[Hype Hype Hooray] How to Coax a Critic

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Hype Hype Hooray is a biweekly “critique” of the music scene and the blogosphere that feeds it, told through the lens of Jamie Hale, a journalist who likes music about as much as he likes scotch and a firm leather chair. Please enjoy with a grain of salt.

One day, out of the blue, I got a Facebook friend request from somebody named Daphne Lee Martin. “God dammit,” I grumbled. “Who the hell is this?” I clicked through to Daphne’s profile, wondering why some woman in New England would friend some dude a thousand miles away. I found my answer nestled in Martin’s “About” section: “Songwriter.”

“It’s a trap!” I screamed to myself. “She doesn’t want to be my friend, she just wants publicity!” Theres a lot of shameless self-promotion I’ll put up with in this world, but dubious friend requests just don’t cut it. “Not today, sister,” I muttered, the cursor hovering over the blue “ignore” button. I wanted to click it, I really did, but something stopped me.

The girl was bold enough to friend a stranger, shouldn’t I give her a chance? What if her gesture was some olive branch between artist and critic? What kind of person would I be to reject it? Also, I mean, what if she’s really good?

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