Dear friends,

I hope this will help explain why it is so much easier for everybody if you would kindly please contact my manager when inviting me, particularly when inviting me to sing.  I understand the reluctance of some, especially NGOs, cause groups and ‘civil society’.

My sense is that the conventional wisdom is:

1. Managers are “middle men” that jack up costs and create an unnecessary step, if not barrier. 

2. “Cause-oriented” artists owe it to cause-oriented groups to eagerly support their advocacies by performing on the organizers’ terms, if not gratis.

3. It takes very little effort, if not a lot of fun, for musicians/singers to make music.

All of these are in fact true in many cases, though in mine:

1. That somebody else takes care of my calendar and deals with different groups in my behalf makes me more focused and a lot more productive.  As to costs, I make my living mainly from writing jingles, not from singing.  (I make no apologies, that’s the quickest I can come up with).  The rest of my time is spread over looking after three children and a few involvements, chiefly Kaalagad, an ecumenical community advocating quite a menu of concerns. 

As well as writing and producing songs and other stuffs.  We then make them all available for everybody, fully accessible and freely downloadable from our little webpage garygranada.com.  (It is but a drop in an ocean of social issues, yes, but at least it’s an attempt at “oido socialism”.)  Producing these things is quite expensive, and I get no funding from agencies.  One way of bridging the gap is to raise the money from my “singing career”.  In the end, it is cost effective for everybody.  I sing, I get paid, we raise the money to produce these albums, and the whole community can avail of them without having to spend much.

2. Many of us in fact are involved in all sorts of socially beneficial causes.  Noel Cabangon sits in the board of FDC, Bayang Barrios is immersed in farmers’ issues, Cooky Chua supports children’s rights and welfare.  Among other things.

I think it might be better if we let them figure it out for themselves, rather than expect them to support every single initiative by performing pro bono.  Besides, all of these issues are intertwined one way or another anyway.  By supporting artists, you support their advocacies, hence enhance the general picture.  Indeed, artists as a whole are quite sensitive to social realities and are eager to be of some help somehow, but let us leave it to them to make the choice, in much the same way that NGOs specify theirs.

3. It sure is a lot of fun, but that is half of the story.  It only looks easy because of years of creating, honing and long rehearsals.  By supporting musicians, you encourage and enable them to continue sharpening their tools.  Which is good for everybody.

Thank you for your time,

Gary Granada

PS. My manager is Yna Miranda-Dalisay

Her cellphone number is 09209047929

Email address is ynadalisay@yahoo.com

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