Two posts in a day. I know - I'm behind.
I played the Crawfish Festival in Old Town Spring, TX yesterday and reminded myself of something I seem to have to continually re-learn.
There was a small crowd sitting around to watch the show. We started off and it was difficult to feel like I was connecting with anyone. There are 3 stages at the festival, plus live bands play at other restaurants/bars in Old Town Spring. There’s food and carnival rides and plenty of beer - there’s just a lot going on. So as I continue on I wonder, “What am I doing this for? Is this all that there is?”
But as we continue to play, people walking by just stop. They smile. They dance. Their faces light up at a lyric or a familiar song. And I’m reminded once again about the difficulty of connection and how powerful it is once it happens.
I’ve shared with you that I have friends playing the same genre of music that I play. They tell me that “no one wants to hear this music anymore”. They tell me that there’s no way that an artist can be successful, much less make a living playing this kind of music.
But isn’t it just the challenge of a huge festival times 1,000? It’s not that the audience doesn’t care or want to hear you – it’s just that there’s so much going on – there’s life, there’s thousands of bands, there’s mainstream radio that isn’t broadcasting you over the airwaves that reach most everyone, and too many things to list here.
As people stopped, I realized once again that the problem is not a lack of connection with the music. The problem is that the audience doesn’t know how or where to find it. But they’re searching. I just read this in Bob Lefsetz’s email newsletter yesterday:
“You want a heads-up? Dive into people's hard drives. Because people are listening to a vast cornucopia of stuff. Freed from the constraints of radio and MTV, they've found what appeals to them.”
One thing that I like about Bob is his reiteration of today’s conundrum – the frustration with the music business and it’s inability to progress into today’s technology and the hope that modern audiences are already embracing today’s technology and are finding their music on their own. It gives me hope and ideas (you may have to sift through a bit of BS but overall I like it).
Don’t give up on your audience. They’re looking. If you give up, they for sure won’t find you. If you can hang in there and keep bringing good music, your audience will find you.
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