[Dixielandjazz] OKOM in the Great State of California

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/2/05 4:57:10 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
hotjazzcornet at earthlink.net writes:

>  Tomorrow, we begin another School Marathon where we will play for six 
> schools in two days.  We stand a chance of getting OKOM to 1,400 kids in the next 
> 48 hours.  Are we making a profit, yes.  Are we getting rich, no.  However, 
> seeing the light in that many young eyes adds several 0's to the check.


Marvelous Jan, 

 Go get them kids, they will someday be a paying audience or at least better 
for the exposure to OKOM rather than Chicken Pox or Heavy Metal.  If more guys 
like you would not lurk and step up and tell the rest of us who are always 
shouting about getting the music to the kids etc.  We would not have to keep 
preaching the same sermon over and over.  Guys like Barbone and I just get 
frustrated when it seems nobody at all is paying attention.

> 
> Perhaps, the demographics have something to do with this question.  How many 
> people have retired (in Chicago) and moved to California.  I live near a 
> community that is filled with retired folks, since the city has promoted Hemet, 
> California as a great place to retire.  We never run short of an audience for 
> OKOM in this area.  Perhaps there is more of an audience for OKOM festivals 
> because of the number of seniors in the neighborhood.
> 
> Totally understandable:

  While we continue to work on building a more youthful audience, our retired 
folks are 
> our bread and butter.  


Also understandable, but there must be some non retired working folks all 
around you that are having all those kids in the schools, those are the ones who 
need to be cultivated, and the sure fire way to them is through one of two 
options l.  Their Parents, or #2 Their Kids.
Both if you can get their attention.

We must remember that for many years in American culture anyway, kids grow up 
and leave the nest, many of them head straight for the Big cities to get away 
from dullsville at least as they consider it.  Now many of the retired 
OKOMers did the same thing and just forgot about it.  When they got fed up with the 
crime and hustle and bustle of everyday life in the big cities that had lost 
their lure that they moved there for earlier in life, not to mention getting 
the opportunity to sell out their expensive property in the cities and head for 
more economical places like Hemet and retire comfortably.

Now many of the OKOM musicians lost an audience in the big cities, as 
happened to Lu Watters and Turk Murphy and Clancey Hayes that I specifically recall, 
as the older folks of their era retired and moved away, many no doubt back to 
the small towns they came form many years earlier, ( going back to their 
Roots) .   

Now many OKOM musicians have followed them to the smaller towns and the 
ongoing scene for lively OKOM in most major Cities just disappeared since nobody 
was cultivating the new kids in town or coming to town every day from the small 
cities to seek fame and fortune in the big cities or at least a good job.

We all have noticed the fact that audiences are declining (nobody lives 
forever), perhaps we should consider demographics.

Life is a Circle,

Musical content:

"May the Circle be unbroken"


Cheers,

Tom Wiggins