Green for the blues

Today I spoke to the manager of a blues-rock band who was keen to take up the offer of a headline at the Fiddler's. Until, that is, she realised that there was no money in it -  at least no guaranteed fee. She was also put off by the fact that there would be two other bands and an acoustic act to open, and that her band would have to share their backline. They wouldn't like the size of the bill, she said, and they definitely wouldn't want to share their backline.

Camden. This is Camden. The home of indie-rock. And untold pub music venues (as opposed to simply small pubs that put on blues and covers bands) that need punters. Paying punters. Not post-Beatles/Stones punters. Not post-Bowie and Roxy punters. Not post-Pistols/Clash punters. Not post-Nirvana/Red Hot Chili Peppers punters. But-post-Blur/Oasis punters. Post-Strokes/Arctic Monkeys punters. Young people, who actually still go out. To get more of them out, they have to put on more bands than two. The young bands accept this. And this is because two bands bring out half the people that four bands do. And when I talk about half the people, I mean half of 30. This is the sorry state of the local live music scene, in Camden anyway. It may be different in Putney or Chiswick or wherever. But as I say, this is Camden. And this is where I live. And some of these venues are still cool and still worth playing.

Anyway, I'm moving away from the point.

As I've said from the beginning, generally speaking, the blues bands don't need RTYD to promote their gigs. They can get their own gigs and get paid to play them; they can do pub gigs galore, village festivals, parties, weddings, jams and more. They approach gigs like freelance work. With an hourly-rate, of sorts. They have a job to do; To entertain. And they won't do it for nothing.

Nor should they? Not with the sort of regularity that they gig.

I'd like to play regularly. I'd start with once a month. I could manage and enjoy twice or three times a month, taking into account my other commitments. But there must come a point when you start to feel like you want something more than kicks for playing more often than that. A following? Press? Fame? CD sales? Money?

And as for twice a week, like some of these bands, travelling all over the place, with no record deal, playing blues covers or blues originals (catch the oxymoron?); That's not just about the fun.

I guess that's why they call it 'the blues'.

Yours post-Bowie and Roxy.