Roller Coaster

I've been predicting it for years, and the tough times have certainly trickled down to the music business. I was sad to learn last month that one of my regular venues was closing for good...The Boiler Room in Wilton was open since 2000 and was one of my first regular gigs. It was also the last "local" venue in the Farmington area for me other than hosting Tuesday open mic at The Granary.

If you don't think that going out to support local music is important, just consider that 6 years ago there was weekly live music at 5 venues in the Farmington area (Granary, Dugout, Field Goals/T-Bones, Front Street, Boiler Room). I used to play regularly at three of those venues. Now, two are closed, The Granary has stopped regular entertainment except Tuesdays, and Front Street only has bands occasionally. Yet, over and over I hear people complain that there is no "scene".

Yes, there are many reasons for the demise of the music scene in this area, but none more important than the severe decline in people coming out to see bands. I don't care if the economy is crappy...most of the shows are FREE, and just being there is the key.

Take a look back to my May 2007 post in this blog...that is almost 18 months ago, back before the economy was to "blame" -- and this problem was already affecting the scene enough for me to blog about it. I hate to be right in this case, but I believe I was right then and I worry that I'm right now. The profession of live entertainment is suffering a slow death at the hands of technology. People are too plugged in listening to music to go out and hear it live.

So, I again urge all of you music fans to start getting out and supporting live music before it becomes extinct.