January 10th 2016. The day the music died. Or at least a major player in it. David “Bowie” Jones left this world and a void in the music industry that can never be filled. I never had the chance to meet him in person, but I have heard stories from others who have had that opportunity and have heard nothing but amazing stories about the man. Whatever your favorites are in genre, styles, or tastes, there is absolutely no doubt that Bowie had an effect on that music. A man of many styles, of many directions, and many fashions, Bowie had gained the friendship and respect of many. From music to fashion. From TV and film all the way to sports and the Olympics. Bowie had a hand in it in one form or another. The magnitude of his music, writing, and performing was that of no other over the past 50 years. The loss of David Bowie is the beginning of an end of an era. I had a conversation with a good friend of mine a few months ago and we were discussing the topic of the State of the Union of the music industry. The art of playing and true musicianship is a lost art. There are no real true artists out there today that would match the caliber of the music of the 60’s, 70’s, or even into the 80’s. No matter what you love or what you think, the lifecycle of today’s music rarely lasts past 5 to 7 years and tails off sharply after that. You don’t see bands or groups or even some individuals into the 20, 30 year mark. And even fewer that have reached the 40+ years. Unfortunately this is the era of the diminishing artistry. What was once a single songwriter/producer that place dozens of songs has turned into a mass army of several songwriters, a producer, publicist, lyricists for a single song. As we progress thru the years, we will begin to loose more and more of our iconic music. As there is nothing and no one out there anymore who can fill the shoes of those along the lines of Bowie, The Who, The Stones, Springsteen, Mellencamp, Aerosmith, among other innovators of the era. In the words of David “Bowie” Jones, “Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles, I’m feeling very still, And I think my spaceship knows which way to go, Tell my wife I love her very much she knows…Far above the Moon, Planet Earth is blue, And there’s nothing I can do.”