Hey Phil,
Dean is fine I believe. I think everyone has gotten back and on to reality.
Anything would be fine if people SUPPORT the open mics or anything like that. Kathy would be happy to put people up as well as Don and Karen. People all just have to understand that THEY have to support other things and it is not just about them. One of the complaints we get here on writers nights, open mics, and down there, are that everyone wants to get put onto shows, everyone wants to get the cool gigs, but very few want to show up, wait their turn in line, etc. Around five years ago there was a big problem at Frank Brown where a LOT of the older veterans all brought their co=-writers and friends and then friends of friends to play the festival. And everyone was expecting a show and getting paid.
What this created was a LOT of problems, because some of the old guys got their noses out of shape because their people didn't get on after they had been promised, a lot of really drunk people DID get on, and a lot of very rude people all just created a mess. That is actually WHY you have the open mic. They were not doing that until then. The idea was to put people onto the open mics and at least give them some playing times. But they had to wait in line.
Then this year you saw what was happening with twenty and thirty people showing up to play. And some of those got kind of nasty as they sat around drinking Bushwackers and getting buzzed while waiting to go on. The Bama has their regular rounds starting at 7:00 and have to clean the room out.
Five years ago there were about SIX HUNDRED PEOPLE SHOWING UP! And there was no place to put them. And it is getting back to that now. So they are having to make some changes to the rules for next year.
Also there are some writers who don't behave themselves while they are down there. It is a very seductive thing, playing around on the beach, getting drunk and partying. A lot of people let down their guards and some have had to be uninvited to the festival. We both saw it a few times this year as well. On the one you saw, a few people had mentioned that, and I believe that individual will not be there next year, at least not on an official show. Hard to keep them off the open mics. But some will be asked to "skip a year" before they can come back.
These things can get out of hand very quickly. The entire atmosphere is very laid back, but that doesn't mean people can just go nuts. There still has to be elements of professionalism involved. We are all representatives of songwriting down there and we should never forget that. It is a great opportunity and should be EARNED into. People that don't treat it with the proper respect, should pay the price.
I, of course feel the same way on all of songwriting. There are now just SO MANY people trying to do this all the time.
If people can't behave themselves, have some common sense about them, they should NOT be allowed to be a part of the main shows. A career in music means OFF THE STAGE AS well as ON THE STAGE. And the people that abuse that, (who I have had to deal with a LOT of,) just screw it up for everyone. So those people need to find some other place that will be better for them.
MAB
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