Having friends in psychology, economics, and marketing/advertising, we have had this discussion over beer. And the general conclusion was that most artists (including early music artists) ought not be lamenting about why people don't show up to appreciate their art, but rather they should be discussing how best to draw in an audience. Think about it, if a graphic artist wants to put on an exhibit, they will bringing alcohol, maybe food, hire a musician, and create an inviting atmosphere for socializing. Moreover, symphony orchestras also have this problem and their partial (yet successful) solution are the multimedia programs; live performance of film music over film clips of Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.
The fact (sad or not) is that audiences have MANY distractions pulling their attention nowadays. Music alone, no matter how pure or inspirational, won't draw an audience as much as music PLUS something else - drama or a story, visuals, alcohol, dance, etc. I think it would behoove early music artists to start thinking about this and corroborating and creating more engaging programs. And there are successful examples of this out there, but there needs to be more. One more thing, I am also reminded of a program done years ago by Steven Wade (?) called 'Banjo Dancing' (?). He performed as one man with a banjo. He played, told stories, sang, and had a truly engaging performance. And it drew audiences. There is absolutely no reason why something similar couldn't be done by a lutenist given some talent and hard work in creating such a stage performance. And as a disclaimer, I am not a professional musician, so these are merely my opinions, looking in from the outside. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
