Our mission, principles, and terms

The Bobtail Yearlings aim to be the most essential musical act of the 21st century! To do so, we’ll lead the interdependence revolution while amassing a solid body of innovative works.

Those who deplore elitist gatekeeping aren’t being forthright. They’re still driven to compete⁠— just on terms more favorable to them and less visible to others: being born rich, having industry know-how or insider connections, etc. So the Bobtail Yearlings sit within the one camp that defends elitist gatekeeping⁠— namely, “rockism”⁠— and we’ll make it safe for others to do the same.

An artist’s likelihood of historical remembrance can be measured by how much their talents, originality, and courage inspire the envy of other artists, relative to their fame. Given such, the Bobtail Yearlings will evaluate each work of ours by asking, “Is this what others would care to study or enjoy most, out of all that’s come before and all else that’s out there?”

To avoid sharing their earnings, indie artists devote time and energy toward business matters that could be handled by partners instead. And some take this even further by having fewer bandmates, if any. But what competitive edge could a solo and part-time artist possibly have, to make them the best in the world?

Which is why the Bobtail Yearlings will readily partner with others, freeing us to focus on the craft. And every so often we’ll bring in a new bandmate, allowing us to keep creating works greater than the sum of our parts.

In classical music, the best artists got better with age. Beethoven, for one, composed his magnum opus in the final years of his life. But this isn’t yet the case in rock! So the Bobtail Yearlings plan to be a working band for as long as Bennett is alive; there won’t be a hiatus. And we’ll make sure our best works always lie ahead of us.

If the Bobtail Yearlings are to achieve our mission, then others should find it fulfilling to work with us. So each Yearling will aspire to be a model of emotional intelligence, by treating others with kindness and respect.

This means we’ll only criticize ideologies, methods, and systems⁠— never anyone as a private individual. After all, we’d rather win them over to our side. And if we ever end up on the wrong side ourselves, we’ll admit our mistake and make amends.

Mr. Rogers told us that when times are bad, we can look for the helpers. Well, times are bad in rock now… so the Bobtail Yearlings promise to help! We’ll do so by sharing our creative tools, such as Bobtail Method and Bobtail Dominoes; encouraging others to improve upon our inventions, like “doublespeaker rhyme” and “spatial amnesticism”; and collaborating with our fellow BYCombo bands.

Bennett is the band leader, at least for now, since this is the de facto reality. He’ll decide on the overall vision for the Bobtail Yearlings.

For each of our business partners, a different Yearling will serve as the main point of contact. One of us might work with the publisher of Bobtail Method, for example, and another, with the game developer of Bobtail Dominoes.

Each Yearling will also help to ensure the success of BYCombo in its early years.

In addition to mastering our respective instruments, each Yearling will take on a creative role. For Bennett, it’ll be to ensure that each song is a “hum-’n-strum.” In other words, when simply humming its melody and strumming its chords, it should still be enjoyable both to perform and to hear.

A pair of Yearlings will score and arrange parts as needed; one will master harmony, and the other, counterpoint. Yet another Yearling will master sonic textures and effects. The remaining Yearlings will take on the additional role of writing lyrics.

Each Yearling will be given priority to sing lead or backing vocals on any song for which they’re a major contributor.

Since the consequential works of this century will almost certainly combine different mediums in unprecedented ways, we’ll also be open to bringing in new bandmates who work in other artistic mediums.

Each Yearling will work forty hours a week to benefit the band. This work will mostly be self-directed⁠— practicing one’s instrument, for example. Naturally, recording and touring count as band work. Of course, we’ll take holidays, vacations, and sick days off.

For each project, a Yearling or two will be assigned the role of project manager. Some projects may require certain bandmates to learn new skills in another domain, within reasonable expectations. If this is the case, the project manager will work with them to ensure that needed resources are provided.

The Bobtail Yearlings will only ever collaborate with other artists as a full band. And no Yearling will engage in solo projects.

Loyalties over royalties! Everyone who’s a Yearling during the creation of a project will be given equal credit and payment. Of course, we’re free to speak on who exactly contributed which parts.

Earnings from live performances and extracurricular projects will also be split evenly. Since Yearling’s Bobtail was made while Bennett was the sole bandmate, its royalties will be treated like earnings from an extracurricular project.

The Bobtail Yearlings believe in the importance of gender diversity, and we’ll do our best to achieve it when recruiting new bandmates.

We also recognize the need to juggle band duties with personal responsibilities. So if bringing a life partner into the band can help a longtime Yearling maintain their commitment, then we’ll do our best to make this work.

Hopefully, we’ll never fire one of our own. But if this ever needs to happen, the band leader will consult with every other Yearling before making a final decision.

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