Footnote: Alt-rock gets academic
Caroline passed along this tidbit that Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker frontman David Lowery will be teaching a music business course at the University of Georgia this spring. There doesn’t seem to be any info on Wikipedia or anywhere else about if/where Lowery went to school — unless you count graduating with honors from founding class of the University of College Rock — so he’s basically the opposite of a postacademic. If you didn’t know any better, you might ask what Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker ever did to make Lowery an expert about the music biz, though it looks like Cracker’s Kerosene Hat album went Platinum! But seriously, I’m betting that you learn a lot about the industry after 25 years of navigating all its BS and trying to make ends meet as an act that’s just big enough to keep on going and going. And Cracker’s “Low” was pretty ubiquitous for a while, so Lowery probably still makes some residuals if it’s picked up for commercials or as random clip music. Here’s a press release from Lowery and UGA.
Post Academic 
on January 16, 2011 on 12:47 pm
Cracker got screwed by Virgin, left their contract early, and set up their own record company to release their own stuff (along with other bands and remasters of older Camper stuff).
on January 17, 2011 on 7:38 am
I’m not opposed to experts in a business field being brought in as teachers — although, I have to wonder what certification they go through? I mean, it’s the whole problem of getting people to recognizing that, as far as good teaching goes, knowledge doesn’t mean jack squat if you can’t communicate it.
My only complaint is that it doesn’t go both ways. It’s easier and easier for non-certified ‘experts’ to teach at colleges, but society doesn’t seem very welcoming when teachers would like to apply their own, pretty damned good skills to other arenas!