today's troubadours on a troubled road - june 21, 2004
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Hello folks,
Lately I have been speaking with a lot of musicians who are having second thoughts about their committment to the business-end of music. Although they are great players and singers, they are struggling to hold on to their jobs as troubadours in a culture that they feel has passed them by, or that no longer has the attention span for up-close-and-personal musical storytelling.
troubadours in an attention deficit culture
Blues musicians in particular, but other players as well, seem to be facing an economy which can no longer sustain the mom-and-pop cafes, saloons and nightclubs that used to dot the country enabling traveling musicians to get from hither to yon without getting stranded.
In a recent conversation one talented singer/songwriter friend mulled throwing in the towel and going to work full time on his farm, to literally live off the land. He was really heart sick from playing in places where people don't listen or care, in order to make a wage that has been stagnant for a decade or more. Another amigo moved from Chicago to the middle of the country to get away from the blues scene that he felt had become watered down and beholden to corporate interests and commercialism.
the dark corners of the 'seafood circuit'
Other players bemoan playing blues in what they called the 'seafood circuit', owing to the fact that half the decent paying gigs are in upscale fish restaurants that want a 'blues theme' on certain nights of the week. The drawback from an artistic point is that you are often playing in an unlit corner to the backs of diners' heads.
Then there's the post-Stevie Ray-syndrome which has infected parts of the commercialized blues market. The fact that Stevie actually played good blues and idolized cats such as Albert King and, in fact, unapologetically borrowed from Albert's book, is forgotten. Vaughan's impact is that some managers with the power to book bands now expect blues to be played with far more of a rock approach. Players with a more eclectic or traditional feel to their music need not apply.
the post-Stevie Ray-syndrome -- hopped-up, too loud blues-rock
It is true that some blues bar owners lean in that direction when hiring. In this way, and not by his choice, Vaughan did the blues world a disservice in creating a stereotype of hopped-up, too loud blues-rock. As a result an old-school boogie woogie piano virtuoso with a discography as long as your right arm (another friend) is told by a young nightclub 'manager' that he isn't 'bluesy' enough to play his room.
Now, this musician has a show that is nuanced and his guitar player is a tasteful, 'pocket' player who doesn't' grandstand but instead plays elegant rhythm work and lines that harken back to Lonnie Johnson and Sammy Lawhorn. But to a young, uneducated bar manager with no sense of the deeper tradition, it isn't 'bluesy' enough (read as: isn't rock enough).
Let's hope that the power of this great music and it's ability to reach and grab our hearts and minds and move our bodies will win out, and that there will be room for all of the cats whether their playing is influenced by rock, soul, jazz or whatever flavor you want to name.
TR
