs were still a thing, and at their peak, in terms of popularity and cost. Like I said, I had no money for music, so I found a record player at a thrift store and back in those days they were giving used records away. I used to go to antique/estate sale shops, junk stores, thrift stores and buy stacks of records for a few dollars. All that said, for that kid that now has no money for records, streaming is a great alternative.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Gotta Serve Somebody, from the Bob Dylan album Slow Train Coming. I love that album; it inspired me to write the title track of my new album Dark and Dirty World. The whole album is great but lately I have been listening to that song a lot. Basically, it doesn’t matter who you are or who you think you are you are subservient to somebody so stop looking down on people because someone is looking down on you.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
Pay to play has always been a thing and probably always will. In the old days people had to pay for radio play and were also paying to open for a band or to get a place at a hot venue. I don’t think things have really changed. The music business, has few barriers to entry and few people at the top, that’s where pay to play comes from, there is a lot of money at the top, controlled by very few people and everyone else competing for the little pieces that are left over.
The show Star Trek introduced people to the holodeck: an immersive, realistic 3D holographic projection of a complete environment that you could interact with.
Today holograms are already being used in a variety of way, such as medical systems, education, art, security and defense..
Performers like Tupac, Michael Jackson, Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Buddy Holly, Ronnie James Dio, Marylin Monroe, and Whitney Houston have done it already. The band ABBA just announced that they will be doing a comeback together after nearly 40 years as holograms on their next tour. With ABBA it was with the help of George Lucas .
If the cost was down to the point you could do it also, would you be willing to do Holographic concerts in our living room?
Probably not, a lot of my live shows relies on interacting with the audience, face to face, in person. I never just stand up there and play and a lot of my energy comes from the energy in the room. I don’t think it is an old-fashioned thing, it’s more like if I can’t been in the same space as the audience and we are collectively having the experience my music doesn’t work. I understand why it works for other people, they have more of a theatre type of show, I am the performer, you are the audience, and that’s fine, but it doesn’t work for me. I like the smell of the tavern, the beer on the floor, the sounds in the room, other people don’t want that and that is fine.
In the past if a musician stopped doing music they found a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
I would own a bar that serves food that I make (some kind of bbq) somewhere warm on a beach.
What is your happy place?
I have a few happy places, my piano, swimming in the ocean or in the lake by my house, or being out in my garden
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, John Legend, ZZ Top and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young sold 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180 song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited . Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than the mechanical royalties paid to artists based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
On January 19, 2021 Hipgnosis Song Management acquired 80% of Kenny Chesney’s recorded music royalties, covering the country superstar’s discography from his 1994 debut In My Wildest Dreams through 2017’s Live in No Shoes Nation.
Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby. He did not want to sell his publishing rights. In addition, it was not an easy thing for him to do. However, by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off his shoulders. He could pay off his house and cover other bills. Now he does not have to work for a living. It should be noted that David is battling tendinitis in his hands, which hurts his ability to play guitar.
Do you think you would be willing to sell your back catalog if someone like Universal is willing to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
Of course, that would be a dream come true, if that happened that would mean I built a career and a catalogue that was worth buying.
There are many platforms out there that allow artists to get their music heard. Artist Republik, DistroKid, Tunecore & plenty others offer distribution services. These services enable independent artists to put their music on some of the most popular streaming services globally, from Spotify to Apple Music & everything in between. If you’ve been in any part of the music industry in recent years, you probably know someone that has distributed a song.
Spotify reports that in 2021 there are about 8 million artists on the platform. Of those 8 million artists, about 57,000 are raking in a whopping 90% of the total revenue from streams. That means that .71% of the artists on Spotify are making good money. In 2020, there was a total of around $5 billion paid out to artists on the Spotify platform alone.
Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
What do you think that could mean to independent artists?
Spotify and other streaming services provide a great opportunity for independent artists to have their music heard, however, it was much more lucrative as an independent to sell physical units. Unless something changes with the revenue sharing model it will mean the situation will become untenable for independent artists financially.
Over half a billion active users around the world share their favorite music on TikTok either with something like a dance challenge and lip-sync videos or creating a funny skit or candid camera moment.
TikTok has become a great platform for music promotion, sharing songs, and finding new listeners. In which it has become a place for music artists to earn revenue when people use their music. In many cases the daily promotion on TikTok has led to huge boosts on other platforms like Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.
TikTok does this with the algorithmically generates a feed of content for each user, which you see as the displaying of #. The more a user engages with content, the smarter TikTok gets at guessing what kind of videos the viewer wants to watch.
Because a song can go viral because of this.
Sony Music and Warner Music Group- , The ByteDance-owned video app revealed that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
I don’t play favorites with streaming services, I don’t have the luxury of choice, whatever services the distribution company I use distribute to, those are the services I distribute to, if TikTok is one so be it.
Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer.The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
Some of the members on TikTok include Cassyette, YukoEXE, Ashinikko, Palaye Royale, Josh Dun (Twenty One Pilots), Yungblud, Morrissey, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Gene Simmons, and Mick Jagger.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary,Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could become a force in the future of streaming music?
I think it is more of the same thing, the average listener will do what is convenient, if this new TikTok radio is upfront and easy for people to access, and it takes the place of other platforms in that regard, then yes, it will be a force in streaming. Will it benefit independent artists, that is hard to say. If the revenue sharing is not set up to benefit the smaller artists and the platform pushes bigger names, then it would be more of the same.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you, I enjoyed answering your questions. Please be sure to check out my new album, Dark and Dirty World, streaming on all major platforms. You can also find the official music video on YouTube for the title track Dark and Dirty World
