ourINTERVIEWS

Ted Lehman

Ted Lehman first arrived on the music scene some 30 years ago, lifting his head and hand to songwriting and performing the clubs and coffee shops of western New York state. His act "Pepperwood Greene" was considered a musician's band leading with Ted's original material and a host of different accompanists. Then in the 80's, having moved to Georgia, Ted began working with a fellow artist, Randy Bishop. More songs ensued. fast forward to 1998 when Ted Lehman bursts forth online. With a staggering amount of material and a his zeal for self-promotion, Ted became a "cyberstar" in no time, garnering to date some 90,000 listens from mp3.com alone, not to mention a healthy number of CD sales. I talked with Ted about a few things including the third round of his Cover Contest, which has some of the web's hottest indies covering his material...

Ted: OK Mb here I am. What's up? Is this where you want me?
Mb: Right where I want you Ted… everything you say will be held against you.
Ted: I already know that...LOL
Mb: Story of your life Ted?
Ted: Lately for sure.
Mb: Having troubles on the Bulletin Boards?
Ted: The BBs, my business, my kids, my wife, shall I go on?
Mb: lol
Ted : I'll live
Mb: BTW... the interview has started should I edit the part about your wife?
Ted: Naaaa… lol
Mb: So tell me about this round of the Ted Lehman Cover Contest.
Ted: We have a great contest going Mb. Over the last 2 years I've had about 18 artists cover some of my songs. A few times we've had listeners vote for their favorite cover. This is round 3. Only the past winners are not participating, so there are a lot of songs to listen to.
Mb: Who's new this time around?
Ted: Do you want the whole list?
Mb: I don't know... do you want my readers to know?
Ted: Sure why not. I want all the artists who took the time to record one of my songs as much hype as I can give them.
Mb: Well, spam away...
Ted: C2's (Claudio Campa) covers "Just Friends", Ellis' version of "Give Your Love", Thomas Regin his version of "Just Friends", Diane Davis covers "Ready For You", Rhonda Watson's version of "Give Your Love", Bob Savage's just released "Richmond Avenue", Don Campbell covers "Old Friends", Bob Greenwades cover of "I WANT MY MP3", Tessie & the Chromosomes cover "I WANT MY MP3", Just released Steele's version of "Livin on the Fringe" and new covers are W/trem's version of "Richmond Avenue", Mouth Reliant covers "I WANT MY MP3" Bob Greenwade has released "Richmond Avenue", just released is Dr. Oakroot's version of "Alpha Blues", Bent Twig Productions cover of "Old Friends" and Eric Steffensen (The Tarotkid) just posted his cover of "Aviator".
Mb: So what's the best part of this contest for you? It seems like a lot of work?
Ted: The most recent cover was recorded by Eric Steffensen, the "Tarot Kid", it's the Lehman-Bishop Song "Aviator". He's really done a cool arrangement.
Mb: Is that the best part? Cool musicians doing cool versions of your songs?
Ted: What I enjoy the most about all the covers is seeing how the other artists create new arrangements, change genres, create new counter melodies. I think it's really fun to hear how the same song changes with each artist.
Mb: Do you sell a "cover" CD too?
Ted: All the artists who participate in the contest contribute their track to the Legacy 4 U CD Charity project.
Mb: Tell me more about that. Proceeds go to...?
Ted: All the artist's proceeds from the sale of Legacy 4 U CD's go to the American Cancer Society. Unfortunately only about 30% of the money gets to the charity, due to my inexperience and resources. However we are going to donate over $800 dollars this year and have sold over 100 CD's. It's not huge money but every little bit helps. Legacy 4 U does a lot to raise awareness too. That's very important.
Mb: So where does the other 70% go?
Ted: Because we use MP3.com and their on-line CD program the other 70% goes to them, for manufacture shipping, whatever. When I originally set up this program, Legacy was supposed to get 50% of CD sales and it was earning money every time someone played a Legacy song. Mp3.com changed that, so we earn less, but we don't give up. Legacy 4 U is in the memory of my first wife Diane who died of breast cancer in '92. It's been a great way of honoring her memory.
Mb: It's very good work Ted.
Ted: It's made me very proud. I think the other artists feel good about it too.
Mb: How long have you been at mp3.com anyway?
Ted: I got to MP3.com in late '98. I'm an old timer by web standards.
Mb: I remember seeing you on the boards when I first got there in the winter of '99. Still pretty active on them?
Ted: Yes. I am different than a lot of artists at MP3.com. As a songwriter, I am more interested in getting hot artists to cover my songs, rather than looking for a recording/performing career my self. So a place with 180,000 artists is a good place for me to be, I think.
Mb: Let's talk about the bulletin boards some more.
Ted: What would you like to know?
Mb: Well, being as active as you are, you've seen things change. What changes have you seen? ... Personalities, attitudes, styles?
Ted: Wow, alot has changed. One of the most consistent things at MP3.com are the BB's. The charts have changed. Artist compensation ideas and packages have changed. So has the owners of MP3.com, and many of the original people have gone too. The BB's are filled with artists who use the boards to talk about similar musical interests, and promote their projects. People come and go. Except for me...LOL. But the basic chatter remains the same.
Mb: Knowing a bit of your history, I'd say those were very diplomatic answers.
Ted: What do you mean?
Mb: What about the artists that may use them to flame you or... me, for that matter.
Ted: Yes, when people are fighting on the BB it's called a flame war. I have always had a reputation of avoiding conflict on the boards until this year. Since September, I have been harassed by some people and as a result I am gaining a reputation as a flamer myself. I don't much care for that.
Mb: What's the problem?
Ted: These people make it very difficult to do what you want to do on the BB. They use fake names, so they don't have to be personally accountable. They make accusations, threats, use inappropriate language, in inappropriate ways. As soon as you try to defend yourself you look as bad as they do. It is a very frustrating problem. I have been writing legal@mp3.com for months but have yet to see a response. The same guy is still there.
Mb: So what do you do, ignore them?
Ted: Yeah, but you can only do that for so long when they are stalking you. Then you respond and boom. (silence)
Mb: OK... moving on... we've heard from Ted the philanthropist, Ted the Spamking... what about Ted the songwriter/musician? What makes him tick?
Ted: I wish I knew. He's a guy who loves music, has a passion for the art of creating a song. He's a guy who loves to sing. He loves playing blues guitar and harmonica, who wishes he had more time for the music he loves so much. I have a 16 track digital studio at home and I record as many of my songs as I can. I have not performed live in a very long time though. I'd like to do some performing again one of these days.
Mb: Is he frustrated?
Ted: Yes and no. I have never really made much money playing music, but I do quite well with my promotional products business. It gives me a great deal of freedom, my day gig, and I appreciate that. One of these days the right artist or project is going to find the right Ted tune and things will take off. That's my dream at least. Until then I'm mostly pretty happy, and frustrated...

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