So, Why "This?"

With the recent launch of my new website, I noted previously that this blog would begin to look more like a blog. So this post starts the "blog" era . . .

A lot of people change their names when they become professional performers. Nobody names their kid Sting (well, maybe they do now). In my situation, I started to develop a reputation fairly young. Back then, I was a drummer, and a few people knew me as a singer-songwriter. I was known by my given name. The problem is, I have a really common name. How common?

Most people in the United States are aware of the Bruce Smith who played professional American football with Buffalo and Washington. But not only is he not my only notable namesake, he isn't even the only notable football player who shares the name. Bruce "Boo" Smith was a running back who won the Heisman Trophy in 1941 as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He served in the Second World War and went on to play professionally with Green Bay and Los Angeles.

As for musicians, probably the best known is the English drummer who played in post-punk groups in the late 70s and early 80s. He's still active in the current incarnation of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd. One note: his Wikipedia discography incorrectly includes an appearance on an early Guided by Voices album, Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia. Actually, that was me -- someday I'll get around to that experience. I don't make a big deal about it, because that's not necessarily what I want to be known for. Anyway, what I do now is probably about as far removed from GbV as one can get. So let that Bruce have the credit, at least for now.

There are Bruce Smiths who sell insurance, perform surgery, read the news, and more. So you see my dilemma. The problem is, it's the name my parents gave me, and the name under which I achieved what little notoriety I did, before getting out of music to pursue a "legitimate" career and raise a family. I tried establishing an identity in the 2000s as "BESTunes" (using my initials, of course). But it never caught on, and besides there was somebody using that name who tuned airguns.

Then it finally hit me. If I'm not "that" Bruce Smith, or that one, or that one . . . maybe I can be "this" Bruce Smith! And that's how it came to be. Frankly, I'm amazed that no one beat me to it. When I set up this blog, I was surprised to find the subdomain still available on Blogspot. I was even more surprised to find the actual domain name was still available. But there it is. Long may it wave.