Hello, and welcome to Monday. This weekend went by quickly. We heard a great band on Friday night called Brother Trucker from Des Moines, Iowa. Catch them if you get the chance. Unfortunately, not many citizens of this fine town chose to venture out to see this show. For that matter, I doubt if many folks knew the show was taking place. It's sad. I continue to lament the lack of support for original music in Sioux Town. Now it appears to be reaching the club level.
Sioux Town loves a cover band. If they're local it's even better. If you can recognize the tunes they cover it's a bonus. I find this disappointing...not surprising, just disappointing. If that is what people like, more power to them. It's not for me. I have always hoped that there were enough original music fans to support a good live music scene, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I have spent many hours and dollars over the past 10-plus years to promote this. I know...I sound like a broken record to many of you. Oh well, I always have loved a good road trip.
posted by Bluzlover at
4:19 PM
2 Comments:
Boy, and howdy!
I've been in a bunch of bands. The first, Backroads, was a cover band, pure and simple. We wrote a few songs, but it wasn't the main focus of the band. We had a fairly good following in Northwest Iowa, though we never cracked the Sioux City market.
The second band I was in, Stinger, was formed for the express purpose of promoting the leadman's album. So, for the first year of the band's existence, we did a TON of original stuff. We played to a crowd of 5,000 in Sioux Falls, and packed venues in Lincoln. We even FLEW to a gig or two. We played in Sioux City about once every six months. Our average crowd in Sioux City would be about 15 people. We ended up being a cover band in the end.
Big Lizard did about a third original music -- we found that was about all the audiences around here would take. We were popular, but never really "broke through."
Hippie Go Lucky never did an original song. We would have been a good cover band, but things didn't work out...
The Smokin' Clams was undoubtedly the most popular Sioux City band I've been in -- they limited original songs to one or two per set, as that's all our audiences would accept. The rest of the time we did Louie Louie and Wild Thing.
There's nothing so disappointing as packing the dance floor with an Eagles song, keeping the crowd going with your version of "Tequila," then having EVERYONE turn their back to you and sit down when they don't recognize the first three notes of the original song you've been working on for the last three years...
So I feel your pain. I've quit playing music, partially due to audience ambivalence to artistic creativity.
As for why the crowds are light when bands play...? All I can say is that my wife and I rarely have two nickels to rub together, so it's difficult for us to afford going out for a night -- even if there's no cover charge. The economy hereabouts sucks out loud. If I had money, I'd probably be oot and aboot three out of four weekends. (Another factor is that we both quit smoking, and it's difficult for us to sit in a smoky club...)
Wed Feb 13, 12:32:00 PM
I love the names of Chris' past bands.
Thu Feb 14, 07:55:00 AM
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