RTP-area local music and culture

[jim.brantley AT gmail.com]

Hi Lindsay,
This is a really great thing you're planning. They're currently
working on an effort somewhat similar to this over at NCSU (with which
I've volunteered to help, despite my status as a UNC alum...).

My post is perhaps overly ambitious and potentially distracting from
the great thing you're proposing here (which I really hope to see
succeed), but:

I've always thought that some inter-University local music
collaboration project would be a very good thing. Logistically
complicated yes, but many of the pieces are already in place - it
would just be a matter of putting them together (and overcoming our
inter-school prejudices - which were also exploited/exacerbated in a
recent piece in the Indy, but that's another OT post).

We have:
1) DUKE:
* Ross Grady's great local music show
* Ross Grady's regular live band recordings on said show
* Ross Grady's gi-normous archive of Live in the WXDU Lounge
recordings
* Ross Grady
* The font of information that is www.trianglerock.com
* The gi-normous archive of alt.music.chapel-hill that constitutes a
veritable Dead Sea Scrolls for the late 20th and early 21st century
Triangle music scene (and local BBQ).

2) UNC:
* [Insert all of the great ideas proposed in the original post on this
thread]
* Backyard BBQ - great local music show
* The creators of the internets over at ibiblio.org
* The DIVE section of the DTH (which has very quickly raised the bar
*way* higher for student coverage of local music around here).

3) NCSU:
* DJ Stevo's great local music show on WKNC
* The current effort at WKNC (to which I referred above) to make live-
in-the-studio recordings and utilize some really smart ideas from the
open-source software world to distribute them (Creative Commons
licenses, leveraging existing innovative distribution methods,etc...more
on this soon).

4) Other Resources:
* Network of GREAT local venues (of which we must have way more than
any other comparably-sized region in the world)
* GREAT local bands (of which we must have way more than any other
comparably-sized region in the world)
* GREAT local weekly (which we have griped about in the past week or
so, but come on - controversy aside it is a really great weekly)
* GREAT local labels (of which we must have way more than any other
comparably-sized region in the world)
* Universities full of thousands of smart, creative, and energetic
young people (many of whom are obsessed with music and have not yet
sold out to the man = are willing to dedicate there attention to local
music if they are helped to find it)
* Lots of people around here who are really smart in the ways of the
internets and happen to also be involved with local music (= improved
organizational and promotional capability for an effort like this plus
easy worldwide reach)
* Local music community that values itself as the great cultural asset
that it is.

So, this list is quite incomplete, and I don't have a cohesive idea to
propose here - I'm just trying to summarize the facts and hoping that
some industrious and creative souls around here will help flesh it out
further. (And of course I'd love to help.)

Jim I didn't mean to write and manifesto and look now I'm copping Todd
Morman's signature gimmick Brantley


On Aug 24, 3:18 pm, Lindsay <ABlossomUnfo... AT gmail.com> wrote:
> To my understanding, there's been a lot of talk in the past about
> trying to get students out to live music shows. And, why not? The
> University is (quite literally) overrun with kids who are looking for
> things to do. Live music should benefit from that. After discussing
> this topic with students, venue owners, musicians, promoters, I
> finally have an idea of something I can do (as a student-musician) to
> help foster this relationship. I'm in the beginning stages of setting
> up an on-campus concert series that will focus on local labels and
> collectives. The plan is to have 4 concerts (one each semester), and
> maybe have a student band open the performance. I want WXYC to record
> the performances live, and every student that signs up for a listserve
> promoting live music around town will get a free copy of the recorded
> performance. The communications students will be in charge of the live
> sound. The Daily Tarheel will promote the shows mercilessly, and
> Diversions (the music section of the DTH) will cover the shows. The
> Carolina Union Activities Board will fund everything that's needed,
> performance space, promotion, etc. I'm hoping that the local venues
> around town will co-sponsor the shows by offering coupons, or
> something of the sort.
>
> So, that's the gist of it. I'm just looking for some feedback, ideas,
> suggestions on labels or collectives, or other ways to get the
> community involved from some music veterans (as I'm still a newbie...
> if you will). I appreciate your time, and am anticipating your
> responses! ~Lindsay