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ch-scene - Re: Undergraduates and Local Music

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Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

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  • From: william brafford <randyunplugged AT yahoo.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Undergraduates and Local Music
  • Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 22:54:19 -0800 (PST)

I'm going to reply to a few people in one post...


--- grady <grady AT ibiblio.org> wrote:

> And I would argue that it *does* help to get the
> kids out to see bands
> like that because it's not a binary thing; it's a
> progression. I could
> easily outline for you a six-month course that ran
> something like this:
>
> International Orange-->Rosebuds-->Sames-->Audubon
> Park-->Hotel
> Motel-->Cantwell Gomez Jordan, where each step is a
> definite step, yes,
> but the connections are clear & the steps seem
> approachable.

Believe it or not, my first local show was Spencer
Acuff, although that wasn't the type of music to which
I mostly listened. Back in Charlotte, I got into a
band called Almighty Flying Machine, who played a show
with the Aleuchatistas, which led me to Calabi Yau.
Now I'm totally eager to see CG&J. When I first bought
Compulation, it totally weirded me out. Now I've heard
a few other tracks and I'm waiting for the next show.
Weird how that stuff works.

> If I really wanted to read between the lines, which
> I sorta do, I would
> read Randy's critique as being partly a critique of
> myself, inasmuch as
> I have sort of elected myself as the guy who writes
> the blurbs about
> each week's shows, and posts them to this list. I
> have begged off & on
> for other people to also write blurbs about shows
> that I skip or can be
> reasonably predicted to skip, and sometimes people
> do so, and I for one
> am eternally grateful.

Hey - keep doing what you do!

> Keep in mind also that last time I checked, *both*
> the Cave and Local
> 506 were strictly 21-and-over venues, albeit with
> varying levels of
> ID-checkage at the Cave, at least. That is very much
> an "unapproachable"
> factor for the majority of undergrads.

Local 506 now charges $3 extra for those under 21,
which I will gladly pay for some of the good shows
that come through. The free shows are wonderful.
Considering the circumstances and the issues with
liquor licensing, I think the 506 is doing an awesome
job. Keep up the good work, 506. I turn 21 in June,
and then I'll be there a whole lot more.


--- James Hepler <jameshepler AT yahoo.com> wrote:

> It wasn't the best survey ever, but I can't help but
> think that the college students who know about the
> music scene know about it already and already come
> out. As I've discussed with some local music folks,
> it all seems so cyclical and beyond our control.
> That
> said, there was a good turnout for that show in the
> great hall last fall, and the Duke Coffeehouse is
> doing shows again, but I think you have an uphill
> battle ahead of you.

I'm a complete and total idealist. Local music is to
Randy as nature is to Wordsworth. And to be even more
impossibly optimistic, maybe my enthusiasm will be
contagious.

> As far as the scene being unapproachable, I don't
> buy
> it. You walk to a club, you pay the cover, you walk
> in, you watch bands play, you leave. Who are you
> trying to approach? There are no secret meetings,
> well, none that I've been invited to.

I guess I meant sonically. I couldn't find the perfect
word.

--- Mary Anne Barckhoff <barckhoff AT yahoo.com> wrote:

> However, I'm curious as to what you mean by saying
> that the music scene presents itself as
> "unapproachable?" Considering that places like Local
> 506 and The Cave have shows that are free (or
> virtually so), it's not the price at the door that
> turns folks away. Are you commenting on the style
> of
> music that local bands are playing? Do bands act
> rude
> to students? What is it that you think would make a
> band more "approachable" to students?

Hmm... I'm thinking harder about what I said earlier.
It's definitely not the bands or the non-students that
come out for shows. The bands have created the awesome
music, and the fans are keeping it around. Obviously,
I don't find the local music scene unapproachable; in
fact, I find it to be tons of fun. (Here is where I
say that The Sames and The Rosebuds kicked particular
ass tonight!)

> At any rate, there are a good 600 or so bands in the
> Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, so there's
> certainly
> not a lack of variety in musical styles (although
> some
> styles are more heavily laden than others), so I
> find
> it hard to believe that students can't find some
> bands
> they like. Maybe the area is too overloaded with
> bands and it's hard to know which ones are any good?

If there were twenty bands, and three of them were
really good, maybe things would be different. I think
600 bands is a blessing, which is why I take the
initiative to send out weekly e-mails to all my
friends plugging the more mainstream-indie-style
shows.

~~~~~

When it comes down to it, I myself have no beef with
"the scene". Anybody who subscribes to this listserv
has almost certainly done more than their share of
supporting local music. The thing I have the most
trouble understanding is how some students will drive
to Asheville to see The Arcade Fire, but don't know a
thing about bands that are (in my opinion) better AND
living in the same town.

I'll be here on campus, telling people about shows by
day. At night, I'll head out to said shows. Keep on
keeping on, my rockalicious friends.

-Randy

PS Anything I say in the future about the lack of
dancing at shows is strictly good-natured ribbing. I
do think it's funny, but that's just because I'm used
to a certain segment of the Charlotte scene (and yes,
it does exist).



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