RTP-area local music and culture

[chapelhillguitarist AT hotmail.com]

On Feb 5, 1:24 pm, gr... AT ibiblio.org (grady) wrote:
> I don't book a club, but I play a variety of other (to use the honest
> word) gatekeeper roles--I make most of the recommendations as to what
> local CDs get playlisted at WXDU, for example. I book the bands who play
> live on my radio show. I decide what shows I list on trianglerock.com.
>
> And to be perfectly honest, if a local band has a "manager," that's an
> instant red flag for me. I get a fair number of emails about shows &
> bands & whatnot, and as I'm skimming them for the tiny kernels of useful
> information (who/where/when), if I see "Manager" in connection with the
> sender's name, I'm inclined to stop reading.
>
> This is especially true when the manager uses the collective "we" when
> referring to the band, as if he/she were a full-fledged bandmember, if
> in fact he or she does not get up onstage & play an instrument with the
> band.
>
> Does this make me a bad person? Yes, sure, almost certainly. Thankfully
> I'm at least aware of this, so if the band sends a CD or has music on
> their MySpace, I'll probably listen to it anyway. But it'll be starting
> at a deficit with me.

Wow.  You actually admit to being biased against local music acts with
managers.

It isn't fair that you feel this way and is a disservice to bands who
have their collective shit together.  I find it appalling that you, a
self-admitted 'gatekeep' for various local music opportunities, choose
to play god with local music simply because you are in the
'gatekeeper' role.  Whatever happened to let the people decide?

Your description of your role in the local music scene is very similar
to the same cliquishness seen within the larger mainstream music
industry.

No wonder people find it very difficult to get in the door when there
are people like you who block the door.

>
> The only rationale I can present by way of explanation is this one: I've
> listened to a couple of thousand CDs by an endless stream of local bands
> over the past 16 years, and with the exception of a brief period when
> Shawn Rogers was managing the Archers, I've almost never heard anything
> from a local band with "management" that was worth a shit.

> (Now, obviously, once a band hits a certain level--like, say, Squirrel
> Nut Zippers, or Tift Merritt, or Ryan Adams--then management becomes a
> necessity. But that bar is pretty high, and if you're struggling to get
> booked into Local 506, I'm guessing you haven't hit it yet.)

Hmm.  Another slam of local talent.  I guess we can interpret this as
'If you are local and have a manager, you must suck.'.

I am not 'struggling' to get booked.  I am fighting a quixotic fight
against the 'gatekeepers' like yourself who filter local music before
it ever has a chance to be heard in local venues.

Now I am not saying that I know better than you.  I am saying that you
can't possibly know better than most since tastes vary and one
person's Dr. Dre is another person's Weird Al.

What's wrong with letting new bands in on an off night?