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YouTubeThe Lantern wrote
Columbus music scene out of tune
Amy Hoover
Issue date: 1/28/08
Every night in Columbus, a different band hooks up its amps and pours its hearts out to bar audiences. Some might be playing for the first time, and others have been playing for years and are still considered underground. The music scene has remained static for the past 20 years, with little hype and attention. Other than a nightly announcement on the Blitz or CD101, the only way to catch a band is by happening upon a flier.
A lot of weight has been placed on the fact that, culturally, Columbus fits the dry Midwestern bill. When comparing other musical melting pots in Ohio, Brian Gardener, 53, an ex-saxophonist and local jazz musician, said “Cleveland has long, steady icons. You can go to any bar and never know what’s going to happen.” Gardener said that the same bands play at the same venues, and have for years, but a lot of new artists drop off the bandwagon once they realize that being a full-time musician in Columbus hardly pays to put food on the table.
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Comments
- Manatee: Aaaaw. Been to so many of those things. They're always fun.
- racheltb: Dan's breads are amazing, the only ones I buy outside of what I make for my
- Walker: Thanks on the typo. ;) Fixed!
- RellekOTE: Fantastic! This building has been and shall remain a show piece for Downto
- columbusmike: This is a really good story. LeVeque is the most iconic image of Columbus
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Is the Columbus music scene out of tune?
By: Walker
Related Posts:
Personally, I think this is a perfect example of how the younger generation perceives news/information delivery. Today’s 18-22 year old college students are completely backwards from the students of just 5-10 years ago when it comes to this sort of thing. Anyone can go pick up a copy of The Other Paper, Columbus Alive, U-Weekly, or browse sites online like ColumbusUnderground.com, DoneWaiting.com, or any plethora of venue or band websites to find out who’s playing, where they’re playing, and when they’re playing.
But instead, this younger demographic has become accustomed to information being pushed to them rather than seeking it out. No one wants to go pick up a weekly rag and research their options… they want facebook notifications, myspace bulletins, text messages, and other new methods of marketing and social networking to deliver information.
So there’s the real dilemma. There’s plenty of things to do in Columbus both music and non-music wise. Do you train the youngsters on how to find it, or do you train the musicians and promoters to use new techniques to deliver information? Or some combination of both?
But instead, this younger demographic has become accustomed to information being pushed to them rather than seeking it out. No one wants to go pick up a weekly rag and research their options… they want facebook notifications, myspace bulletins, text messages, and other new methods of marketing and social networking to deliver information.
So there’s the real dilemma. There’s plenty of things to do in Columbus both music and non-music wise. Do you train the youngsters on how to find it, or do you train the musicians and promoters to use new techniques to deliver information? Or some combination of both?
Excellent reply Walker.
…kids these days…
:lol:
Well said, Walker. I do think it’s more the musicians (and clubs) that are behind in terms of using new methods of reaching audiences… I doubt anyone will train the young ‘uns.
Can’t stop progress, though sometimes that sucks.
That thought is what scares me the most.
Not that I read a ton of magazines or newspapers, but I certainly don’t want them to be replaced by Myspace bulletins. :?
Flyering sure was effective back in the day. So was postering. I don’t see ANY of that stuff going on around Campus. Maybe that’s why kids think this way?
Inconsistencies! It is not that you could go to *any* of those sources looking for music events, but you really have to find *all* of them as each has certain venues or certain bands that they themselves don’t report on, or don’t get updates from…
True she does have that perspective you say, but I think it is a perfectly valid observation that there is a lack of “community” spirit among the music scene. Especially online. I’ve felt that I’ve been in a community of musicians way strongly at Andyman’s, but online the music scene is completely fragmented… somewhat maybe because of the crazy changes in music: Any hack can record something (hehe like me!) but then, online, it is hard to be local and/or regional when in reality you ought present yourself online as if anyone in the world might happen by.
I dearly love The Lantern for giving me my first shot at professional writing. That said, this story is pretty ridiculous.
“The music scene has remained static for the past 20 years, with little hype and attention.” Really? What about nationally-recognized indie hip-hop, noise, rock that wasn’t around two decades ago?
“Other than a nightly announcement on the Blitz or CD101, the only way to catch a band is by happening upon a flier.” Really? Both Alive and The Other Paper write extensively about local music. Each week in The Weekender, The Dispatch spotlights an aspiring local band. It’s not that hard to find out what’s going on.
Also, several factual notes:
1. I interviewed the bassist from Silverchair several weeks ago, and the band hasn’t played hardly anywhere in the United States during the past eight years.
2. Anyone who misspells “Germain” hasn’t been to enough live shows.
Amy Hoover will NOT be considered for the 2008 Alive! “Columnists to Watch.”
WCRS 102.1/98.3 LPFM has choices to hear news about and hear muscians, many on the local level…
Your Music- Mondays @6
Beat Oracle- Tuesdays @6
Pat Radio- Wednesdays @6
Turn Me On- Thursdays @6
Cranksters sometimes features a local band… Fridays @6
They don’t have you doing fact checking over there at Alive! do they J.R.?
;)
http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10397&highlight=silverchair
Oh be nice! She is just a small-town, apple pie making, girl. Or whatever?!
At least the Lantern is short and sweet. I pick-up an Alive! and get a hernia, then I have to look through 1304 pages of calssified ads for jobs I never want or will never have the background to get.
My favorite publication is UWeekly…. FASHION POLICE and Party Pix rule
she did have 1 point.
columbus does need another venue the size of skully’s, and actually maybe just a shade bigger for live music. we actually had a large discussion on here not so long ago.
other than that, i have only negative things to say. articles like this really make the latern look bad. who’s going to train the young uns? well, i think we can safely say it’s not going to be the latern.
I’m going along with the consensus here. I moved to Columbus from Olympia, WA/Portland,OR (and am also one of these so-called “kids” at the ripe age of 22) a few months ago and almost all of the local bands I was following there have come or are scheduled to. As a college town, Columbus is a big draw for up-and-comers, but if you’re banking on the latest radio-hip-hip artist du jour to arrive…. well….
Not that there’s anything wrong with radio hip-hop. :D
I miss Little Brothers, not because of what a great space it was but at the size it was getting shows I really wanted to see. Bands that are getting some air play on NPR but just don’t have a big enough following to sell the LC. I really don’t like paying for some band I don’t like just to see the opening act either.
At least the Lantern is short and sweet. I pick-up an Alive! and get a hernia, then I have to look through 1304 pages of calssified ads for jobs I never want or will never have the background to get.
My favorite publication is UWeekly…. FASHION POLICE and Party Pix rule
Dude, I keep telling people that we need to steal the “Hottest Bartender Contest.” Then I will be paid the big bucks!
I work on the osu campus and hear complaints like this all the time from students, it falls in the bigger category of hearing that “there’s nothing to do in columbus.” It is frustrating to always hear because its just not true…maybe they need more targeted marketing here on campus.
As a side note…I consider not being visited by silverchair for eight years a very good thing…but thats just my opinion
:lol: :lol: :lol:
As a side note…I consider not being visited by silverchair for eight years a very good thing…but thats just my opinion
Alive has tried to bolster our presence around Campus in the pat several months. Maybe Alive can teach the young ‘uns.
The obvious solution is a calendar of some sort.