Where is the Music?

What is happening to the music in the United States? Is it going away or just moving around? Where are all the great music scenes and performance hubs? There...

FansWhat is happening to the music in the United States? Is it going away or just moving around? Where are all the great music scenes and performance hubs? There are so many great annual festivals around the country; Chicago is known for Lollapalooza; there’s Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee and Coachella in Palm Springs among many others. Tens of thousands of music fans gather each year at these festivals to see their favorite acts as well as discover new acts. But is there anything of significance going on in these cities the rest of the year when the festivals aren’t going on?

Over the decades, different cities have staked their claim to a certain genre of music. Seattle and its surrounding areas are known for Grunge; Nashville has long been known to be the home for Country, Blues and Bluegrass; New Orleans has its stake on Jazz; Chicago is known for Jazz as well as Blues; Motown owes its identity to Detroit. California has given birth to many different artists and genres. Gangster Rap and Glam/Hair metal both have their roots in and around Los Angeles. New York is well known for Musical Theater but it has also fostered a notable underground Rock scene as well as Hip Hop, something it shares with Atlanta. Let’s not forget about Punk Rock. Any fans of Punk Rock can tell you that the music is different from anything else; something all Punk Rockers make it their goal to be; simply different by any means they see fit. Punk Rock doesn’t have a one, true home. Cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco Bay area and even across the Atlantic, in England, are known for their contributions to Punk throughout the years. But is this still the case? Are these places still what they are so well known for?

If somebody were to head on over to Seattle today in search of some awesome Grunge, or even live music, they might be a bit disappointed. How can this be?! This is the home of Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix. What do you mean I’ll be disappointed? It seems unfortunate that Seattle will always live in the shadow of its past when it comes to music. There is no doubt that this city, nestled at the heart of the Pacific Northwest, has made a huge impact on music and Rock but these days, that’s not so much the case. Seattle is infamous for its inclement weather and locals seem more content being more laid back while sipping on their Venti Caramel Macchiatos from the local Starbucks. Now, I’m not saying that the music scene in Seattle is as dead as Kurt and Jimi (Seattle was rated #18 out of America’s top 30 Music cities by Travel + Leisure. The link can be found at the end of the article). The Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle is home to many local bars and small venues where you can catch a good show almost nightly. It’s a real hipster’s paradise. As long as you don’t go there expecting to have your mind blown by some amazing and revolutionary music, you might enjoy what Seattle has to offer.

New York is home to Carnegie Hall, myriads of shows on and off Broadway and more venues than the average person can visit in a lifetime. It’s hard to think of any genre of music that cannot be found somewhere in this city. There definitely is no shortage of places to see music in New York City but you’ll probably have to pay significantly more often than not to do so (Also read “Think You Can Make it in New York” for some more insight on New York). To be fair though, there are probably just as many places where you can find music for free (like in the Subway) or for a small cover charge. What New York isn’t known for is outdoor music. With famous venues and areas like Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, Irving Plaza, Roseland Ballroom, Hammerstein Ballroom and the brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the majority of concerts and performance are indoors (two exceptions being Yankee Stadium and Citi Field which occasionally host concerts). During the late Spring and Summer there are some concerts that happen outdoors and for free. Most notably the Central Park SummerStage. During Winter, musicians are forced indoors or underground “busking” in the Subway. While New York is good for music fans, it is not so good for bands and musicians. Why? Like I mentioned before, there is no shortage of places to see live music. Bands have so many options available to them to be heard. But this also creates a different issue. The market is saturated, for lack of a better term. Bands and musicians are a dime a dozen here and they’re competing with each other for the little attention New Yorkers care to spare. I mentioned the topic of “busking”. For those of you who don’t know, busking is performing in the subway or in public places for donations. A lot of this goes on in the Subways and streets of New York and while it is possible for one to make a decent amount of tips doing this, many New Yorkers don’t care. More often than not, people don’t want to be bothered or listen to your music on their way to and from work or school. Some buskers are very good; others are pretty bad. Either way, I admire those that persist and play their hearts out for strangers that may or may not give a damn; it’s not an easy thing to do. While it’s hard to say that anything truly revolutionary is happening in New York right now, the city does live up to its reputation of being home to many different kinds of music. There is a very similar situation going on over in the Windy City of Chicago.

Chicago is like New York in many ways. When it comes to being able to find music, there is no shortage of places to see here either. The House of Blues, Double Door, Aragon Ballroom, Riviera and Park West are just a few of the many venues that can be found in Chicago. If it’s in your music collection, it’s probably being played in New York and Chi-Town. For a list of more great venues to catch music in Chicago, check out the link at the end.

Los Angeles is the top music city in California coming in at #7 according to Travel + Leisure, ahead of San Francisco (#14) and San Diego (#24…way to let me down, San Diego). Los Angeles is often considered the heart of the music industry and it has, hands down, made one of the most significant impacts on music. There are many famous and well-known venues in Los Angeles where you can catch music, but the issue of accessibility comes to mind. Los Angeles is not a very pedestrian-friendly city and their mass transit system is incredibly lacking. You can drive around, like many Los Angeles residents do on a daily basis, but traffic and parking can be a bit tricky. So if you’re not too busy keeping up with the Kardashians or knowing who’s dropped down to the D list, L.A. is a pretty good town for music.

Rounding out the top two spots respectively are New Orleans and Nashville; the undisputed homes of Jazz, Blues and Country music. These cities live and breathe music (Nashville is called “Music City USA” for cryin’ out loud!). It’ll be hard to walk down Lower Broadway in Nashville or Bourbon, Riverbend and Frenchman streets in New Orleans without hearing music spilling out of local bars, restaurants and venues. The two cities have legendary reputations that precede them and locals, as well as visitors, understand well why that is. There are no other cities in America that are known for only music, except Memphis, which for whatever ridiculous reason was not on the list at (the folks at Travel +Leisure have some explaining to do). These cities have long and rich cultures based in music and the arts. It’s what they do and they do it better than any other place in America.

Despite the impression you may get from listening to the radio these days, there is no shortage of good music in this country; and it’s not hard to find either. You just have to have the desire to get out there and discover it for yourselves. Just because nothing revolutionary is happening these days in the world of music does not mean that music is dead. Record labels are becoming more and more obsolete and they know that. In these days of ITunes, torrents and easy access to videos on YouTube, it’s getting harder and harder for artists to sell records. Bands can easily promote themselves via the internet and social networking sites and without the need of a physical product to sell, record companies are useless. Instead of selling records to make money, musicians rely on touring and live performances. This means there are a ton of great concerts you probably aren’t seeing. By no means is this list exhaustive and there are great spots in other states that I have not mentioned (Like Austin, home of South by Southwest). I encourage everybody to get out and explore your local scene. The real revolution now is how we get the music and not the music itself. Sure, there is a lot of mass-produced crap being pumped out these days, but the good stuff is still out there.

Ken Rojas

socalsounds.tumblr.com

http://socalsounds.tumblr.com/post/44223721780/think-you-can-make-it-in-new-york

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-music-cities

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-small-venues-for-live-music-in-chicago/

Categories
Music

San Diego based writer; The Pit: Sports and Entertainment kenrojas@thepit-se.com
advertisement

RELATED BY