One of the problems is that local music tends to be cliquish and thus you tend to have stylistically similar bands on the same bill rather than two bands that are equally talented. That's as much caused by audiences as it is bands - club owners learn really quickly that diversity is rarely appreciated and thus book accordingly. Even so called hybrid bands (i.e. rap-rock) tend to get their audience from fans of one musical style and are either igored or disliked by other music stylists. So while it would be nice to see all the different musicians working together, I don't see that happening due to audience bias. The fact that Houston is so spread out is of course a major problem. However, I don't think downtown is the place to concentrate the music. Because of the rent, it will always cater towards high dollar activities (meat market bars and dancing). I think the best chance for a really good music area is Washington Avenue. Right now, you have Fat Cat's, Silky's and Walter's in the same block, Cosmos Cafe about two blocks away and the Rhythm Room closer to downtown. There are also a couple of bars there as well If they could add some more venues (let's say 10) in between these clubs, then you would have a great place for a music scene. People would probably be willing to walk from club to club in this kind of setup. Speaking of Washington Avenue, I was at the Down With the Scene festival at Fat Cat's, Silky's and Walter's on Saturday, July 26, and saw several great local acts along with some good bands from Austin. Of course, there were some really lame bands too, but people are willing to stick around when (1) the price is cheap ($5 for DWTS) and (2) they have options nearby. I hope that these kind of festivals become more common.
I agree. I think the gig we played on Saturday was the first time we had played a show with no other ska bands in about 8 months. Almost all of our shows are Ska themed or ones where we play 4 hours and don't share the bill. But with the few number of ska bands around Houston(and most of them are young and inexperienced), that limits some of our shows. The thing is that we're kind of the Anti-ska ska band. Meaning, we're not traditional, punk, or ska-core. People who don't like ska like our music. But it's hard to reach those people when they don't go to a ska show. I wish that venues would mix the genres a little more.
There hasn't been real diversity in pop music since the early 70's, locally or otherwise. It used to be that folk bands, hard rock, pop, blues and everything in between could end up on the same bill. That hasn't happened in a LONG time. In Houston, the most disappointing thing to me is the sense of competitiveness there is. There doesn't really seem to be much of a sense of community among bands and musicians. There is kind of an every-man-for-himself attitude that permiates the scene here. I have always been frustrated with how musicians from differing musical styles around here really thumb their noses at others. Rock guys don't like jazz. Jazz guys don't like alt.rock. Nobody likes country. If great music scenes like New York demonstrate anything to us, it is that there isn't just room for everyone, there is a really genuine NEED for bands and artists of every different variety.
An enormous exception to this rule is the scene not-so-quietly building among JW Americana, Medicine Show and Two Star Symphony (not to mention their fans). The common denominator between them is not genre, but a genuine interest in showing the audience a good time and having one themselves. JW's a rock band, Medicine Show embraces most traditional genres and Two Star's original symphonic music for strings. And each of the players regularly sit in with each others' bands, as do folks from the audience. They're all extraordinarily friendly, too. Anyone who has the understandable beef Jeff does with the Houston scene would do themselves a favor to see these bands. I ran into John Lomax from the Press at a party recently and told him of this phenomenon and I'm pretty sure he's writing a feature on it as I type. You can catch them at various venues around town. They regularly play the Axiom, Rudyards, Helios, Proletariat and any number of parties.
Hi, this is rimmy's wife. Since rimbaud is in DC, I've had to find new friends to hang out with. So we've been hitting open mics for the last couple of weeks. Tuesdays: Crooked Ferret (Jones Road). This place gets a pretty decent number of musicians, across a range of music, and everyone usually plays a couple covers and a couple of originals. No drum setup though. Wednesdays: Westfield by the Railroad (Hardy). This is hosted by the same guy who does the Crooked Ferret, but the scene isn't quite as hopping. I think this place is set up for a band, but it's more like if you just want to practice on a stage or something. Actually, all it needs is a little word of mouth to get it going. Wednesdays: Super Happy Fun Land (Heights). This is more of an artists open mic, like poetry, noise bands, etc. The last time we went though, after the funky acts cleared out, a bunch of people just hung out with their guitars and the piano. It was a pretty cool, low-key kind of thing. Woodrows has an open mic on Tuesdays, but I haven't been yet. Will probably check it out tomorrow though.
