I heard a singer on the radio the other day call himself a recording artist. Language has changed a lot over the years. For instance, long ago, the word 'concert' was reserved for describing classical music venues. It seemed almost profane the first time I heard the word being applied to rock music shows. Now it seems that everyone is an artist.
I leave you with a question. Is a singer who was born with a God given, natural voice but who lacks the talent to creatively write music, and lacks the poetic and linquistic skills to create beautiful lyrics for verse and song, an artist? Or is he/she simply a good singer.
How far can we stretch the meaning of this beautiful word which dominates our lives? Does proliferation of the word somehow diminish our labour and effort to uniquely interpret our world? I have heard artists describe their paintings as their "babies". And, this so appropriately describes the creative, birthing, process which seems to me what art is about.
Maybe I'm pretty loose with the term artist but I think a talented singer can make an art of a song's interpretation. I think that it benefits us all to recognize art when we see it - it can be in unlikely places. I married a mechanic and his artistic expression is very different than mine with brush and paper!
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