[Dixielandjazz] Supporting OKOM. Strange happenings on the festival circuit.

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Supporting OKOM. Strange happenings on the 
festival circuit.

 
  For those of you on the list who listen only to music on recordings, 
the radio or the Internet or read about it, or perform, write or 
arrange music---Never mind. 
 
 Lowell aka Mad Dawg 
 
  
  Contrary to popular belief by us "civilians", (as Bill Allred 
sometimes calls us), all entertainers do NOT like to blow their own 
horns, if they don't have to. In fact, the less they have to blow at a 
festival, the better some like it. Pity the now often poor people who 
come to hear them! What do you expect for your money? I know what I do! 
 
  Many festivals today appear to go along with the idea that if a 
musician plays once or twice, per day, the customers should be 
satisfied. On the other hand, some festivals overwork the musicians 
with minimum breaks between sets. There seems to be seldom a "happy 
medium" for both musicians or festival goers. 
 
 Does anyone on the list know the reason for this?


TW:   Yes Lowell:   Total amateurism and lack of professional expertise 
in organizing and artistically programming a festival or event, and yet 
they often pooh p[ooh any input or professional advise form people on 
this list who have such experience.   And yes many of them are also 
musicians who simply have been doing it wrong for fifty or sixty years 
as well, and simply never learned any better nor learned the difference 
between a Good Professional Gig and just any gig with a meager Pay 
check.

  Perhaps no one is really doing the scheduling and they just throw the 
names in a hat?

TW:
You got it!  The old MOre is Better routine,  and some organizers who 
are musicians are simply more interested in how many $40.00 sets they 
can play during the run of a festival, or the old story of we can't 
afford to bring in out of town or state or country acts because it just 
costs too much.   ( The truth is You Can't Afford NOT TO if you intend 
to attract any new members and patrons to your societies and events.)  
There fore the same old crowd of regulars get spoon fed all the local 
regular over exposed players and at best it is a ho hum festival again 
and again.

  "Key" instruments are missing on sets etc. There MUST be a reason? I 
am not just talking festival weekend "no shows" or arrival delays. 
These are scheduled sets printed in the programs! Some festivals do an 
excellent job of course in scheduling. Can anyone name one? 



TW:  Yep :  this is how the Three piece Dixieland Bands were invented,  
Oops !  another set to play but not enough money for a full band so me 
you and louie will cover this one and the one still open on Friday at 
3:00  and that other hole in the schedule on Sunday at 2:00. :))

 
  One standard seems to be that the LAST group of musicians who plays 
late at night at a festival SHALL be the first or among the first to 
play the early sets in the morning! 


TW:   Real Festivals promoted by Real PROFESSIONAL PROMOTERS do not 
have early morning sessions,  the music begins at about 12:00 noon the 
wake up hour for most professional musicians :)) and end at about 2:00 
or even midnight,  Twelve hours of music is more than enough for any 
Fan no matter what the price of admission is.   In the real world 
people pay $35.00 to $100.00 or more to see and hear a Headline act for 
a maximum of 90 minutes of show.    But most of the OKOM crowd would 
not know anything about that since they have been spoiled for so many 
years by the total amateurism of their circuit that they have come to 
expect every act in the business  for about $.50 PER HOUR PER MAN.    
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR FOLKS.



  Many of the "All Star" sets seem to be scheduled for exactly the same 
time and then nothing more for hours! I have never understood any of 
that? SpLit up the audience for that hour? What about the rest of the 
time? There would appear to be no advance thought in any of this! 
 
  If you have never heard a musician complain about such practices 
either on this list or to the festival directors, it is probably 
because they are afraid they will not be asked back? Especially to 
festivals that otherwise treat them well. But are the festivals put on 
for the customers benefit or the musicians? It could be both. 

  TW:  In many cases they are put on for the organizations " musicians" 
benefit with little thought to the paying audience or God forbid their 
input, after all they are not musicians anyway.   While I often say 
that musicians should have more input in to how things are produced, it 
can and often does go to far overboard when some of them that may be 
fine musicians get involved with the politics of running and event or 
festival and they definitely have a conflict of interest.    Not to 
mention the old get my band into your festival and I'll get you  into 
mine game.   Little or nothing has anything to do with actual DRAW 
POWER AND OR TICKET SALES ATTRIBUTED TO ANY ONE ARTIST OR BAND.   
Having never ben invited to play at one OKOM festival in 15 years I 
could care less and I will say it like it is and has been for as long 
as I have known about OKOM festivals.    To any act that thinks they  
have market value and wants to get paid what they think they are worth, 
rather than what they are really worth, I simply offer this explanation 
AGAIN.

Go out on any given Friday, Saturday or Sunday and promote your own 
show with your own band and see how many people will actually show up 
and PAY to hear you play.   Whatever come in the door and pays is what 
you are truly worth.   Some acts who complain about not being paid what 
they are worth should not complain about it. :))   And many at the 
festivals do not they just take whatever is offered for a chance to get 
on a stage.   Show business is NOT a Mutual Admiration Society for 
musicians, and this list certainly should know that by now. :))

It was really nice to NOT SEE ANYBODY on this fine list at the Solano 
County Fair for the past eight days that we played there, except for my 
two buddies who subbed for a couple days.    If we are brave enough to 
go out there and play in 100 degree and better heat surely s few of you 
could have come out to hear it,  And I even  offered Free Passes and 
nobody on the list asked for one, and I offered a chacne for some of 
you to actually play with some REAL NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSICIANS.   And 
to see and hear some of those Non-existent Black Dixieland Musicians.   
Heck not even a Critic showed up to trash us for being too brassy and 
loud and play anything other than Dixieland.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band




 
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