Thanks Margaux, I have never been good at navigating his site for some reason. I always found it hard to find things. I did find this on
one of the pages...
Full Disclosure:
As of April 1st, Gray Charles (the blog, the man) is no longer under contract with Sony/BMG, Taylor Hicks, The Firm or anyone else.
Concerns, comments, questions or kudos on this topic should be addressed to:
dancingmonkey at graycharles dot com
Do I owe someone an explanation? A story perhaps? A clean and tidy wrapping? I would suggest that the story and the explanation already happened didn’t it? We made it do what it do and now there’s just no more doing to be done.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The header at the top of the GC page makes me sad...
It USED to be all about the music...
Taylor can't run it for sure...he can't even get into a moderated chat online!!!
Taylor can't run it for sure...he can't even get into a moderated chat online!!!
Amy -- now you shouldn't feel bad at all the problems you've had with THHQ, Taylor can't get in either!
Yes, it's pretty bad when you can't get onto your own site! LOL!
Very confusing at Gray's these days. It's up, it's down, it's a mystery..
This was a quote he left when he briefly opened the site today. As far
as I know Touristas is still open, but for archiving mainly. I guess they
don't want people to be adding to the threads there....
This one goes out to all the tiny people...
What matters is that you want to see and make and do, on as grand a
scale as you want, regardless of what the tiny voices of tiny people say.
Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could
take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me,
and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book
until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have
made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a
f--kload of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding
and forgiving and accepting, but Christ, that is what matters. What
matters is saying yes.
- Dave Eggers
does he
mean he wished that he was never snarky?
No, I'm sure Gray wishes many things about the last year but I seriously doubt that would make the list. If the situation at the boogie hadn't happened we might have found out tonight exactly what he did wish he had done differently.
He had said he would address Duff's question about that in a last Tourista's discussion Tuesday before he locked the door. But the trolls with many names ruined that.
The quote is the same message he left last June when he shut down the first time. A conversation back then among some of those most familiar with Gray makes me believe the part he would still like you to take away with you is the plea for tolerance and open-mindedness:
Do not dismiss a book until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a f--kload of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and forgiving and accepting, but Christ, that is what matters.
........................ What matters is saying yes.
Haven't felt like posting anywhere about anything anymore -
still too angry/sad/confused over the way GC ended - over the way Gray was treated - over the anger directed at Taylor - but the most over things I learned about a few people I thought I understood - [no one from here just to be clear] It has been interesting to roam around the various sites and see what people are saying now - - would give a pretty penny to have captured the discussions on both GC and the boogie thread before they pooffed.
Just for some reason felt like offering another perspective on the reason Gray used the Eggers quote
and to say how much I regret not going back to the boogie when I started to yesterday - - my 2 cents wouldn't have changed anything but it would have felt damn good to say what I've held back for weeks out of respect for Gray's guidelines -
will never completely understand why he didn't just deny access to a couple of people - it would have made such a difference - - - - -
I hope Gray will remember how many people were supporting him and Taylor once he breathes a bit - - and remembers he said he would find a less expensive home for the archives - - the loss of those is perhaps the saddest thing of all
hope everyone is OK with me venting a bit - guess it just felt comfortable - or maybe safe - or maybe I was just ready - - thanks muchly for indulging me
AH
I hope you will not mind if I allow myself one more indulgence. This was my post in response to the long discussion that took place on Touristas - - for some reason I decided to save it - - I wish I had saved a few others that were so much better than mine too - - I know the NESP are loyal to Taylor but there are a lot of nomads out there right now looking for info on what happened with GC and thought this might set a tone if some happen to find this site - - - hope you agree - - but if the Admins think it is too much and delete there will be no comment from me - - AH
Tourista MetaGray thread GrayCharles 4-16-07
CommentAuthor AgingHippie
just came back to post what I'd been gnawing on ever since I read through the weekend discussion and seems I'm too long winded as usual
There were a lot of people I truly respect and care about very much in this cyber-community involved in the discussion who said exactly what they felt - - so I am going to say what I've been thinking while reading and then re-reading through everything posted while I was off line with the hope it will also be accepted – the first time through I was angry – the second time through I was in tears - - and I’ve spent most of the night figuring out if I wanted to say anything or just avoid the whole thing, toss the AH name in the dust bin and go back to the real world - - - but towards the end of the discussion things looked a little brighter
cosmic charlie -
you nailed the bottom line for me – Taylor is giving us the only thing he owes us during every show whether he's healthy, sick, feeling happy or kicked in the gut by God only knows what pressures he deals with every single day - -
there seems to be a lot of hoping that Taylor is reading all the venting – I hope not - - Taylor can take all the negative stuff because he has " tough skin " idea has always made me shake my head in disbelief - -
No One can take the undeserved beating he has from the media, from the AI clowns, and the complaints, no matter how well intentioned, from his own fan base and not feel it and be hurt by it - -
no one can constantly deal with large numbers of people wanting a piece of you and not feel worn out emotionally and mentally and yes even physically - -
no one can spend their life under a microscope 24/7 and not do things that upset, confound, and invite critical Monday morning quarterbacking from folks who do not know actual circumstances, what was available for info or the options when decisions were made
I do think Taylor is smart, is a kind and generous person, and I do think he cares about what is happening to this blog community but I do not think he is omniscient or omnipotent - - I think he is a 30 year old kid – mature and wise beyond his years in many ways –
but still a young man whose life has been turned upside down to a degree he could never have anticipated or planned for - -
who is dealing with a learning curve that would scare the crap out of most of us sitting in our comfortably familiar environments watching what we each perceive to be his life play out on our computers - -
who most likely has to make more life / career affecting decisions in a week than many of us will make in a decade - -
who has little, if any, time to just be alone with his thoughts or write a song - -
and to top it off he has to weigh every word he says and worry about who to trust when deals and advice are offered
does all that come with the territory ? absolutely - - and we’ve seen how happy Taylor is on that stage when he looks out at a packed house and heard /read him saying how much he loves what he does - - but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t damn hard for him right now
I also realize that 99% of you truly do care for Taylor and that you are worried about what the break-up of the GC community is going to mean for him - - so am I - - and have been almost from the time GC became official because I never thought that was going to prove to be a good thing for the long term – or maybe it was just fear that what had happened once would happen again
this is ultimately Gray’s site to do with as he pleases and undoubtedly it was a hard decision to walk away from something so successful that he built from scratch – it was above and beyond to offer the insights to help us understand
when Taylor did the audioblog it was probably on impulse – usually a bad move [says she who knows that from experience but still does it herself way too often ] – and he would have delivered if he could have and maybe still will in another way - -
and as far as all the other stuff he and his people are being criticized for - -
do we even know for sure who is running what parts of his websites ?? who is controlling the purse strings for those sites or for marketing ??
there are a lot of puzzle pieces missing yet we try to draw conclusions - - and if Taylor is calling All the shots then consider this - -
the Business named Taylor Hicks is still getting it’s feet under it and is probably far more diverse and complicated than we can imagine - - I have been through the birth of two businesses – seldom is anything ever as simple as it looks on paper or works the way it is supposed to in theory – from equipment disasters to people not doing what they promised on time there are always snafus - - and I’ve also been in the position of criticizing an organization from the outside only to find myself doing a 180 when I was on the inside and had all the facts in front of me - - -
it looked like now that all the concerns were vented people were back to saying they will still support Taylor for the long haul - - I pray that is true - - I keep remembering that young man who woke up something in me with his voice and his “ Gimmie a chance “ - - - - he still would appreciate that don’t you think ??
at the very least hang around to see if mucho-overzealous has solid reasons to ask for your patience
sorry for the novel and also if I’ve ever offended anyone unintentionally – I really do care a great deal for all of you and will miss everything – the music, the sometimes brilliant insights, the occasional “parties”, and even some of the battles because I learned from each of you
guess I should sign off as Mother Hen now that I’ve read this after letting it sit for a few hours
ciao all
Hey AH, your posts are always thoughtful and well written. There is
so much crap going on re this whole GC situation and I think it's sad.
For me, while I wasn't often a poster at Gray's, I did appreciate his efforts to keep us in the loop with Taylor info and his music info. I
know he worked hard on the site, and I think he deserved a nice send off from his fans, not all the craziness (I wasn't there, but heard enough to know). I wish he had somehow announced a farewell party
for his regulars and just poofed the negative ones.
I do hope
he has preserved the archives and will share them with appropriate people when the time is right.
A bunch of them were on Taylor's HQ today and it deteriorated rapidly.
I felt the need to post a response or two re their comments about TMS. I am a mod there and I get pissed at the stereotypes of Adora's site, which she works so hard on. TMS is not for everyone, but their tone and name calling and acting as Taylor & Gray's voice made me insane
I think it's great that people feel safe and comfortable to post what they think here without worrying about being censored or judged. It's
nice to have one board where people act like adults (lol except for
when tossing mullets on beaches and on NESP adventures where
we get a pass) and can have discussions about this stuff rationally.
AH you set a nice tone and maybe NESP will gain new members that are like minded-thanks!