RE: [Harp-L] death of live music?

["Bill Hines" <billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don't put it on the college kids - since both of my kids are now at a
major university (We are....Penn State) and I take *every* opportunity
to hang out with them up there (unofficial kappa krappa zappa frat
member), I can tell you this - the college kids PREFER live music. The
bars are packed up there, blues bars too. They hire bands for their
parties, not DJs. 

The problem is the many folk that basically die inside when they leave
college. You know, the mortgage, kids, car payment, nice haircut and
business casual clothes, busting ass to please the MAN so you can meet
your obligations, falling into bed exhausted every night from the sheer
brainwashing of it and being beaten down by it all...

...so next thing you know you have transformed from the stoned kid
having a blast grooving to some horrible but passionate band at the frat
party into some leaden wooden dancing comb-over or toupee-wearing zombie
at the local bar because there's some DJ playing some song you used to
live by (mony mony, mony mony...), bringing faint reminders of something
that was good in life, long ago and far away (I won't say 'distant fog
of time or anything corny like that ok?). Sorry, but I just described
many of my former friends. Me: "hey this guy jason ricci is playing
tonight, he's great, come on out.."  Them: "nah bill, We're pretty
tired, and desparate housewives is on anyway and we're gonna have to
stay up way past our bedtime to watch that as it is. We usually crash by
9 these days".

At our jam though, there are the survivors. Packed with lots of young
kids who have found a mecca of sorts. Grooving right there with the
middle-age survivors of the nuclear attack I describe above, hiding in
our safe smokey loud live music bomb shelter on Thursday nights,
greeting each other with silent looks of acknowledgement and tipped beer
bottles in half-empty bars featuring damn good blues acts.

Smo-Jo should have put a big one toward the top of his list - when the
drinking age turned from 18 to 21, which is stupid to me. "yeah go get
your ass shot off for GW but don't drink any beer son...". Yeah, I know
about the casualty rate with kids under 21 drinking and driving. Guess
what folks - they still do it. I still remember me and my high school
pals jamming the NJ bars back in 76 for any band that sounded remotely
close to Springsteen, well we were 17 then but "close enough", heh. We
sure supported live music though.

Bob Boyd said it well. Any coincidence that his band plays more of the
type of music that young'uns and middle age folk are willing to go hear
live - i.e. Buffet, jam type music, etc and the fact that they're
packing them in and getting lots of calls? I hate to say it kids, but
yeah sometimes you gotta put your pride aside and fire up that kick-ass
version of Mustang Sally to get the club owner's attention and have the
patrons demanding you back. Do what you gotta do, and while you're at it
slip in some Little Walter or do some tail draggin' like the Wolf, maybe
someone will "get it".

Well, I'm off to see Meat Loaf after I finish this 12-pack (not driving,
learnt that lesson long ago), this should be interesting. Maybe I'll
bring my C harp and guss the big sumbitch and see what he got.

Bill Hines
Hershey, PA

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Roscoharp@xxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 12:41 PM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] death of live music?


Hey list,
 
I've been polling musicians I know all over the country about an issue
that  
is pretty important to those of us who love playing out in front of
music 
fans.  In my area of the country, (upper mid-west) long established live
music 
clubs are switching to DJs, karaoke, comedy, etc. This trend seems to
have  
really accelerated in the last couple years. College age fans who drive
the  music 
scene aren't very interested in what I'll call 'real' music. There are
fewer 
places to play & many of the venues that are left are only interested
in 
cover bands. Original bands are often grouped as multi-act shows where
no one  
band makes much money. There are quite a few regional blues bands out
there  
chasing a few low pay gigs. I'm not very in touch with the jazz scene,
but  it 
seems that only the big names are drawing. Very few clubs of any kind
seem to 
have a built in crowd. 
 
I've seen a big turn around from even 3 or 4 years ago.
. 
 
Is the live music scene at the club level dying?
Are casual  music fans dumbed down to the level of generic hip  hop, 
programmed pop beats, & soul-less country?
Is it just my  imagination?
What are y'all seeing?
 
Later,
Rosco

_may.be  au.gust_ (http://www.maybeaugust.com/)   website

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