RTP-area local music and culture

["betsyshane AT gmail.com" <betsyshane AT gmail.com>]

Grady--

I guess beyond cheap housing (I've heard arguments that carrboro is
cheap enough, or comperably cheap and I don't really know the orange
county housing market) I wonder about the newer aspects of the "scene"
developed...I don't really know who was here before this new wave of
fairly young bands came in and commandeered the identity, but there
seems to be a gung ho "attitude" of Durham, sort of invested in
separationist politics, but more in the sense of there was no place
for us so we've made a place for ourselves.  Whether or not that's
true is debatable (and in my work has been widely debated).  When I
moved here in 2003, I was going to CH weekly because there was
"nothing to do" in Durham.  Whether or not that was true, there was
nothing visible, barely any venues for music, and when I went out,
people seemed pretty down on Durham (the favorite joke being about
Welcome to Durham / getting shot / getting robbed)  The other thing
I've  thought about in regards to politics is the fact that Durham is
sort of the "poor" city....and the fact that people sort of bricolage
the poverty and the lovable loser mentality of the town, making their
own projects into the little engine that could...

Plus, Durham seems to have many more female movers and shakers, at
least visibly-- Mel thomas owns 307 Knox and does Troika, Michelle
Lee's Untidy Museum/Electric Blender are the real reason places like
ooh la latte and 305 south came to be, 3 of the 6 members of the board
of BCHQ are ladies...going back there was ladyslipper and Mr. lady.
Is this just coincidence?  Is Durham as a town just woman friendlier?
I've made the argument that Durham is a "feminized" or "emasculated"
space because it has been robbed of its agency, lost its earning power
and is now basically being parceled off to the highest bidder.

I would argue, however, that the number of people willing to travel to
Durham for events is not nearly as high as people likely to go out to
Chapel Hill/Carrboro/Raleigh for events.  As much as rent prices play
a role, you can't deny that Broad St cafe has gone under in many
incarnations, Joe & Jo's (arguably the birthplace of this new wave of
Durham collectives)  went down, and without an intervention by the
DUU, The Coffeehouse would've folded too.  Are people really coming
out to Durham?  I never intended to say it was a "hot scene" but
people are trying to make something happen here and I wonder both how
it looks from the outside to musicians and listeners.  I think the
sort of same 100 people phenomena is in full blast here, because it's
the same people at lots of the shows, with the exception maybe of Red
Collar shows.

I guess I have been getting a lot of nebulous responses about the
"spirit" of durham, like Ross's statement
"Chapel Hill/Carrboro seems too evenly
divided between rich people and college students; Raleigh feels more
like Charlotte every day, sadly. People in Durham feel more like
people. "
I suppose that I am trying to put my finger on why it is that people
in Durham feel more like people / the Durham "scene" is so much more
supportive than others / it's "fresher" / it's really DIY / it's so
weird/interesting for people now.

Thanks already for your responses, if you've got any reply to these
(or the questions posed by Joel, thanks man!) that'd be great too.