Where are todays' HOTBEDS of musical activity?

[S.M. Johnson]

Is it fair to believe for even a moment that Nashville is no longer the mecca for steel guitar players?

If it's not, what towns or regions are today's focal point for great country/western music?

[Steven Finley]

Wherever Tom Bovine is appearing, the only name
you need know in country music.

[Earnest Bovine]

Wherever Tom Bovine is appearing, the only name
you need know in country music.

Where is that? In Calfornia? On YouTube?

[Steven Finley]

Thank you for your interest. This was posted several weeks ago but since you asked, here is the skinny. Tom Bovine recently got signed with a label
and is in the process of laying down tracks.

Since Tom does not play bars, many of his gigs are outdoors. He was smart to spend much of the hot summer in an air-conditioned studio.
Yours truly is playing on a few of the tracks which, when available, I will post links on the Forum.

Tom said that if you are a fan that he will try to get you in to one of the private gigs so he can bestow some genuine Bovinehood on you Doug.

[chris ivey]

the bovines are taking over the earth !!

[Steven Finley]

Chris, you may be right. Even Tom's dog has a head like a calf.

Pic of Tom's cattle dog, Longpaw Bovine is posted with Tom's permission. (Longpaw stays at our ranch when Tom is on the road.)

[Doyle Weigold]

I thought everybody went to Texas after they turned out the lights in Nashville

[Kevin Hatton]

Austin. Everybody and there brothers are moving there. I'd say anywhere that you have good players is a hotbed of music activity. Were doing fine here in western N.Y.

[Herb Steiner]

Austin. Everybody and there brothers are moving there. I'd say anywhere that you have good players is a hotbed of music activity. Were doing fine here in western N.Y.

Yeah,... right!

[Mike Neer]

In bedrooms all across America!

[Chris Schlotzhauer]

Austin. Everybody and there brothers are moving there. I'd say anywhere that you have good players is a hotbed of music activity. Were doing fine here in western N.Y.

Yeah move to Austin. You play every night and make 10's of dollars

[Theresa Galbraith]

Nashville's pretty hot with players at different venues, as always!

[Herb Steiner]

Austin. Everybody and there brothers are moving there. I'd say anywhere that you have good players is a hotbed of music activity. Were doing fine here in western N.Y.

Yeah move to Austin. You play every night and make 10's of dollars

The pay you quote is spot on, Chris, but you well know there aren't as many gig nights as there once was.

Guys, country music isn't that important to the club scene here anymore. I'll put it this way: the second best country gig in Austin, Ginny's Little Longhorn, is a pass-the-hat place. And bands fight to get booked there.

Does that tell you hot-to-move guys anything?

[Jerome Hawkes]

have a number of friends who moved to nashville over the last 5 years and they all say its still a "hotbed" - lots of good music being made on the sidelines, one-off jams, and such - but they all spend 90% of the time out on the road...so.

they are also mostly living in boarding rooms and can pack everything they own into a duffle bag. its mostly a young mans game. when i lived in Nashville in the early 90's, i took a temp job at the Tennessean newspaper stuffing flyer inserts by hand into the center sections of the paper - (late night weekday work) - i was very surprised at the number of older burnt out road musicians who were there also - being only 22 at the time, it was an eye opener and i headed back home and started my own business - sucks here, little music, no scene, but the paychecks are steady and i have some retirement funds put way. i honestly didnt want to end up like that at 45, which i surely would have.

[Ben Lawson]

A few years ago I would have said there's more country music on the East coast than most other places, but it ain't country any more. It seems that the new music around here is a rock/folk mix. Some steel in it but not the Ray Price or Buck Owens stuff. In the Twitty Fever Band that I play in they're using songs from his last album. No steel, Papa John wasn't there. I don't mind getting paid for sitting but I do get stiff waiting for my four or five note fill.
If we get an instrumental it's usually not one that a steel player would choose.
So to get back on topic I work in the N.Y., N.J. & Pa. area with three different bands. We make reasonable money and have some great pickers in the band(s) but I would like more real country.
We're pretty well booked up through the mid-October then it slows down a lot.

[Billy Tonnesen]

There never has been or will be again the amount of
Country and Western Musicians that came together in So. California from the mid 30's thru the mid 60's.
Most of the recording many TV shows originated out here. There were bands in Dance Halls, Clubs, Beer Joints, and all the Freternal Lodges. Now there are little pockets of activity but they are spread out all over the County. The great thing now is we have U-Tube and other Musical Venues we can visit on the internet playing all the old as well as the new music.

[Scott Henderson]

I feel fairly fortunate after hearing some of the stories of the "good music drought"
I play with a full band about once or twice a month. And make good money. However it ain't at the Lake of the Ozarks....I have to go out to smaller towns around the Mo to do the picking. I 've been lucky to get to play with a great bunch of pickers. Dewayne Bowman, Ernie Reed, and more. But yeah it is getting pretty slim. I work a duo the rest of the time to make a good side living off of music. Quite frankly I don't miss the old days cause I was to young to participate. But I will say the future doesn't look much brighter....may have to go back to playing reggae/polka music....

[John Russell]

Amen to what Herb said. Every gig I play we spend time during breaks talking about the good ol' days. Sure, in the '70s you could play 5 nites a week and make decent money. The '80s was a replay somewhat with the Urban Cowboy thing. As the '90s played out and the oughts wore on, it seems so many pickers, both famous and not so moved here en masse hearing about all the live venues. True, there are lots of restaurants and small bars that have a corner where you can set up and play for tips. The thing is, Austin is more about alt-rock, blues, etc. than anything resembling country music. There's one C&W dance hall left here, The Broken Spoke. Ginny's Longhorn is a tiny bar with space for about 2 couples and three musicians. The other showcase venues mostly feature singer-songwriters of whatever stripe, you rarely see anyone play steel guitars. And since everybody from around the world has moved here, club owners are overwhelmed with players bugging them for gigs. Do us a favor and stay put. Play the VFWs and senior centers where you are cause it's no better here.

[Earl Briggs]

Iv'e been playing at the Wylie Opry. East of dallas for about 22 years.The money is pretty good.and the crowds are still good despite the economy..we play about half of the old standards and half of the new country.. I guess my biggest thrill is we have Kenny Seratt with us 6 months out of the year.Kenny was a big hit out on the west coast back in the 70's had several hit's back then' goodbys come hard for me and several more.he goes back to his ranch in Montana during the spring and summer months.he is 71 now but still sings great.I brought him to the TSGA this year and had him get up and sing some songs on my set....

[Alan Tanner]

It is pretty slim around the Dayton area too. The big clubs of yesteryear are gone mostly. The old Crystal Pistol that was the biggy here is now and has been for years, a parking lot. I think good rock bands stay somewhat busy, but not like before. Vfw's, etc don't have live music like they used to either. Some have dropped it altogether, or reduced to once a month. Karaoke is still a draw I guess. The police here hang around the clubs etc at closing time trolling for DUI's which does not help biz, and we also have a no smoking law which probably hurts some too. I play in a few different bands to keep busy. A lot of little afternoon get together's seems to be more the thing here the last few years. I also work a couple of restaurants, and also work staff band at a show in Brookville Ohio that is in it's sixth year, and still holding on. I also work a VFW now and then. There is a show south of here that bills itself as classic country, but they do a lot of new stuff and 60's retro rock. I think their crowd is up and down. Some of the retirement centers are doing pretty well also. All the crowds I see everywhere are senior citizens. They dont like late hours or snow, and ya almost always have to have food available to pull anyone in. If you are working a job here, you really have to hang on and do what you can to hold it. There are cruising sharks who would steal your job in a second, and I even had one bunch that booked a job and worked it using my band name, claiming it was theirs. There is work around tho, but the pay is not great. I feel like anymore that I am fortunate to be working at all, and if I can cover my fuel and get a snack, I'm ahead. I am, however, also considering hanging it up. It's gettin' to be a hassle for me to find musicians that are reliable and show up and can play, plus have to deal with management in some cases. I also have my own biz so that takes up some time too. Good luck....

[Greg Stasny]

Jake Hooker and the Outsiders keeps Rick Price mighty busy working his steel. The amount of miles those guys travel covering TX is amazing.

http://www.jakehookermusic.com/dates.html

Jody Nix, Bobby Flores, Billy Mata and others also have plenty of dates booked. Just lots of travel involved.

[Dave Biller]

And that, right there is the key to making a living as a musician in Austin. NOT playing IN Austin, land of tip buckets, competing for gigs with 100 bands that are willing to work for free, paying 10 bucks to park if you play downtown etc. and a marked diminishing interest in live music in general. You have to network outside of town and be willing to drive your car (or, in our case, pickup truck) to Houston, Ft. Worth, San Angelo, Abilene, Big Spring, Lubbuck! even Amarillo!! Unfortunatley, none of the players in these bands live in Austin but you, so you'll mostly be driving yourself and spending your own money on gas. On the other hand, it's the perfect location as far as proximity to the jobs. Right in the middle. AND it is a great place to live, aside from our monstrous traffic problems of course.

[John Russell]

That's it. If you're willing to spend your life on the highway and you have a regional or national following, there are venues to play. Live music will never die off. It will always be a tough way to make a living. My point is that if you began playing in the '60s or '70s it's disappointing to watch how tastes evolve away from traditional country--and steel guitar. Dance halls are fewer than ever. Good players will always find gigs. People have parties or events and want live music. For us boomers, those events usually want music that's not in-your-face loud and with some tasty songs and playing. I've noticed an uptick in senior events and there are more retirees all the time. As to a "music scene" --there is one here in Austin. It's not about country music as we know it.

[Jay Hudson]

I played a gig in Austin last Friday at a well known restaurant/music venue.
After paying the sound man $80.00 off the top the band(5 piece) made $5.00 per player.
I told the sound man all we needed was one vocal mike but he insisted in miking up each instrument so it looked liked he had something to do.This is in a room that holds about 60 seats.We had a crowd of about 12 and half were friends of the band that didn't pay the cover.
Welcome to the music business.

[S.M. Johnson]

SOUNDMEN kinda happened on the scene somewhat like rim-shot snare drummers and stage monitors......did they not?

How many of you feel there is a REAL NEED for them? How many of you feel that they really contribute a significant service versus just using their status of 'being with the band' to catch girls?

Early dance hall bands were never miked and usually had only a single mike for vocals and that usually fell on the band leader to handle. It always worked.