Regarding whether the city itself is doing enough to "promote"
or "tout" these musicians - Did the city "promote" or "tout"
Springsteen, Southside and any of the other SOAPers back in the late
60s/early 70s when they were coming up? I honestly don't know, but it
would be interesting to research. From what I can tell from the
various biographies, it seems like Springsteen and his cohorts did
what every young musician does before they make it - hustled their
asses off. Papering the student centers and phone poles with flyers,
networking, begging their friends to come to the gigs so the club
owner would ask them back. Only after they achieved cultural ubiquity
did the city decide to emrace them, no?
Given the financial circumstances at present, oakdorf's admonition
that the city's job is to run the municipal government is worth
considering. I know there is a Director of Commerce, but I take that
(perhaps wrongly?) to mean the guy in charge of tax breaks, pitching
potential store owners and setting up the sidewalk sales.
While I'm sure they'd never reject the free publicity, I think young
musicians like Nicole, Agency, Parlour Mob, Gil Velasquez and the
like would really prefer to just be given the freedom to compose,
perform and nurture their own scene with only the help of sympathetic
club owners. (which could bring up a whole other thread about your
assertions regarding a certain club's promoter and his secret phone
calls to performers at the Seaside Fest - but I won't go there ;)
Don't give up on your ideals, man. The economy does make it tough to
justify dropping 20 to 40 bucks to see music in any town. It will
turn around eventually. I think, much like bebop in New York,
psychedelia in San Francisco, punk in New York and techno in Detroit,
the new sound of Asbury Park will thrive in spite of the municipal
situation. And Springsteen never had MySpace!
One more thing, slightly off topic, but... Nicole sounds nothing like
Amy Winehouse. The latter is, so far, a one trick pony aping (albeit
well enough) Ronnie Spector with significant assistance from Mark
Ronson. The former, on the other hand, has a voice that falls
somewhere between Roy Orbison and Harriet Wheeler and her
multifaceted songs run the gamut from (as you said) cinematic [The
Way It Is] to nouveau-girl-group [Maybe Tonight] to the utterly
uncategorizable [Brooklyn's on Fire]. And she puts on a much better
live show to boot.
(sorry...had to get that in there...;)
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "Jack Pitzer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Asbury Park doesn't want it's musical heritage to continue beyond
Bruce Springsteen.
> We're headed toward "smooth" everything when it comes to music.
> This is despite the fact that The Saint, Asbury Lanes and The Stone
Pony continue to
> provide a link to new, original and exciting music, but the city
itself does little to tout that.
> We have an artist living right here in AP who's making waves all
over the world, Nicole
> Atkins. You've heard her music in commercials, she's been on
Letterman and Conan. She's
> right in the same genre as people like Amy Winehouse and other
artists who fuse a
> retro/cinematic sound, yet she plays at the Stone Pony and only 40
people show up. To
> me, she should be an inspiration as to what one accomplishes if you
dedicate yourself to
> it, which is exactly what she has done. She comes from Neptune, but
her performance
> roots are right here in AP.
> But, does AP tout her like Springsteen or Southside? Nope.
> Does AP tout the incredibly unique and hip Asbury Lanes? Nope
> Asbury Park is turning it's back on what once was it's greatest
export, music.
> But, maybe this is happening all across the country.
> Maybe people outside of major cities don't support music the way
they once did. It's so
> much easier to stay at home and experience the world thru the
internet.
>
> I'm pretty much done with ranting about what should've happened in
AP. It's pointless.
> We a city that's changing. Some people will love it, and others,
like myself will be turned
> off by where we are headed. There will probably come a time for me
to start looking for a
> community to live in that embraces the ideals that make me excited.
>
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