2004
Jen Colnee
Eppler Misses Poetry in Music Jennifer Conlee, co-news editor Andy Eppler and his band, The Blue Notes, are plotting the demise of pop music. At least, that's what the artistic young man said as he slid into his seat at a Lubbock coffee house recently. "If folk and jazz had a one night stand," said Eppler, trying to explain his music, "I would be their bastard child." Eppler, a South Plains College student who was born and raised in Lubbock, has been playing and writing his music for six years. As many people do, he started out by performing at church. "I'm in music because I can't do anything else," said Eppler, claiming this as the creed of most musicians. "The music scene today is made up of people who are untalented in other areas, not those who are talented in music." Eppler has been playing with his new band for about six months. "I went around and found the best musicians," he said, "and I hired them. In a way, I hire them for each show." The Blue Notes consists of Eppler's girlfriend, Jessica Carson, who provides backup vocals, Skylar Stevens on drums, and Micah Vasquez on bass. All of the band members attend South Plains College. Eppler's music is his form of poetry. "People don't appreciate language any more," he claimed. "They all listen to pop music, which is void of real content; it's repetitive and meaningless." Eppler's goal is to bring poetry back into the world. However, he's afraid that no one would read it. "I believe that people are deeper than they seem," Eppler said. "I want to believe that people are not shallow."This is why he writes his unique music. "The sad thing about the majority of the musicians in this town (Lubbock) is that they don't do anything original," said Eppler. "They are just cover bands, and play other people's music." He adds, "You can't call yourself an artist if you're a cover band. You're just a jukebox. I try to encourage people to support live music in all it's forms but lets not call something art that isn't." His advice to other musicians who are trying to make it big in music is to start writing, even if the stuff is bad. "If musicians in Lubbock would put out their own stuff, this town would not be a nowhere town," he said. Andy Eppler and the Blue Notes are currently trying a daring project that most musicians won't. "We will be putting out a new CD on the third Saturday of every month," said Eppler. For each release, the Blue Notes perform at Sugar Brown's, a popular coffee house in Lubbock, every third Saturday each month. The performances are free to the public. For more information about Eppler and his performance dates and times, visit his Myspace music page at www.myspace.com/andyeppler.