Contributing to what ? I applaud anyone who attempts to raise the flag of the more mature musician, truly. But I (gonna be honest) don't really get what RTYD is all about. Been signed up to rytd for some time, and my perception is a lot of - dunno what you call it - punk? Obviously, played by older folks. A lot of it self-penned, london centric, available to buy to whoever's interested. Is that it - have I got it right ? I read your summary page and all that, but I don't see what you're offering me i.e. 50's age group, VERY enthusiastic, playing in band doing bluesy covers, struggling to get gigs etc, not driven by flogging recordings or making money, just want to get our playing aired in front of less than apathetic audiences. A lot of what you say is absolutely true - we need each other in particular, Maybe you could bang out some sort of summary about who you're targetting, where they should look for what etc because I don't get it. Maybe I'm thick.
The R-T-Y-D that I refer to is just the Webzine aspect of the network, which I hoped would encourage those that enjoy writing, to contribute articles about being a mature musician, or about anything else that might be of interest to musicians in our age group.
The Musicians and the Bands, Fans & Industry social networks are going rather well, and are regularly contributed to, so I have no problems with these.
RTYD on-line was only ever meant to be a place for older musicians to find others same boat, and to share information on music making opportunities. The mature musicians ads site has always been an important part of it.
I am not a blues man, and yes, I am based in London. I can't really promote gigs beyond London. I wish I could. While I promote occasional punk nights here, I also promote blues bands, especially those that play original material. The blues covers bands don't generally need RTYD. Most of them run their own 'enterprises' very well without needing help from me. The hobbyists are more grateful of the network, which allows them to connect with others who play similiar music, be it punk or blues or alternative or whatever. They don't go out like they used to so they meet other on-line, and then go theri gigs to meet them in the real world.
I'm sorry that I seem in any way intent on 'flogging recordings or making money' cos that is not the intention. RTYD has a download site, most of which is free because there are a lot of good CDs that come my way, and I think they deserve more exposure, than the occasional gig that they come out at. The site may seem punk-centric and London-centric, but there are also blues bands on it available for download, if not free, then at a reasonable cost. There is absolutely no money in downloads of music at this level.
Course, it would be nice to make a business out of an aspect of rock-til-you-drop, but right now it is no more than a labour of love, and I certainly am not a ruthless music industy type looking to exploit older musicians.
I'm sorry I don't seem to have helped you in any way. But their is a community there. You can invite others to it yourself. You can start groups. You can voice your frustrations there, and maybe something will come of you being more visible on it.
If you are a member of the RTYD Musicians network, I invite you to start this discussion in the open there, cos it's a good one.
What is RTYD offering a 50-something blues man in a covers band on a dwindling local live music scene?
The fact is, I find myself in the position of not needing RTYD as a bandsite. I'm in two bands at the moment, one of which does covers only, of various American folk styles including Blues and Country but also everything from Appalachian to Zydeco. There's no point in my trying to big up that band. It's not my band and even if I found us loads of gigs, there's no guarantee our band-leader would even be interested.
The other band I'm in doesn't fit the RTYD mould either. We play original stuff that doesn't fit into a genre, the most common comment I get is from people saying, "Man, what was that instrument you were playing" (it's a dulcitar) and, "It's really good to see somebody doing something nobody else is doing". So far so good, but the reason we don't fit into RTYD is although I'm fifty, I'm the only band member who is over thirty five.
Having said all that, I still value RTYD as a way to hear about other musicians and perhaps even find people to work with. And if I wasn't buried under a pile of debt, I'd come to the gigs as well... because they all sound wonderful (and anyway, I just love music).
Thanks Alcuin, that's interesting. RTYD is only there for those that feel they need to connect with other bands or musicians.
A lot of bands, like I said in my reply to Matt, are well organised and well connected and have a scene and a circuit already - maybe they're pro or semi-pro? They don't need RTYD. And RTYD wouldn't pretend to be doing anything to help them.
Perhaps when one of their line-up leaves and they need a replacement, then perhaps RTYD could help them by providing a mature musicians ads site and a musicians' social network. I hope so. That was the idea.
I know alot of people appreciate it, anyway. And you can't please everyone.
Surely a site like RTYD is what its members make it. Like many people who've signed up, I'm not the world's most committed blogger, nor have I contributed to the webzine (yet). But we do try to be active and have both attended and played at RTYD gigs. You get out what you put in and Creak are all big fans of what Toby's doing. End of.
6 comments:
Contributing to what ? I applaud anyone who attempts to raise the flag of the more mature musician, truly. But I (gonna be honest) don't really get what RTYD is all about. Been signed up to rytd for some time, and my perception is a lot of - dunno what you call it - punk? Obviously, played by older folks. A lot of it self-penned, london centric, available to buy to whoever's interested. Is that it - have I got it right ? I read your summary page and all that, but I don't see what you're offering me i.e. 50's age group, VERY enthusiastic, playing in band doing bluesy covers, struggling to get gigs etc, not driven by flogging recordings or making money, just want to get our playing aired in front of less than apathetic audiences. A lot of what you say is absolutely true - we need each other in particular, Maybe you could bang out some sort of summary about who you're targetting, where they should look for what etc because I don't get it. Maybe I'm thick.
Hi Matt, thanks for your comments.
The R-T-Y-D that I refer to is just the Webzine aspect of the network, which I hoped would encourage those that enjoy writing, to contribute articles about being a mature musician, or about anything else that might be of interest to musicians in our age group.
The Musicians and the Bands, Fans & Industry social networks are going rather well, and are regularly contributed to, so I have no problems with these.
RTYD on-line was only ever meant to be a place for older musicians to find others same boat, and to share information on music making opportunities. The mature musicians ads site has always been an important part of it.
I am not a blues man, and yes, I am based in London. I can't really promote gigs beyond London. I wish I could. While I promote occasional punk nights here, I also promote blues bands, especially those that play original material. The blues covers bands don't generally need RTYD. Most of them run their own 'enterprises' very well without needing help from me. The hobbyists are more grateful of the network, which allows them to connect with others who play similiar music, be it punk or blues or alternative or whatever. They don't go out like they used to so they meet other on-line, and then go theri gigs to meet them in the real world.
I'm sorry that I seem in any way intent on 'flogging recordings or making money' cos that is not the intention. RTYD has a download site, most of which is free because there are a lot of good CDs that come my way, and I think they deserve more exposure, than the occasional gig that they come out at. The site may seem punk-centric and London-centric, but there are also blues bands on it available for download, if not free, then at a reasonable cost. There is absolutely no money in downloads of music at this level.
Course, it would be nice to make a business out of an aspect of rock-til-you-drop, but right now it is no more than a labour of love, and I certainly am not a ruthless music industy type looking to exploit older musicians.
I'm sorry I don't seem to have helped you in any way. But their is a community there. You can invite others to it yourself. You can start groups. You can voice your frustrations there, and maybe something will come of you being more visible on it.
If you are a member of the RTYD Musicians network, I invite you to start this discussion in the open there, cos it's a good one.
What is RTYD offering a 50-something blues man in a covers band on a dwindling local live music scene?
The fact is, I find myself in the position of not needing RTYD as a bandsite. I'm in two bands at the moment, one of which does covers only, of various American folk styles including Blues and Country but also everything from Appalachian to Zydeco. There's no point in my trying to big up that band. It's not my band and even if I found us loads of gigs, there's no guarantee our band-leader would even be interested.
The other band I'm in doesn't fit the RTYD mould either. We play original stuff that doesn't fit into a genre, the most common comment I get is from people saying, "Man, what was that instrument you were playing" (it's a dulcitar) and, "It's really good to see somebody doing something nobody else is doing". So far so good, but the reason we don't fit into RTYD is although I'm fifty, I'm the only band member who is over thirty five.
Having said all that, I still value RTYD as a way to hear about other musicians and perhaps even find people to work with. And if I wasn't buried under a pile of debt, I'd come to the gigs as well... because they all sound wonderful (and anyway, I just love music).
Thanks Alcuin, that's interesting. RTYD is only there for those that feel they need to connect with other bands or musicians.
A lot of bands, like I said in my reply to Matt, are well organised and well connected and have a scene and a circuit already - maybe they're pro or semi-pro? They don't need RTYD. And RTYD wouldn't pretend to be doing anything to help them.
Perhaps when one of their line-up leaves and they need a replacement, then perhaps RTYD could help them by providing a mature musicians ads site and a musicians' social network. I hope so. That was the idea.
I know alot of people appreciate it, anyway. And you can't please everyone.
Surely a site like RTYD is what its members make it. Like many people who've signed up, I'm not the world's most committed blogger, nor have I contributed to the webzine (yet). But we do try to be active and have both attended and played at RTYD gigs. You get out what you put in and Creak are all big fans of what Toby's doing. End of.
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