Ways to improve your scene...if it needs it that is.

[Mugwump]

Also keep and mind that the music scene it's just about the music. You need to get everyone who maintains the same beliefs to get involved. This includes musicians, bar owners, record labels, artists, journalists, photographers, DJs, fans, restaurant owners, etc.

Venues can be used for many events. Shows at night, art gallery afternoon and evenings, farmers market Sunday mornings. Beer and breakfast record release, instrument equipment swap meets.

 

[bassbully]

Also keep and mind that the music scene it's just about the music. You need to get everyone who maintains the same beliefs to get involved. This includes musicians, bar owners, record labels, artists, journalists, photographers, DJs, fans, restaurant owners, etc.

Venues can be used for many events. Shows at night, art gallery afternoon and evenings, farmers market Sunday mornings. Beer and breakfast record release, instrument equipment swap meets.

You are right and that is part of the problem in my area. There is no scene so to speak anymore. We have one local zine and a local radio staion that cater some to local music but they are slanted on the artist they want to play and cover and its a small circle that they do it with. How you get into that circle is beyond me?
I told the station manager who knows local bands are angry at his station even against his station to open up to them. I suggested a few nights out a year at a local club supporting a music fest etc..did he listen...nope!

It's hard when there are good ideas like some that you all posted here, getting others to follow is harder. We do have some art show's with music etc, small venues hosting bands with shows but allot want bands for free to support "the arts" and if you say we don't play for free..you are not supporting them

 

[Willie Dizon]

@bassbully - I know it's easier said than done,but you'll have to persist. I've been playing music since I was 16(I'm 48 now) and I still keep plugging away. In spite of the monopoly and close mindedness of my area,I refuse to let it take away the simple joy of playing live music. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

 

[nortonrider]

Here's a quote from a Allman Brothers article about how they got it going:





"We wrote “Elizabeth Reed.” We’d learned a few songs in Jacksonville: “Whipping Post,” “Trouble No More,” “Don’t Want You No More.” And we’d played one gig at the College Discotheque, and made thirty-two dollars. Sent our roadies out and bought two cases of Ripple with it. I remember, before the night was over, one of the roadies was out of his mind, chasing this girl around the club with his dick in his hand. She’s screaming, and he’s saying, “C’mere, honey!”

So after about four weeks, we said, “We gotta go play for somebody.” So we piled into this Ford Econoline van, drove up to Atlanta, and drove around Piedmont Park until we found a nice-looking spot, with some flat concrete and some power not far from it. We didn’t say **** to anybody. We just went up there and set up the gear, plugged in, and started playing. Within the hour, there’s a couple of thousand people.

The next week in this underground newspaper, “The Great Speckled Bird,” there’s this article about the Allman Brothers, and all of a sudden, we became the band of the revolution, you know? So we started going back every Sunday. Within a month, we’d have five or six bands show up, and we’d have 10,000 people every Sunday. All for free. The cops never did a thing. They were really trying to get along with the hippies, and I think they said, “Well, as long as they’re playing music, let’s leave them alone.”

 

[BWileyTally]

You have to take this up a notch, or else we'll all be cannibalizing each other. Hair salons don't stay in business giving haircuts to other hairdressers. Plumbers don't make a bulk of their business from other plumbers. Restaurants usually don't promote their place to other chefs.

As musicians, we can help our fellow musicians in a way that fans can't. When a musician helps a fellow musician, they are sacrificing time and energy they can put towards their passions and goals. Because of that, just going to each other's shows isn't enough.

If someone comes to one of your shows, invite them on stage to perform a few tunes to give them exposure and hype their next show. Introduce that person to your fans, as well as the club manager, promoter, booking agent, etc. Don't treat your fellow musician like another ticket sold or a competitor, but an ally to improve the scene.
"Look everyone, there's Derek from the Dominoes. Hey, Derek, why don't you come up to play one of your awesome tunes!"
"Thanks, Eric, it's an awesome pleasure to get to sit in with a talented band like this. Don't you think folks?"
The crowd cheers, and the band jams one of Derek's tunes, and the crowd is cheering again.
"Thanks for sitting in with us Derek. If you want to see more of Derek, make sure you visit derekandthedominoes.com to see where he's going to play next."
Later on.....
"Hey, Mr Seedy bar owner, I'd like you to meet Derek"
"Hi Derek, I really liked that tune, how about you play here one of these nights"
"Sure, Mr Seedy, how about we have Eric's band share the bill?"
"Sounds good, let me get out my calendar....."

IMO, to really help a scene, we need to replace competition with collaboration, turf protection with sharing, and cliques with community. To do this, we need to check our egos at the door and realize we're all in this together. "We shall all hang together, or together we shall hang"

100% agree with this!

 

[Mattosaur]

When I hear the word "scene," it encompasses a lot more than just the musicians. I think of the scene as the sum total of all the people who participate in a community. Anyone doing art in your community has the potential to be a part of your scene. If it's just bands and a few fans, that's going nowhere. It's not just about getting people out to shows, it's about creating a community of people interested in supporting a local culture.

 

[jive1]

Some of you guys are too kind to me.....

Anyway, one mistake I think that people make in regards to what makes for a good music scene is that it's easy for your band to get work. I think that it's a common misconception. You can have a thriving music scene with lots of opportunities available but still require some level of effort in order to play out and make it. You can have something that's lucrative and in demand, but not necessarily easy to achieve. Of course it's easier when there is demand vs none, but in either situation you'll still need to put in some effort.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I've recently took it upon myself to help get the Knoxville scene more up and running. I've been talking to a lot of the more popular up-and-coming bands and we've all agreed to start trading gigs, sharing bills, exchanging contacts, stealing each others' crowds, etc... I know it's not much, but I'm hoping we'll be able to start building a small but strong music community in town.

Looking back on the Seattle scene from the 90's, all those bands that made it big were friends and were doing the same kind of thing. They made a community, and once it had grown large enough it was kinda hard to ignore what was going on. I'm hoping we can do something similar in Knox Plus I kinda consider this a way of 'making your own luck' as a lot of the pros on TB try to tell the younger guys.

 

[BluesProgMetal]

What if you where wanting to start a scene? I live in a place where we are the only band.

 

[keiththebassist]

One thing my band does which I really think helps the scene be strong, helps diversify and also helps bands reach new markets in this: When we put together a show that we will headline, we invite one out of area band to come and support on the bill for the night. We market this as a "show trade". Basically, we help you get ins with a new venue and a new fan base in our area, and you do the same for us and your next gig in your town/area.

We have received lots of good response doing this because what band doesn't want to tap into new places to play/potential fans? To us, it's an all around win.

It helps the scene because it avoids getting the same old rotation of bands every week by throwing someone new in the mix and it helps bands get out of their local market. This helps us from overbooking and having our performance become common place in our area. We are trying to limit local performances to once, maybe twice a month and playing out of area for the other gigs.

 

[VTheHTyphoon]

In my state the scene centers around the capitol since we are small, but the issue I see is that every venue that isn't in "sketchville" or so far off the beaten path that they don't get that much business to bring bands in is controlled by one or more "promotion companies" that require you to sell tickets to play shows. So you don't get paid unless you sell more tickets than they require. Then you keep the money from those tickets. Only very few places aren't run by these people, and they are impossible to get gigs at because of the number of bands desiring shows. The other things that plagues this is how "incestuous" it is with people being in multiple bands in the companies and keeping their friends in the loop etcetera.

 

[Chuck King]

I don't think you can control the scene.

I've recently took it upon myself to help get the Knoxville scene more up and running. I've been talking to a lot of the more popular up-and-coming bands and we've all agreed to start trading gigs, sharing bills, exchanging contacts, stealing each others' crowds, etc... I know it's not much, but I'm hoping we'll be able to start building a small but strong music community in town.

Looking back on the Seattle scene from the 90's, all those bands that made it big were friends and were doing the same kind of thing. They made a community, and once it had grown large enough it was kinda hard to ignore what was going on. I'm hoping we can do something similar in Knox Plus I kinda consider this a way of 'making your own luck' as a lot of the pros on TB try to tell the younger guys.

As I see it, there's a difference between an actual music scene and just a collection of bands and venues in the same town. A music scene should, I think, be considered a situation where you have a positive reinforcing feedback loop that creates a sense of community and a feeling of "hey, there's something going on here".

The music scenes I've been a part of or seen firsthand were all built around a group of like-minded musicians who liked each other's bands, so they played shows together, which resulted in each others' friends and fans getting exposed to the other groups. They inspire each other, influence each other, and cross-pollinate creatively.

I think it's very hard to affirmatively "create" a scene, although jmattbassplaya's program sounds as good as any idea I've heard---it could bring like-minded musicians together. But in general, I think that where you have the right ingredients, a scene will emerge, and if you don't, you can't create one out of thin air just by force of will. With sufficient advertising I suppose you could convince some people that a scene exists, but if shows don't have that electricity in the air, that won't last.