ECONOOMICS OF PLAYING LIVE MUSIC IN 2010
January 25, 2010Live Music Economics in 2010
 Referring to playing clubs, a seasoned musician recently lamented, "Musicians need to get paid!" He's
partially right. Musicians, bookers, publicists, sound engineers, doormen, security, wait staff and the venues themselves all need to get paid, but how can they
when so many shows are either free, played for tips or have a token $5.00 cover charge? $5.00 was the going rate of a show in 1967 when a mixed drink was $2.00.
Mixed drinks cost $6-8 now, but audiences are not inclined toward equally inflation-driven covers of $15-20.
Low show prices reflect the hard fact that supply exceeds demand in live music. It is also why audience building is a priority at CalAmericana. __________________________________
Torn clothes, gum chewing, shoe gazing or
talking down to the audience can work for a few,
but not for many and not for long.
__________________________________ Tips for Increasing a Band's Audiences
- Get better.
Improving the band's playing seems obvious but performance is about more than playing.
- Sound
is a factor and often beyond a band's control, which is why so many supply their own PA where house PA is absent or inadequate. A sound system can not
make a band, though it can break it.
- Staging
is about how the audience perceives the band. It's about performing a set rather than "a bunch of songs." Song breaks should not become band meetings,
long dissertations to the audience, or a rehearsal.
- Appearance
counts and being poor is no excuse for being dirty. Torn clothes, gum chewing, shoe gazing or talking down to the audience can work for a few, but
not for many and not for long.
Seek alternate venues. Small clubs are not the only live music venues, even in small towns, Restaurants, colleges, institutions, private parties, street fairs, special events and
house concerts are under-explored alternatives to clubs.
Tour wisely. Have merchandise and a mailing list. Remember that at the height of their popularity, the Ramones sold more t-shirts than records. Keep travel costs down by
searching
Craig's List for sublets or housing swaps in metropolitan areas and Google for venues that provide lodging, as many do, in rural areas.
Book wisely. Come to terms, particularly where guarantees where applicable and publicity responsibilities are shared. Avoid multi-band billings that lack compatibility.
Book multiple engagements at the same venue, so if a particular place works well for the band, it will often be interested in multiple bookings over time which reduces their
workload as well as the band's.
Publicize Digitally. E-mail, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are free publicity resources for bands. Along with show schedules, band updates and blogs these sites are
beginningto support sale of music and merchandise.
The CalAmericana Association is currently building lists of venues, contacts, DJs, festivals and
alternative stages. In many ways the organization is taking on the mantle of a publicist, though of a particular genre of music rather than for a particular band. Still, members will have access
to this information which will increase their potential for income and reaching new audiences while reducing the cost and difficulty of a band assembling this information on its own. The
future calls for supporting music and merchandise sales on this site as well.  STATE OF CALAMERICANA 2009
December 29, 2009CalAmericana continued to grow in 2009 by increasing its web presence, building its Board, establishing committees, and reaching out to
California's roots Americana community. Most of the web enhancements can be found in the next post. The most recent web initiatives have been started by Board member
Baron Lane of
Twang Nation to re-stage this site in the feature-rich WordPress format,  and Board member Phil Milner who is establishing the Bands, Venues,
DJs, Festivals and other search and sort-oriented pages in database formats.
In addition to those mentioned, new CalAmericana board members include Jenny Kerr - Treasurer, Amy Lucas
- Secretary, and Nick Fitch. An Events Committee and Publicity Committee have also been established to manage connecting musicians and audiences and to distribute the news
about the Golden State's world's largest roots Americana community.
CALAMERICANA INCREASES ITS WEB PRESENCE
Monday, Novenber 16, 2009 CalAmericana
has added new songs, pictures and videos to its MySpace
page, added more videos to the CalAmericana YouTube channel, and started a Twitter account.
You can keep abreast of new content by becoming friends on MySpace,
subscribing to CalAmericana's YouTube channel, and following the tweets on Twitter. And stay tuned Facebook fans because that will be next.
Also, to follow the postings seen here and receive special notices send "subscribe" to
calamericana@[this site's URL].
HISTORIC WESTERN SWING EVENT COMES TO BRISBANE
Article Date: Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Event Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009  California was a major player during the 1940s-1950s heyday
of western swing. Texan Bob Wills, the most well-known of the western swing pioneers, earned his national and international fame after moving to California where radio,
western movies and a budding television industry were spreading the music.
Brisbane, a small town tucked between San Francisco's Candlestick Point and San Bruno Mountain, had three
honky-tonk clubs on its small main street. The last of them, the 23 Club is in the Guinness Book of Records for having barbequed seven buffalo simultaneously. Drummer
Johnny Cuviello is the last surviving member of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, he's still drumming, and he'll be celebrating his 94th birthday at the 23 Club. Joining him will be
Shorty Joe Quartuccio the first country radio DJ, pedal steel player Bobby Black (Commander Cody), Bob Wills' niece Dayna Wills, a backline Bay Area Americana band
The Cottonpickers, and keyboard master Carl Sonny Leyland.
This one-time event, a rejuvinated Brisbane Bop a BBQ, free two-step lesson, DJ Stompin' Steve (KKUP) and a celebration of California's western swing tradition.
www.MySpace.com/23Club
WAR ON FUN UPDATE: TO CLUB OR NOT TO CLUB?
Tuesday, October 27
Some new regulations regarding one-time event permits and strengthening the weak, but club-friendly Entertainment Commission, led to a City Hall showdown between San
Francisco's pro- and anti-club factions. The Board of Supervisors meeting room was full to overflowing for what was a committee meeting chaired by Bevan Dufty with fellow Supervisors Eric Mar
and Chris Daly.
The crowd came to debate club-or-not-to-club points of view with neighborhood groups
complaining of noise and violence and pro-club forces argueing the economic benefits, cultural contributions and generally outstanding behavior at clubs that side with neighbors to get the bad apples out. Read more at http://www.hickswithsticks.com/2009/10/29/live-entertainment-vs-city-hall/
CALAMERICANA JOINS THE OPPOSITION TO THE WAR ON FUN
Saturday, October 17th  The CalAmericana Association and many others are preparing
to attend an October 26th SF Board of Supervisors hearing that will determine the future of live music in San Francisco. Opposition is building against the War on Fun as the
California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and the San Francisco Police Department's stepped up harassment of live music venues is coming to be known.
Www.StopTheWarOnFun.com lists the following ABC citations issued to San Francisco clubs:
Notice that none of these violations has anything to do with liquor such as serving minors or
serving after hours, and only one is about noise -- a point we will return to soon. Most are about food. The City of SF's concerns are about "club violence" which are infrequent incidents of
assault and rowdy behavior that are much more common at sporting events, on public transportation, and in the city's parks. The ABC, local media and grandstanding Supervisors are
leading the War on Fun, and they have all crossed the line between enforcement and harassment.
__________________________________
"Meanwhile the ABC carries on like it is still 1949 requiring clubs
to keep burning candles on their bars and even regulating
the type of dancing that can be done in order to maintain
the fiction that these establishments are restaurants."
__________________________________
Most of the aforementioned venues obtained their liquor licenses as restaurants several owners and several decades ago. Terms of the original licenses require these establishments to
continue to serve food. The problem is that consumer tastes have changed while ABC's rules have not. The overwhelming majority of patrons that come to these venues do so for
entertainment, not lunch or dinner. The dinner/theater business model, with well-dressed patrons seated at tables up to the stage, went the way of high-buttoned shoes over half a century ago!
Meanwhile the ABC carries on like it is still 1949 requiring clubs to keep burning candles on their tables and bars, and even regulating the type of dancing that can be done in order to maintain
the fiction that these establishments are restaurants.
Local media add to the problem. When violence erupts at a sporting event the media give it
scant attention since it is such a common occurance. Still, nobody talks about shutting down the stadium. But when incidents of violence occur outside of a club newspapers and TV
reporters sensationalize them beyond their worth, stirring up anti-entertainment sentiments among the public and the police. __________________________________
"San Jose is a poster child for over-policing's
chilling effect on night life."
__________________________________ Meanwhile, the police are tasked with their own form of club harassment by responding to every
complaint no matter how trivial or individually motivated. Just one noise complaint will mobilize the police in San Francisco, but if a car gets stolen, well, that can either be phoned in or
forgotten about. San Jose provides a classic example of over-policing's chilling effect on night life. By
the 1980s redevelopment had revitalized its once-seedy downtown and by the 1990s live music was thriving around N. First Street. Then the SJPD made it a policy to invade
the district every Friday and Saturday night, setting up cones at intersections to redirect traffic that didn't need to be redirected, shining flashlights into moving vehicles and stopping cars
– not for actual infractions –
but for DUI fishing expeditions. By the 2000s live music had disappeared from N. First Street. Today touring bands usually skip California's third-largest city. The
San Jose State University Event Center is not a particularly music-friendly auditorium, but it is available if it isn't being
used for basketball. Orange County, the San Francisco Peninsula, Sacramento, San Diego and communities east of the Oakland Hills provide additional examples of well-populated areas with
minimal entertainment options due to red tape and over-policing. Communities in Los Angeles County are under considerable pressure as well.
Hostility from the ABC and local PDs is too much for entertainment establishments to be expected survive. CalAmericana invites its Bay Area members and friends to help Stop the War
on Fun by attending the meeting on Monday, October 26th, 2009, 1:00 pm in room 263 of City Hall.
For more, see:
EL CERRITO FREE FOLK FESTIVAL
Saturday, October 10 The San Francisco Folk Music Club, in association with The City of El Cerrito Arts and Culture Commission, presents the first-ever
El Cerrito Free Folk Festival on Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 12 p.m. to 10 pm.
Modeled after SFFMC's long-running annual San Francisco Free Folk Festival, this event will feature two stages and performers that range from solos to full bands, and include a
variety of singer-songwriters, jug bands, bluegrass, country, celtic and styles in between.
The strength of the festival is that it presents musicians like the singer-songwriter duo
Misner & Smith, and fiddler Chad Manning who may not be a household names, but are as entertaining, if not more so than those often headlining premium festivals. Eric and Suzy Thompson
who headline are perhaps the best known, at least among the bluegrass community.
The festival is friendly to families, musicians and of course those who simply want to enjoy a day
of Americana music. Participation is encouraged. The festival offers a well-rounded (keep 'em busy and teach them something)
children's program plus workshops for musicians, songwriters and those who just want to know more about a topic like the workshop on sea shantys for example.
HARDLY-STRICTLY BLUEGRASS
October 2-4
Hardly-Strictly Bluegrass
#9 will be held at Speedway Meadow in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park from October 2-4. This free three-day event continues its tradition of bringing national and international roots to six stages.
As for the bands, every stage, and a sixth has been added
this year, offers top talent, so even if you arrive early and park on a blanket in front of a single stage all day, you will be entertained. Following are some highlights for Friday, Saturday and
Sunday.Going on Friday is especially good for blanket parking since only one stage at a time is in use. Bring a kid to the Star stage for the 10:30-12:30 shows where MC Hammer, who has built quite
a reputation as a children's entertainer, will get the youngsters shakin'. And/or, plan for the Banjo stage from 2:00-7:00 for Poor Man's Whiskey, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, John Prine
, and Lyle Lovett & His Large Band. Saturday and Sunday will be packed with talent and people, so if you're roaming rather than parking, check the Hardly-Strictly schedule
and pick a route. One Saturday route can include Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands
(Banjo, 11:10am), slipping away a little early or arriving a
little late for Buddy Miller at the new stage (Towers of Gold, 11:45), Austin Lounge Lizards
(Arrow, 1:05), Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women (Star, 2:30), songwriter circle with Tom
Morello, Dar Williams, Steve Earle & Allison Moorer (Rooster, 3:45),
Nick Lowe
(Star, 4:40), and again split some time between Nick Lowe and
Rosie Flores with Jon Langford and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
(Arrow, 5:00), then Steve Earle & The Bluegrass Dukes (Banjo, 6:45).Sunday's route can include 11:00am Marleys Ghost with Special Guest Cowboy Jack Clement (Towers of Gold, 11:00), Booker T. & the Drive-By Truckers (Arrow, 12:15), Doc Watson & David Holt
(Banjo, 1:25), and a Rooster grand slam with Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Revue (Rooster, 2:45), Mavis Staples
(Rooster, 4:00), The Knitters (Rooster, 5:30), and Old Crow Medicine Show (Rooster , 7:00).
CALAMERICANA'S DJ's PROJECT
September 8, 2009 The CalAmericana Assn. is committed to bringing those who make the music and those who distribute the music closer together. This is why we've initiated
the DJ's Project. The DJ's Project will collect the names and email addresses of all the roots DJs in California, and eventualy the world, to establish a list of
those to whom we can distribute tracks from the latest releases by California musicians.
California is first in the world in roots Americana music, but the world doesn't know it. This is
one of the ways we intend to remediate that situation. We've ardeady collected 30 names and expect 90 more. If you have a DJ's name to contribute, please get in touch via the
About/Email link.
MORE VIDEOS ADDED TO CALAMERICANA'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
August 23, 2009
The new CalAmericana YouTube video channel (see next story) continues to grow in views, ratings and subscriptions. Videos can be found by searching YT for "calamericana." Following
are the links to the latest nine uploads.
"Thirty Days" - Sara Petite
San Diego's Sara Petite, who has her own band, sings with Cash'd
Out backing her on this Ernest Tubb classic.
"Tell Me Why You Been Gone So Long" - Red Meat
Smelley Kelley sings lead as Red Meat tears through this country song about a do-wrong woman.
"Thriftstore Cowgirl" - Red Meat
Jill Olson sings (and wrote) this homage to living in the past.
"Mean Man Blues" - Quarter Mile Combo
This has been an blues, rockabilly and a pop song about a man or a woman depending on
who is singing it. Whoever it is, s/he's still "almost as mean as me."
"Polk Salad Annie" - James Intveld
Country soul brother and California ex-pat James Intveld gets loose on this Tony Joe White hit. Recorded at the Uptown in Oakland, CA on 8-8-09.
"Gonna Let the Good Times Roll" - Kit and the Branded Men
(feat. G. E. Brown Jr.)
Steeped in the Bakersfield tradition, Glen Earl Brown Jr. takes over
lead vocals for this Buck Owens tune.
"Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me" - Belle Monroe and her Brewglass Boys
A rollicking alt-bluegrass take on an old favortite. Belle barks, Tom and Jordon solo and Ted has a senior moment.
"The Pecker Song" - Belle Monroe & her Brewglass Boys
It's ability to stretch the limits of bluegrass is one of Belle's band's strongest qualities. Here they go with humor. And why isn't there more humor in bluegrass?
"Don't Drive Like an Ass" - Yard Sale
Yard Sale has an "I told you so!" moment for bad drivers. This was  recordeded at the 35th
Aniversary of Berkeley's Starry Plough on November 8, 2008.
"Viper Song" - Wayne Hancock
Video effects have Wayne Hancock getting increasingly "bent" as he covers the earliest song about altering one's consciousness ever recorded.
CALAMERICANA LAUNCHES YOUTUBE VIDEO CHANNEL
August 11, 2009 The CalAmericana Association has created a YouTube account to host
videos of California roots Americana bands. California is first in roots Americana music, and YouTube provides a global, searchable outlet to showcase this music.
CalAmericana videos can always be found by searching for "calamericana" in YouTube, and here are the direct links to the first five.
"Love that Man" by Big Sandy and the Fly Rite Boys which was recorded at the Uptown in Oakland in the spring of 2009.
Future videos will include bluegrass from Belle Monroe and her Brewglass Boys, new Yard Sale, a cut of Red Meat, the Bakersfield sound of Kit and the Branded Men,
and a lively performance of "Poke Salad Annie" from California ex-pat James Intveld.
BAY AREA MUSICIANS LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR CAREERS
July 7, 2009 
The recession has accelerated the flight of musicians from the Bay Area. Austin seems to be the destination of choice with Dallas Wayne, Rockin' Lloyd Tripp and the Mother Truckers
already there and others to follow. Nashville and New York are claiming their share as well.
Rumors were circulating that Johnny Dilks was Austin-bound, but
he is in Louisiana on a long-term work-related stint. He hasn't made a decision about what's after Louisiana, but he sees Austin as higher than the Bay Area on his
priority list. Johnny lost a big part of what he was trying to accomplish musically when Dave Gleason of D.G.'s Wasted Days, who was also JD's guitarist, moved from the Bay Area to
Ventura.
 Mike Therieau,
who played with Gleason in DGWG, got more involved with his own band and East Bay Grease but those bands also came up against the Bay Area "wall" and now he's moved to Austin. Nik Edwards
of the California country roots band The Robber Barons is planning an immediate move to Austin; so immediate that he might be there as you read this.
Two of the Bay Area's best twanger-songwriters had to give up on the Bay Area. There've been welconed all over the world including other parts of the US, but Audrey Auld Mazzera
moved to Nashville in 2007 and shitkicker poet A.J. Roach moved to New York this year; both to further their music careers.
Johnny Dilks sees money as a driving force. Seasoned bands want $100/member for playing a club, but it's a struggle to get half that in the Bay Area. Teal Collins of the Mother Truckers
sees audience appreciation as another factor. She found that the Trucker's Austin audiences show more appreciation and fan loyalty than the Truckers experienced here. Bay Area bands
that tour Europe echo this sentiment.
The general reaction in Europe and most of the US is, "Wow, you're in a band," where here
audiences come to a show, have a good time, then seem to forget about the band as soon as their heads hit their pillows. This is a concern expressed my musicians across the spectrum of
Bay Area music, not just the roots bands. Sadly, it comes down to the Bay Area being saturated with music. Pick up a Bay Area weekly and there will be page after page of music.
Go to larger California unban areas like Sacramento, San Jose or San Diego and there will be barely a third of the music that's available here. Bay Area audiences are fortunate to have so
much to choose from, but the careers of Bay Area musicians are paying a price for it. It's hard to be a hero in your own home town, including the Los Angeles area which, thanks to its
extensive entertainment roots is holding its own.
October 28, 2008, updated August 19, 2009
NEW CALAMERICANA SCHEDULE LISTS MONTHLY ROOTS AMERICANA
IN THE SF BAY AREA
The CalAmericana Association has published a list of regularly scheduled roots Americana
events for the San Francisco Bay Area. A similar list is being prepared for the greater Los Angeles Area. These shows change from time-to-time, but the calendar pictured above lists
regularly scheduled roots Americana shows and jams in the SFBA.
This calendar lists 21 events, 10 of which take place every week. There are about 60 regularly scheduled
shows in the San Francisco Bay Area every month. Most are free. Friday and Saturday shows have cover charges between $5-10, so Bay Area roots fans can follow the
calendar to free entertainment almost any night of the month.
From twanger-songwriters to rockabilly, there are over 125 shows every month in and around San
Francisco. Right click the schedule to save or print this handy calendar. |
