Quick, name the winner of American Idol from season three. Give up? Her name is Fantasia Barrino, although she now just goes by Fantasia, because I'm sure it is written somewhere that to be a true diva more than one name is not allowed. Besides, we kind of like that one name thing in our idols: we talk about Kelly and Ruben and Taylor as if we know them.

But that's not the point. The point is, I'm not sure I'm ready for another idol.

Take Fantasia, for instance. Now don't get me wrong, this girl can sing. She also gets props from me because she's apparently stepped up to life and met it with faith and determination. But in the vocal department, how good is she? The allmusic.com review of Free Yourself, her debut album, claims she is not bad but also not great. The review was written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, and you can read it at allmusic.com or you can read it on iTunes. Or you can read the part I'm interested in here:

...And that reveals Fantasia's biggest weakness, which is part of the inherent flaw of American Idol: it rewards contestants who put on a show of being a great singer instead of actually being a great singer.

So what do you think? Is American Idol more about Simon than it is about finding a great singer? That is to say, is our reward for watching it the entertainment we get through the process rather than finding a star at the end of the rainbow? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

Don't fool yourselves, Kids. American Idol is not about identifying the best singer, it is about selling Coca-Cola and entertaining us with everything from embarrassing moments for some really bad singers to rare moments of triumph by some really good singers. Throw in the cat fights at the judges' table, the sniping between Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell, the back stories about the ten finalists, and of course the opportunity to vote and you've got plenty of things to keep you talking and tuning in.

That's not a bad thing, at least as long as we're looking for entertainment and not a singer to idolize.

Music is everywhere. You may not think that headline is much of a revelation, but if you work with music in any way it should at least make you happy.

Why? Because somebody writes that music and somebody performs it and somebody records it and somebody mixes it and somebody masters it and somebody manufactures it in some way. Somebody else chooses it and somebody puts it on the radio or in an elevator or behind a commercial or in a movie or television show or uses it for music on hold.

Even talk radio has music, and as far as I know there are only two television shows that do not have a theme song, and I can only think of one of those. What is the other one?

Anyway, I'm encouraged by this "music is everywhere" idea. That means that some of the songs I have already helped write might just sneak into people's ears somehow, and it means that if I think about places where music is I might be able to contribute to songs specifically for those places.

And so can you. You can be one of those people I mentioned earlier and you can help bring music to life in some way. And when you do, you will be a somebody.

A friend of mine called to tell me that his daughter, singer/songwriter Tiffany Joy, was going to be featured that afternoon on a popular San Francisco radio show, The Pete Wilson Show. But Pete's show isn't music, it's talk.

Before I could ask what talk radio had to do with a singer, he explained that Wilson was doing a show called "The Best Music You've Never Heard," that several hundred people had sent in CDs trying to be part of that, and that Tiffany Joy had been selected as one of the final 30.

As it turned out she was one of the final 20 (out of 500 entries), and they played clips of all of those then asked people to call in and say which one they liked best. A very diminutive, audio-only version of American Idol.

There were three "judges." Pete himself, who admitted to knowing nothing about music but knowing what he liked, was the host and one of those who offered his opinion. He had two guest judges, both men and both part of the music world, and they similarly offered their opinions. Almost all of those were of the "liked it... didn't like it..." variety, but once in a while they waxed a little more eloquent.

After Tiffany Joy's clip, for instance, one of the guest judges said that when the song started he thought he was going to have to leave the room, but then the song shifted in an interesting way and he suddenly liked what he heard. Goes to show you that the first 10 seconds make an impression, but they aren't the whole story.

One of the most interesting comments came after a guest judge inserted a clip from an artist he knew and admired who was not one of the contestants. Turns out this fellow had won a GRAMMY award and still no label has signed him.

The expert judges opined that being unsigned was probably the best deal for that particular artist, because no label would really know how to market him.

I wonder how many of the indie artists who were listening took that comment in and rolled it around carefully in their minds. Too few, I'm guessing, because being signed is still the holy grail. I'll write more about that later.

Anyway, Tiffany Joy, being fairly well known in the area and having a father who was willing to help promote her, ended up getting the third most votes, which was very nice. There were no prizes, except that the song with the most votes got played all the way through. It was a fine song, but everyone acknowledged that the group probably won not because they were the best but because they were the best known of those who were played.

And that is why this business is so hard. You have to be known to get heard, and you have to get heard to be known.

Quick, what do Billy Ray Cyrus, Rebecca St. James, Chet Atkins, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Kumie, David Ragsdale, Thomas Kinkade and Jeff Foxworthy all have in common?

Well, there could be a lot of things, but the only one I know is John Scott Evans.

John has worked with all of those outstanding artists, either touring with them (Billy Ray), opening for them (Chet), writing with them (Kumie), or having them play in his band (David). You've got to admit that is a pretty impressive list, and of course there are many more names that could be added to it. With just a few more words (of the lyric variety) I might even be able to add my name. But that's another story.

For now I want to let you know two important things:
1. John is the newest artist on our Catch A Rising Star podcast.
2. John's new CD, Above The Sun, is just about to be available.

Taking those two things in order, if you listen to the podcast you will of course want to buy the CD. Reverse them and it still works. Buy the CD and you'll want to listen to the podcast. You win either way.

John is one of the finest fingerstyle guitarists you'll ever hear. There is something in his music that goes beyond the notes -- and there are more notes than you can imagine, but always just the right amount -- and gets into your heart and soul. Personally, I think it is joy.

Whatever it is, all you have to do is listen to know that it is there and that this music is special.

We wanted to give you a free sample of that, so John has agreed to let us put one of his songs on Free & Legal Music. Just follow that link, enter John's name, and you can grab your very own free and legal copy of Caliente from John's album Live At The Loft, featuring John with an outstanding band which included famed violinist David Ragsdale. (You'll hear more about that recording and how the band got put together when you listen to the podcast.)

Keep your eyes on John's website or on this blog to find out how you can get a copy of Above The Sun or other John Scott Evans recordings. In the meantime, enjoy the podcast and your free song, and spread the word about John Scott Evans and Catch A Rising Star.

Allow me, if you will, a brief but not serious digression from the specific world of music to the more general world of entertainment. And I'm not just clowning around.

My friend is, though, and he is a pro!

His name is Bill Terry, but to much of the southeast he is known as PJ the Clown. He's probably not the only Bill Terry and I know from a little sleuthing that he is not the only PJ the Clown, but for my money he's the best one of both of those. Just so you don't go finding the wrong PJ, let me give you the link where you can find the right one.

Bill and I "grew up" together, and I use the quote marks to indicate that I understand there may be those who take issue with the idea that either or both of us are grown up. Like our wives, for instance.

Recently Bill and I were able to spend a few hours together when we were both back in our home town, and it was a treat. Turns out we still have a lot in common, including an appreciation for his mom's pecan pie and a joy in entertaining others. I got to be on the receiving end of that one evening when Bill put on a magic show just for me, his parents and his daughter, who is in kindergarten. (She's the teacher.)

So consider this post a little bit of shameless promotion for my good friend, who is absolutely the best balloon twister I've ever seen (he made a Little Mermaid out of balloons, and I recognized it), who is an excellent clown, and who does a magic show that is fun, clever, and at the same time can illustrate important points about life to the kids he performs for.

Need a clown, a magician, a balloon twister or all of the above in one delightful package? PJ is your clown.

The title of this entry is, of course, a reference to a line in the movie Field of Dreams. For those of you who don't know the movie, Kevin Costner plays an Iowa corn farmer who hears a voice saying, "If you build it, they will come," understands that he is supposed to build a baseball field, and when he follows through with that the Chicago Black Sox (all long since dead) show up. So do hundreds and hundreds of other people. It is a good movie, one somebody described as "magical."

That's a good word for it, because the idea that simply building something like a baseball diamond or, let's say, a CD is absolutely no guarantee that anyone will come at all. That is a bit of a sad thing for those of us who love to create things like songs, CDs, tours, or even blogs and websites. Having a MySpace profile, for instance, is no guarantee that anyone (except Tom) will ever find you.

You can even have distribution, that elusive benefit that in the pre-Internet days was the Holy Grail for many artists. "If I only had distribution," some artist would say to me, "my music would sweep the world." Distribution is important, I agree, but if you have the Internet you have distribution, so what is limiting you now?

Marketing. The same thing that limits many of us.

Or rather, the lack of marketing. Now there could be other things that are missing as well. Your content might not be any good, in which case marketing will have a little harder time. You might be charging too much or too little for your work, in which case marketing has more to overcome. You might not be unique in any way (although I believe you are), in which case marketing will make you so (even if your unique feature is your sameness) and then start selling you or your CD.

Do I sound cynical? I don't mean to, but I do want to know what you think about the role of marketing in the world of music, our field of dreams.