On Authenticity (Kevin Bacon, What the Fuck?!)

In the upcoming days, I would like to explore the idea of authenticity as it applies to various aspects of music. After recently finishing Theodore Gracyk's Rhythm and Noise - An Aesthetics of Rock (1996), I have started thinking about the different ways that authenticity and sincerity are both manifest and expected from the music we listen to and the people who create it.

The authenticity of music and artist can shift from song to song, performance to performance, simply based on intention, inflection, and even the medium through which songs are presented. Expanding some ideas from yesterday's post I will first explore the phenomenon of studio flubs, both intentional and unintentional, and the different ways they can change the authenticity of the music. I will continue with discussions on b-sides, demos, bootlegs, concerts, perhaps even a foray into different recorded mediums, and finally, the finally artists themselves.

Gracyk is quick to point out that authenticity can apply to a specific recording in hundreds of different ways: the artist is expected to conform to a specific genre in order for a song to be considered a 'genuine' effort; the medium this song is distributed by is either genuine or bootleg; this bootleg is either the 'original' bootleg, or a derivative of the derivative; the live performance is a genuine replication of the record or the live performance is a genuine re-incarnation of the record, not a phony performance; and last, the artist believes in what he or she is doing.

To apply the measure of authenticity, let us take the mp3 I have provided below: Ryan Adams' near-breakthrough rap effort, "Aw Shit (Look Who Got a Website)". Would-be alt-country hero turned speedballing crackpot goes apeshit with Garageband, resurfaces with 13 unreleased albums on his website and the homepage presents us with his alter-ego DJ Reggie's first 'hit,' and his record goes balsa wood in India (or someplace like that).

Genuine? Some people would argue this is a genuine piece of shit, but it holds a special place in my heart. The rap is flippant but clever, like most of Ryan's output between 2005-2006, and is most definitely coming from a man starved for attention. Or is he just bored? This is certainly not of the genre that gave him his name, and most people would argue that this presentation does not constitute an official release. Nevertheless, Pitchfork jumps at the chance for a track review the day after the song appears.

So why do I view this as an authentic Ryan Adams track? For a man who was playing with remote control cars onstage, leaving nasty messages on Jim DeRogatis's machine, and redesigning his website to better reflect DJ Reggie's tracks, I suppose it got to the point where "Come Pick Me Up" seemed inauthentic.

Dot com, muthafucker!