Diamond is pitching a project tentatively titled “The Living Room.” He believes the show will capture the spontaneity between diverse musicians that Lilith fostered and bring it to that most un-spontaneous of media: television.

Beth Orton, a musical iconoclast in her own right, is the likely host.

“I guess Lilith Fair, after the three years I was with it, inspired the idea for me that artists are willing to share each other’s light and participate with each other,” Diamond told Pollstar. “Part of it is to create an environment that allows that, and Lilith allowed that.

“I’m interested in capturing spontaneity. Lilith happens to be an easy thread to draw when Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls and everyone are noodling with each other,” Diamond explained.

“That noodling part is the spontaneity and that noodling part is what I’m trying to capture.”

Diamond, president of New York-based Little Big Man Booking agency, envisions bringing together artists from vastly differing musical genres for collaborations, without benefit of rehearsal, for a monthly cable series complemented by periodic mini-tours and Internet events.

Examples of pairings Diamond proposes include techno-folk Orton with ex-Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, troubadour Tom Waits or genre-blending Beck, with whom Orton recently appeared on tour. Techo wiz William Orbit, Planet Drum creator Mickey Hart or Wyclef Jean have been suggested as partners for McLachlan.

Growing A Community

Part of Diamond’s vision is to nurture creative communities and cultures as an outgrowth of presenting artists and fans with new musical challenges.

“Sometimes, I think we’ve fallen off the track so far formatically that we don’t challenge ourselves, and don’t challenge our audience. This feels like an outgrowth in an organic and natural way to create a social music scene not only for artists but for fans,” he said.

To that end, Diamond would gather together some of his featured artists for up to four mini-tours per year, bringing the experience directly to fans.

“I do like this idea of taking it out and regionalizing it. There are very few artists that leave the audience feeling like they’ve been participants. I think kids who attended Grateful Dead shows felt like they were participating in a greater whole.”

“As big as the band was, it was a culture. It was a community. I think that’s part of this, to build and foster a culture and a community that isn’t driven purely by whether [an artist] is on the radio.”

Diamond would also use the Internet to connect fans and artists in ways beyond concert video and chats.

“I’d rather listen to artists speak of the experience of playing with other artists, or the excitement of the upcoming show. I think it makes for a better conversation than just an idle Web chat. There’s a focal point,” Diamond explained.

Several television outlets have expressed interest in “The Living Room,” according to Diamond, who says the project is a property of Little Big Man and does not involve any of his Lilith collaborators.

Why Not Tuvan Throat Singers?

Diamond is clearly enthusiastic about the possibilities.

“We’ve come into this world where shows are [packaged] like, ‘Well, there’s a guitar band, so we should have another guitar band open.’ Why not Tuvan throat singers? We keep dumbing the audience down,” he lamented.

“Somebody like Beth Orton, who traverses between folk music and techno/electronic music, is a great example. Her peers are artists like Ron Sexsmith and Chemical Brothers. The poles don’t get any more diverse. “Look at all these artists who have that incredible ability to bend [a genre] and twist it and mangle it. And yet we never challenge them.”

Diamond relishes the challenge for himself, too.

“If I don’t creatively challenge myself – if I don’t creatively bring ideas to my clients – then what am I doing it for?” he said.

“There’s a lot of TV channels out there. There’s a lot of room on the Web. And there’s certainly a massive, massive amount of really talented and creative people who deserve a forum and deserve an outlet.”