Following musicians on Twitter is a fun way to get a peek into the life and minds of some of my favorite artists. If you haven’t seen it yet, there is a gigantic spreadsheet of musicians on Twitter. But it’s (increasingly) hard to find artists who are interesting to follow.
In general, my criteria for who to follow are: i) it’s an artist that I like and respect, ii) their Twitter postings do not come via a PR firm, iii) they are more than just lists of upcoming gigs, iv) their posts are reasonably literate and grammatical, and (most importantly, and also most subjectively), they have interesting things to say.
Here are my three favourite artists that I’m following on Twitter:
@tedleo (Ted Leo, he of the Pharmacists): Not surprisingly, the hyper-articulate songwriter writes interesting Twitter posts, mostly a mix of the musical, political and the quotidian.
@trentreznor (Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails): I think one of my favorite tweets ever is Trent Reznor’s plaintive and clueless (and entirely leg-pulling) query about his screen going blue and freezing up, which I imagine elicited much sympathy and helpful advice.
@senatorcain (Chris Cain of We Are Scientists): Chris Cain’s Twitter postings are exactly as random as you would expect from him. They add a dash of surrealism to my day.
And the top three people I’d love to see on Twitter:
David Bowie. The real one, not the fake one with one update and nearly 12,000 followers.
John Darnielle, of the Mountain Goats. Although I’m not sure that the notably verbose Darnielle could say anything in less than 140 characters.
John K. Samson, of the Weakerthans. An excellent contender for the laurel of Canada’s Poet-Laureate, once Leonard Cohen decides he no longer wants the job.
Your turn – who do you follow, and why? And who would you like to see on Twitter?
MP3: Ted Leo – Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson cover) [buy]
zed equals zee 