Scrumpy 'n' Western - Mag 4 Live Music

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FREE Every Month Scrumpy ‘n’ Western issue 10 vol 5WAS 2008 A SAD BAD YEAR on musician had had more cancellationsthan actual gigs worked this year and wasFOR LIVE MUSIC?most concerned at the prospect of 2009. AThe year 2008 must be the worst year everlot of the musicians we spoke to were stillfor the British pub, 100 years ago mostbusy gigging, but their overall concerntowns and city’s there was one on mostwhen playing certain venues was the dwindlingaudience numbers, at these venues,street corners. The bombing in the SecondWorld War of our city’s and towns saw offcompared to 4 - 6 years ago. We had aa certain amount, the redevelopment sawpositive reaction from south Devon musicianMartin Weller who plays with ‘Crusha change in the sixties of new estate pubs,fewer but larger, then the changing habitsUK’ and ‘The BobKatz’, two very busy andof people in the nineties, started to seepopular bands plus his own solo work, apubs close. They have over the past yearbig thank you Martin.now been closing at a horrendous rate,S n W - Have you had many gigs cancellednine times faster than 2006 and 18 timesthis year?faster than 2005! Publicans complain theyMartin - “About eight I would say, it doesn’thave been hit by the smoking ban, risingget any easier despite being in two of therent and business rates, increasing fuelbest bands around.”bills and aggressive drinks discounting byS n W - What about audience numbers?supermarkets! We are told by many landlordsand managers that many of theirMartin - “A change in patterns perhaps,with folks coming out later so the secondcustomers turn up to live music sessions,half kicks in.”having already tanked up at home, to seeS n W - Could you take the time to makethe band and buy one or two pints, then toa few comments on the situation?return home early!! Over 2000 pubs haveMartin - “I think it is the same as it ever wasclosed in England alone in 2008, this hasreally, perhaps even better in some ways,led to pubs being urged by the BBPA? Tosome of the venues have got their actsconcentrate on the ‘Five F’s’ - ‘Food, Families,Females, Forty-Somethings and Fifty-together and booking is easier and morereliable. It’s an erratic business and whatsomethings! So the question the Scrumpywe do is deliver quality wherever and when‘n’ Western asks is what affect is this havingon local live music? We are told byever we play, to maintain consistency andalways give value for money. I do this for amany active working musicians that theirliving so I am in it for the long haul. Flexibilitywith times, material to suit certain ven-bookings in 2008 are way down, somestate that they have had more cancellationsthan gigs this year!! Plus many ofues all helps. I try and work in partnershipwith regular venues making sure the showsthese acts who do Entertainment Agencyare well publicised and the info is accuratework, like Weddings and Private parties or- that’s where the S n W comes in. I thinkCorporate do’s, many have said this typethe S n W is a valued asset to musiciansof work has virtually dried up!and venues alike, so thank you”.So we went walk about, to ask some of theIf you follow the gig listings every month,West Country’s top bands and solo actsyou will see that ‘Martin’, ‘Crush UK’ andwhat they thought of the situation. One half‘The BobKatz’ are well listed, busy acts.of a Bristol based duo said that their agencywork had virtually dried up, but the factSo it’s not all doom and gloom, The PierTavern, Burnham on Sea are still holdingthat they had built up a good work record,live music events, on Thursday, Friday,they were still getting plenty of work. Of theSaturday’s with music (Jazz) from 2.00 pmmany solo musicians we asked, one fromtill 4.00 pm on Sunday afternoons. TheWeston-Super-Mare said that he had theRock Gardens in Weston-Super-Mare nowodd cancellation, where as one North Dev-open a year, have live music on averageJANUARY ‘09 26
FREE Every Month Scrumpy ‘n’ Western issue 10 vol 5most objective approach is that things for2009 are going to get worse as the fall outof jobs and lack of spending power takeshold, so really if you want to work then youwill have to negotiate what a venue canafford, otherwise you are going to spendmore time rehearsing or at home watchingTV or playing computer games!!I recently spoke to a musician who has notonly playing experience, but teaches, Studiowork and also has his foot in the corporatemarket (Company do’s) which over theChristmas and New Year are normallybusy times. This year with the recession allcompany’s are cutting back, which haseffected Entertainment Agency’s, and theyreport that work over this holiday period isvery thin on the ground. So this recessionis affecting all walks of life,so with that inmind, how will ‘Live Music’ fair in 2009?The Scrumpy ‘n’ Western like Newspapers,other magazines, Television, Radio hasbeen hit by a downturn in advertising,which we rely on to pay for our costs, andour rates are very competitive!! So as wehead towards 5 years of Scrumpy ‘n’ Westernwe look back at all the changes andfrom where we stand it’s been a bumpyroad for the live music scene with an allimportant part of British life slowly disappearing,so change’s need to be madebefore it’s too late. The House of Commonskeeps telling us that happy hours inpubs are the cause of access drinkingthrough out the country, but they have notlooked at or into the true picture of wherethe bulk of cheap booze is being bought!The supermarkets have a lot to answer for,these big company’s are sadly (since youcan now even buy Musical Instrumentsfrom some of these big stores) changingthe British landscape and sadly not for thebetter!! Action needs to be taken so -Write to your local MPNOW!! Wake the sadbastards up!!For once they are gone, do you honestlybelieve they will return? (PUBS THAT IS)Continued from page 26 - six nights aweek, bringing bands from all over thecountry, giving local live music fans thechance to catch ‘LIVE’ bands that theymight only see on TV! The Railway, Burnhamon Sea, looking at last years audiencefigures for January and February have decidedto start their live music at the end ofFebruary 2009. They have been putting ona good mix of local and out of area bands,plus a mix of top tribute acts and thisseems to be working. Scallys in CarltonStreet, Weston-Super-Mare, when theScrumpy first started five years ago, hadlive music Thursday, Friday and Saturday,and from January till March ‘09 will only doSaturday nights live, since they have founda down turn in audiences. Bearing in mindthat there is an awful lot of competition inWeston all year round, Taunton has thesame problem, a lot of pubs with live music.Out and about across the area that theScrumpy ‘n’ Western covers it is verypatchy with some areas holding there ownand others seeing a down turn in audiencenumbers and that overall people are comingout later. Where a lot of pubs havechanged hands, some new owners havetried introducing live music, like The Gun,Andover Road, Wash Common, Newbury,Berkshire who took over in April bookingsome good bands up to December ‘08, butsadly due to the lack of audience, cancelledAugust and stopped live music. Anotheris The Buckskin in Basingstoke, whohave had a refit, have an excellent venuewith stage and size for live music but startedto see a down turn last April as less andless people attended some really good livenights. Another venue in Basingstoke, TheLight Lounge (formerly Silks Bar, whichhad a rather unlucky history!) in LondonStreet,where the new owners, sold on,again a good sized bar for live music, buthaving problems to get people in regularly.Then there are the bands that are nottaking any notice of this recession business,still charging their normal rates andwondering why they are not getting thework. At this stage of this recession theJANUARY ‘09 27
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