Caving In to Fame

Recently Brian and I attended the Midwestern Arts Conference out in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was an opportunity for performing arts center directors from around the country to meet artists hoping to play those centers. Luckily, we have had the chance to perform at a lot of them and have made some outstanding friends of those who direct these bastions of live music.

One such friend, David Fink, director of the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan, delivered a remark that really got me thinking. Saying that people are not really truthful when it comes to what would get them to a live music show, he remarked, “You either have to offer someone famous or have a burlesque show to get people to come out." I looked at him to see if he was joking. He was not.   

If one looks at burlesque as the need to arouse the forbidden curiosity in people, I would say David is right.  The runaway popularity of reality television shows certainly provides proof that most people lean toward titillation.  And he’s right about fame.  Merriam Webster dictionary defines fame as a) widely known and b) honored for achievement.  Facebook and YouTube are certainly rife with examples of people searching to be widely known or honored for achieving something, even if it is posting a video of their cat flushing the toilet.  A person who is acknowledged to be famous and has a following of the masses, even an association with something famous, such as being in a movie or play, gets a following.  

So what is a band like ours to do? I pondered this as we started setting up for the cave concert at the Natural Gait. We had no idea how many people would show. Certainly they would not be coming out to see any burlesque. Thank God! As Herb started the tractor to pull a basket holding Nick’s drums on a rope and pulley system up the hill, I thought about fame.

Being famous was never part of the agenda for Brian and me. But why do people come out to see us play? How can we assure festivals and performing arts centers, who are literally looking for “the bottom line,” that we have the draw to bring people in?  It is a dilemma.

Walking up the steep hillside to the cave, I thought back to one evening in the early days when Brian and I played a very empty coffee house in Oak Park. The owner looked at us with something just short of contempt as we started to play to no one.  Finally, three people came in the door after I fervently prayed to God to please get some people to come to the show. The three came in, sat down and started doing sign-language to each other. God does have a sense of humor.

However, being a musician is always about playing for people, touching their souls. That is what matters most no matter what size the crowd. I never really thought about fame, but I did hope that people would come out to hear our music and be moved enough to come out again and bring “twenty of their closest friends.” So the WayGood World came into existence, based on the truth that anyone who believes in our music can certainly help us get it out to others and share in the adventure of music and community. You can play music in an empty room, but you are really making music when you share it with others who complete the necessary circle.

Natural Gait owner Howard Bright had started a fire earlier that day up at the cave and now it was down to red coals with a thin wisp of smoke trailing up and out of the cave and through the woods. The trees were starting to change color and the air was cool.  I thought about the Native Americans who once lived in this cave. Was their best hunter or best moccasin maker “famous”? What was being "widely known" like back then? Did it matter?  

People started coming up the hill. Some had seen us play at other venues and others were there to see us for the first time.  Pretty soon, about 80 people were in the audience waiting for us to start playing. The ages ranged from youngsters to several older folks who made the amazing climb to the cave. Howard got up and addressed the people about the history of the land and the cave.  We began to play and as the evening got cooler, we worked into one set after another, feeling warmer with each note produced. People got up and danced as a whole musical community was created for that night.  There, Iowa stars danced above magic made not just by us, but by our audience joining us at the concert.  

I realize that “fame” is a word with many meanings. With today’s media, being famous can be wholly manufactured by a good PR firm and enough money. For myself, I feel that having fans who believe in our music and share the journey with Switchback is reward enough. I understand though, that one can’t just have talent and succeed. That there is the business side of music and that side demands that you have a big following.  

At the end of the concert, when talking to people who come from miles away to share an evening of their time on earth with us, I can’t help but express the gratitude for friends who believe in our music. I am totally blessed by those who help spread the word about Switchback. If we are to be “well-known” and “honored for achievement,” if we all have to cave in to the business demand of fame, it will only be through the magic that is forged between us all at a concert.   

Confession, Berserkers, and Corpus Christi, Ya'll!

Rolling west from Columbus, Ohio back home to Chicago, Christine Pardee got a message from her nephew reading, "I went to confession for the first time in a long time, so I wrote down a list so I wouldn't forget any sins.  About halfway through, the priest pointed to the list and said, 'We don't have time for all this!'"  That kind of reminded us of our weekend in Columbus - far too many things to recount!

It was a weekend of firsts for our drummer Nick Hirka - his first time in Ohio, his first time playing banjo, and his first time singing in public.  Our first stop was at The Forums retirement home for a St. Patrick's Day concert.  The seniors clapped and sang along and had stories to tell of their own music and times gone by.  Christine found a particular friend, a gentleman named Al, who told us of a quasi "Antiques Roadshow" experience where he found a rather small instrument case that he bought for $10 at a flea market.  He put down his cash and went home with a beautiful antique mandolin valued at over $4000, and he still plays it!

From there it was on to Sue Gall's greatest little listening room in the Midwest, the Hey Hey Bar and Grill.  As southern Ohio braced itself for the severe storms heading their way, the Hey Hey braced itself for the "Switchback Berserkers!"  The Berserkers, three very enthusiastic fans (all named Mike!) kept the room laughing and kept the band playing lots of rowdy Irish rebel songs.  A fourth Berserker wanted to be sure we knew how he felt by telling us from across the room "I love ya'll!" and invited us to come play in "Corpus Christi, ya'll!"  Our good friend Patrick, who was named Columbus's "Bartender of the Year" in a contest we suspect he ran himself, kept the drink orders filled and the Berserkers kept us laughing.

We had a full band at the Hey Hey as Soupbone with his wife Monica, who are both blind, took the Greyhound up from Cincinnati to keep beats on a whiskey barrel.  For an encore, he even got up on stage with the band to belt out a rousing version of "Mustang Sally" with a Wolfman Jack shtick.  As usual, Columbus stalwart Mike Wielbacher had a request list of at least 20 songs.  Mike has been with us for some most unusual sightseeing ventures, including The Ohio Diner, Home of the Dagwood Sandwich.  The Dagwood is a roughly three pound sandwich served with fries.  The record for demolishing one is three and a half minutes.  We opted for oatmeal and eggs.

Then it was back to the Hey Hey where the Shamrock Club and Daughters of Erin came by for their yearly tradition of painting a shamrock in front of the door of each of their favorite pubs.  The boys serenaded the painters with "The Hangman" and the "Michael Collins Reels."

Next we were off to St. Mary's Parish to practice for tomorrow's Mass featuring Switchback's liturgical music, an easy rehearsal with their talented choir.  We got to see Miss Maggie Gall, Sue's daughter, who was working at the Hey Hey over the weekend.  In the six years since we'd met her she'd grown from a charming girl to a lovely young woman.  Soupbone was equally smitten, and attempted to Braille read her foot tattoo until Monica put her foot down!

Our second night at the Hey Hey was a continuation of the party started on Friday, with the exception of one Berserker who had flown back to "Corpus Christi, ya'll!"  Dancing, singing, and lots of laughter were the rule for the night with everyone rocking out to Switchback classics and the new songs rehearsed over the weekend.  Up on Sunday for a home-cooked farewell breakfast with Sue and Tim, it was then back to St. Mary's for a quick rehearsal, the Mass, and back in the van where the message was received from Christine's nephew as we headed home.

~ Christine and Nick

Larry Weir, Wish You Were Here

Larry would have loved the latest news from Washington, I think. When I think of independent community radio, I think of Larry Weir. He was a beloved DJ and driving force behind KDHX radio in St. Louis, arguably one of the powerhouses of independent community radio in the Midwest. About a year ago, Larry slipped on ice and suffered a traumatic brain injury that resulted in his death. With his passing the world lost a fantastic advocate for community radio, which is the lifeblood of original, independent music and hopefully soon to be the great leveler of the commercial radio industry.

I am an independent musician and so yes, I am biased in favor of good music that challenges the monolithic music industry. I have a great deal of admiration for community radio all over the world. It has been community-based radio that has helped bring my band to the attention of new fans everywhere. Midwest Radio in County Mayo, Ireland; WEVL in Memphis, and Folkland radio in Germany have had DJs who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of what I would call “real people music.” Being an independent musician in the great music town of Chicago, I am embarrassed to say we don’t have an equivalent outlet for the variety of musical programming as KDHX. Our closest approximation of it is WDCB, a 5000 watt station in Glen Ellyn that has a broadcast signal which can’t reach the entire city. In comparison, KDHX is a 42,000 watt station. I was happy to find out that WNUR, the Northwestern University station, has a 7200 watt range and one of the most powerful transmitters of any college in the country. Admittedly, I don’t know too much about what is played on WNUR. The only person in commercial radio who seems to care a bit about independent music is Richard Milne, who is given a paltry 30 minutes on Sundays on CBS-owned WXRT to play his show “The Local Anesthetic.” Nevertheless, kudos for the 30 minutes!

WBEZ, our NPR station, gave up on music just as I was starting to get in the business. For a brief moment in time, WABT attempted to showcase Chicago music, but financially it couldn’t keep going. My wife bypasses Chicago stations completely and opts for KCRW on the net to listen to new music.

As I said, Chicago is a great music town. It started country music with its “Barn Dance” show on WLS. It was the town that created the blues that influenced the Rolling Stones. And it is home to a plethora of independent artists ranging from Wilco to Nicholas Tremulis to bands like the Yellowhammers. Yet it does not have one radio voice that represents our current musical diversity. Perhaps that has something to do with Chicago being known as the “City of Neighborhoods.”

That said, there is hope for Chicago and other communities. Congress finally passed the Community Radio Act at the end of last year. In layman’s terms this means that we can have 100 watt stations that can serve various communities with independent political and musical thought. It doesn’t help our situation much in Chicago as far as having one city-wide station. I did find out that even a 100 watt station on a 150 foot high mast can broadcast 50 miles. That could eventually help us here in the Windy City where we are known for some tall buildings which could support such a mast.

How that will actually work is better left to the experts, but there are a couple of golden opportunities here. The most important one is that neighborhoods and communities can support their independent artists and cultivate appreciative listeners. And in turn, indie artists and music fans can be a force in their communities. By streaming on the Internet, it is possible for a small station to garner a large following outside its community. The independent artist community and its fans will have that many more stations to reach out to as well.

If we do see a surge in the number of Low Power FM Stations, that will be an opportunity for musicians to get their music heard, both recorded and live. It will be the closest thing to the day when a musician would travel from station to station to showcase original music. It will also be a chance for music fans to be introduced to music they would not hear otherwise.

As a musician, I can say from experience that being heard and getting played and playing live are necessary for the growth of my career. It was crucial for Switchback to start out playing community and public stations. They provided the outlet for us to be heard. Since we never had the backing of a major label, this and the Internet would be the only media venues available to us.

The Internet didn’t really start “happening” for music until the 90’s. For youngsters that might bring about a yawn, but I can remember giving out my mailing address in America on Irish radio so people could buy our cassettes. A lot has changed quickly.

So what should people do? First, visit the Future of Music Coalition at http://futureofmusic.org/research and get acquainted with what can be done to help keep independent music alive. These people are working to make sure independent musicians keep making music for the masses to hear. Second, support your existing community radio stations, either by donating (which they love and need) or simply sporting their stickers on your car. Or both. I proudly carry KDHX on my bass guitar case.

My guess is that Larry would have loved the passing of the Community Radio Act. If only he could have been around to see this day when the chance of having community radio stations across the country was finally sanctioned by the government. I think he would have been happy to see communities creating low power stations that can enable more artists to create and provide more music for fans to appreciate those artists. And not only music, but drama, civic action, and neighborhood news can be presented as well! It took a long time, but it has finally arrived. Will it correct the past two decades of mainstream radio mismanagement? It’s up to the people to decide.

Martin McCormack
Switchback

http://www.waygoodmusic.com/