The Rock Star
Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 7:59AM The Rock Star. I’m talking the real Rock Star. Not the poseur. Not the one who’s faking it. Not the phony one with no soul. Not the one who’s just acting. Those are called boy bands.
The Rock Star I’m describing is the one who plays from his heart, from the depths of his emotional substance. He’s the one up there on stage, bleeding for his audience. He’s bearing his soul, and exorcising his emotional demons in front of tens, or hundreds, or thousands. A model of vulnerability, letting it all hang out.
It is through that vulnerability that he connects to us. He’s showing us who and what he is in this moment, allowing us to peer inside, and see all of him. Real and authentic and doing it in front of as many people as he can.
Like his music or not, that kind of exposure takes courage. That kind of exposure has Thrasos (in Greek mythology, Thrasos was the personified concept of boldness). Pouring his soul in front of a crowd has a gravitas that we connect to. The Rock Star is a vast spectacle of human behavior and human emotion. He writes music from the depths of his soul and then has the audacity to perform it on stage, to share it with the world. For all to see. How fuckin’ outrageous.
No wonder we love the Rock Star.
©2013 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved.
Being Yourself, Music 
Reader Comments (2)
Rumor has it that Thrasos played the trumpet. But that was before the Stratocaster was invented. Rock stars aren't the only ones that bleed on stage. Why do you think Louis Armstrong always had a handkerchief?
Rock on, kids!
Roger that, Glen, and duly noted. All musicians, in fact all performers, who come from the heart and pour everything they have into their performance, are in my vernacular, Rock Stars. Including you. And me. Great to hear from you, as always.
Clint