[Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixieland and Hockey

[Stephen Barbone]

Way to go Kurt. It is amazing how much work there is out there at places like
these. The Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Team also has Dixieland in the entry way
to the arena sometimes. A competitor of ours has this gig and we wish them well
with it as a new audience continues to become exposed to the music. Better yet,
two new Dixieland Bands, with excellent musicians have just started to play
here in the Philadelphia Metropolitan area at similar gigs. Some may view that
as competition, but we welcome them. It's like the marketing of any product.
When more suppliers (bands) do it successfully, that means the demand is
increasing and it is good for all of us as long as we expand the venues and
gain new audiences rather than cut the price at the existing venues.

I was very happy to hear that a competitor band of ours (a bit more commercial)
got a gig at the brand new "Constitution Center" in downtown Philadelphia.
Happier still when they asked me to play clarinet with them on the gig because
they wanted a "New Orleans" feel. ;-)

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Kurt Bowermaster wrote:

> Speaking of exposing this music to younger people...my Party Gras Dixieland
> Band played last Saturday night at the pre-season Des Moines Buccaneer's
> hockey game as people passed by on their way into the arena.  Mostly younger
> people.  Many stopped to listen and from what I could see, enjoyed OKOM.
> Probably the first exposure for many of them.
>
> This was the first time this has been tried at a Bucs game and the
> management loved it. Oh yeah, we made a decent wage too.  I'm negotiating a
> contract for the 2003-2004 hockey season.