I worked the door the last 2 nights at JJ’s and needless to say I am a bit burned out and my liver is a bit swolen. But this post was not started so I could complain about my almost perfect life but to urge you to get out and support your local music scene.
Thursday night the local band Bathtub Gin and Fault Lines from San Francisco played to an almost empty house. Fault Lines traveled a long way from home to play and nobody showed up to support them. This is a common occurrence way to often and what makes this sad is that their van lost it’s transmission just outside of Atlanta and they had to have AAA tow them up here. Jenny Bohemia had to drive down and pick them up just so they could play the show. It is this commitment from Jenny and John and the plethora of bands that play at their awesome club that make me love that place.
Contrast this with last night when a crowded house showed up to see The Bohannans rock a 2 hour set that followed 2 excellent opening acts. First was Caitlin Rose out of Nashville originally from someplace in Texas. She has an amazing voice that has to be heard in the confines of a music venue like JJ’s to be truly appreciated. Following her was Mississippi John Doude. John hails from the great state of Mississippi but currently lives in middle Georgia and plays some wicked one man honkey tonk country blues. Even though on this night he had excellent help on bass (perhaps he always does) he was obviously the man in charge.
What does this have to do with the local music scene? Good question! The health of a music venue in a smaller town like Chattanooga is driven by the local music scene. Many out of town performers want to play Chattanooga but since most of them have no existing fan base it is vital for them to get added to the bill of a local band that draws a crowd. Bathtub Gin who are a great band generally pull in a pretty good crowd but unfortunately on this night nobody showed up and Fault Lines didn’t fare so well when it came to how much they pulled in from the door. The Bohannans drew a great crowd and all 3 bands made some money. It is not all about the money either. If the out of town bands get put on the right show and people hear them play they are likely to see them the next time they come and hopefully will bring a friend. Bands like How I Became the Bomb (who is playing this evening BTW) followed this trend and now they headline the show and pack the house every time.
So get out and support your local music club. Buy merchandise from the out of town bands you like, buy lots of drinks at the bar and tip the bartenders well. But do yourself and come a bit early so you can check out those out of town bands who have come to your fair city to entertain you, you may miss the highlight of the night if you come to late.
