Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

Heading into Derby, with the weather finally settling down (fingers crossed), taking a look at the music calendar for the summer as far as we have it at the moment, it seems that music fans will have to make some serious and difficult choices about which shows to attend. Either that, or quit the day job – but wait, even then, there are choices that must be made of some days, when two or more shows compete for your dollar. Good luck.

As has been said in this space before, the music business has changed from a record-selling business to a touring business, with records serving to drive fans to the shows. A few dollars can be made on CDs at the merch table, but the tees and such have a bigger profit margin. That and ticket sales are the revenue sources.

A response to that by Louisville bands should be to emulate the big boys, at least as far as touring is concerned; to wit, TOUR. Put together a show with two or three other, similar bands and start traveling in an area of, say, fifty to seventy-five miles from Louisville, which is close enough to get home after a show. Find a fair-sized town, preferably with a college of some sort, an appropriate venue and, hopefully, local radio. The best strategy is to find a similar local band and open for them the first time through. (Remember: you have to return the favorite if it works.) If that can’t be done, book yourself cold and expect to draw only a few music fans. While there, get some idea of the town and its bars/venues. Afterwards, book yourself in the same venue. Send somebody down earlier with some inexpensive posters and put them up wherever local bands hang theirs. Send a couple of band members there a day or two earlier than the gig and drop by the radio station, if that seems to be feasible. Plug your show.

Over time, you should be able to build a circuit that enables you to hit the same clubs every six weeks or so (still expanding your tour base, however.) Rinse and repeat.

As I have written before, note that the Velcro Pygmies have built a solid, twenty-plus-year career out of touring the Southeast, without ever “hitting it big.” They sell lots of alcohol at their shows, which makes the venue owners happy.

CODAS

Bayens, Mark Joseph, 62, died in Louisville on April 1, 2018. He was a guitarist who played with the Disoriented Pedestrians band.

McNichol, Stephen William, 68, died in Louisville on April 8, 2018. He was a guitarist and singer in a number of Louisville bands, including the Wulfe Bros., the McNicol Brothers and The Rugbys, of which he was a founding member.

Shields, Karen Deborah Catherine, 43, died in Los Angeles on April 3, 2018. She was a Louisville native who studied piano with Nancy Albrink and Lee Luvisi and was a soloist with the Louisville Orchestra on several occasions as a child and later as a teenager.