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July 2008

July 29, 2008

The Guild: Venues

evan rocks!Clearly, last night's meeting of the Guild provoked enthusiasm (more photos here). And why not? We were talking about venues - places to play or hear great music in Chicago, Aurora or the suburbs. Unsurprisingly there was a level of frustration in the room - at first blush, most local gigs break down into either the "great crowds and no money" category, or the "decent money and unattentive crowds who want only covers" category. But hope springs eternal, and a little discussion uncovered a host of new gigging ideas.

In no particular order, here are some of the performance opportunities we chatted about:

bars/restaurants
clubs
coffeshops
casinos
festivals (start at the city chamber of commerce)
universities
hotel circuits (start with the chain's regional event manager)


We also touched briefly on the importance of collaboration - getting a group of like-minded (and like-sounded) musicians together and cross-promoting shows, whether at a local venue or at a more unconventional spot (the amphitheater in downtown Naperville rents for $100, apparently). A fine idea. Who's running with it?

A handful of the online booking resources we discussed last night:
www.sonicbids.com
www.intothehill.com
www.musiciansatlas.com

And finally, a few member websites, listed here by request:
www.benthomasonline.com
www.soelated.com
www.willowfair.com
www.myspace.com/willowfair
www.cruisemachine.net
www.myspace.com/cruisemachine
www.nccunion.com

July 16, 2008

The Guild: Spaces - July 28

Music note on stand Where do you play? What makes a good or bad music venue - for audiences and for artists? What does it take apart from great music to guarantee a great show?

At this month's meeting, we'll talk venues. I want to hear what your favorite area music rooms are, and what you do to book and promote great shows for yourself. If there are tools and promotional materials you use in connecting yourself with great venues, bring 'em along to share - we'd love to see what works for you.

As always, we'll start the night in casual conversation and refreshment. Coffee's on me - bring a six-pack or something savory to share if you're so inclined. See you then!

July 01, 2008

FROM BENJIE: Can Live Music Die?

It won’t seem the same without the dust.

As I write this, the 77s are playing in the Backthird Audio live room, cranking out magic for an intimate crowd of two dozen people. They’re squeezing in a few more tour dates on their way to Cornerstone Festival, the dusty town of tents and generators on west Illinois farmland that more than 20,000 music fans  call home for one week every year. I spent seven summers there. But this year, I’m not going.

RIP musicI’ve got some great excuses – playing gigs, for one. I’m doing music for a living, and I’m – slooowly – getting somewhere with it. Every time I miss a chance to hear live music, though, I feel a tinge of guilt. Live music’s too important. I want to support it, so it never goes away.

Is that a danger? Tough to say – the oracles are giving us mixed messages these days. On the one hand, we’re being told live music is the future – you give your recordings away for free, then charge for shows (and T-shirts) so you can (replace with and) still make a living. Hotshots like Madonna and Jay-Z aren’t signing with record labels; they’re signing with Live Nation.

Then again, hotshots like Madonna and Jay-Z are going away too. Run down a list of the highest-grossing tours of the last two years, and you discover “heritage acts” – old-timers like Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones – are the ones making all the money. Those acts were built on radio and on the record label system, and the labels aren’t investing in new artists like they once did. When Madonna hangs up her cone-shaped bra, there may be no one to replace her.

What I’m sure won’t go away, though, is smaller concerts. Even if it’s a performance for two dozen people in the live room of a recording studio, live performances will happen. Some folks say it’s about the music. Hardly. Recordings are about music – songs and collections of songs, envisioned and executed in their ideal form, removed from any social context and ground onto a plastic disc. But live shows are the opposite. Live shows are all social context – how high David Lee Roth can jump, how much eyeshadow Green Day wears, how tall the guy is who stands in front of you on the club floor. Concerts are about people.

I learned a new word this week: ephemeral. It means “gone in a day,” and it’s what makes live music so great – it doesn’t last. It’s here for just a moment, and you have to seize it and suck all the marrow from it while you can and make it count. It’d be a little corny to point out that’s also true of human lives. But it’d be true.

My favorite moment of live music was at my first dusty Cornerstone, when I heard Over the Rhine for the first time. Karin Bergquist took the stage with just an organ backing her, and the soul and glory in her voice laid on the growl of that Hammond B3 and sent shivers down my spine for four straight minutes. I knew I was on the cusp of greatness. This was something I would carry with me.

That’s my favorite live-music moment. What’s yours?

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