Tuesday, December 30, 2008
News Streetalk: How has the economy affected the local music scene?
Posted by Jeff Slate on Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 2:57 PM
Will: With the Atlanta music scene, there’s a lot of swapping out. It’s kind of an unspoken thing that if I go out to see your band, you’ll come out to see my band. That’s definitely changed. There’s less musicians supporting other musicians. Atlanta is more of an incestuous music community. It keeps itself afloat, because you have guys in other bands coming to see you — and then their friends come out. It adds up. As a whole, this city doesn’t support local musicians as much as they should. This is going to compound things.
Cisco: I’ve been playing for five years. Now you have to use your muscles rather than your talent to make a living. I’ve pawned some guitars. But I still have what I need to perform. Clubs gives you less gigs. Before, you used to play twice a month in every venue. Now it’s once a month. But you never give up. You can ask any musician here and that’s all we talk about now. Now it’s, "Can you lend me your cable? Hey, do you have an E-string, because I ran out?" It’s never been easy, but it’s never been this hard.
Leah: The economy is creating sort of a realistic stress that’s making people really want to localize. It’s bringing people out more so there’s a little bit more camaraderie and support around us. Shows are really full. People are taking that economic stress and realizing they have to funnel that energy and go listen to some music. Local bands are really having a strong and powerful impact. There is that need to connect, and that happens through music. So the music is actually thriving and working as a voice. And the audience is more passionate because they need it.
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