Hey Folks,
Watching the playoffs and checking my emails, and some of YOU are actually commenting here. Very good.
Yes, OD, and Phil, the BROKEN SPOKE WON'T be back. The people who bought that place HATED writers, and were not really sold on music at all. It was not really a "downtown" destination, with lots of tourists, kind of place. People coming to Nashville that are staying there, all go to downtown Nashville and don't hang around to hear music there. And as far as a writers night, those are notorious money losers, since the majority of songwriters are water and tea drinkers. Can't support a bar or resturant. The Ramada, which is where that place is located, is usually just a "stop over" right outside of town for truckers or people that are on their way somewhere else, to make it through Nashville, be tired, and stop for the night. The bar business was always spotty at best and the area around that place is, shall we say, not the best in town. So no, that one's best days are long behind it.
And the new lifeblood of Nashville music, the younger people, are not coming in that direction, North of the City. The present and future lie South, in Brentwood and Franklin areas or East, in East Nashville, Five points, etc. They are not coming North. The "Nashville expansion" of the North areas, Hendersonville, Goodlettesville, was really what happened in the 1970's with people like Conway Twitty and Johnny Cash. Just not "the place" to be any more.
OD, the vast majority of my clients are "one time and out" people. If I do my job correctly, they know a ton of people and expand their own circles and so they don't really need me as much, or so they think. I show a side of Nashville that is very real, and most people realizing the high level they have to be able to write and perform at, either quit or get a realistic approach to what they are doing. I do have a few repeat people, my West Virginia School teacher, Dave Minninburg, just texted me a few minutes ago to say he will be coming back in two weeks. And Rob Marquisee, my 61 year old from South Fla. is going to be back in two weeks as well. He is FIRED up again, as he was in San Fransisco, at a music store, and started playing songs we had written for the staff and customers. They got very excited and claimed he was a star! LOL! He has a big imagination and some pretty deep pockets, so he won't quit any time soon as long as he can keep from buying guitars every other day.
Younger clients, are still there, worked with one this past week. She was in her 40's but looked in her late 20's, very beautiful, and really good voice. She and her husband were from Arizona and have a pretty solid career out there in Country and Christian music. Wrote one song with her and got her to play at Bobby's and we'll see if she comes back.
Most of the young one's like Megan Markle, sort of fade out and get into college or other things in life, and some, like Breezy Love, are just starting high school. There are always new ones coming in, and pretty much every time I go out there are others reaching out to me. So it is never boring.
My first job in working with anyone is to turn a mirror on them. Most of the time it is "WHERE WOULD YOU SEE THIS FITTING IN?" What Radio format would this come under? You see, most of them are "square pegs in round holes" they really don't have a genre designation. Sort of rock, sort of pop, sort of folk, the older people do sound dated, and then the subject matter almost always leans to the negative. They NEVER think of it as negative until you get them to actually look at what they are doing. Then pretty quickly they see it.
Most of all what we are in is the "FACEBOOK" generation. People are able to write what they want, how they want, and put it on the Internet. But there is rarely anyone to give them a "reality check." I was struck by an interview with Mike Rowe, the "Dirty Jobs" guy. He said it was "Amazing to watch these people auditioning for American Idol or the Voice, getting up and singing a few notes, and then being told 'NEXT...' and having to leave, always in tears, and their parents in the next room crying as well. They've never had anyone tell them that they CAN'T SING."
In my opinion there is going to be a LOT of that in the future. More and more people that THINK they know it all and are infallible. Then they will hit the brick walls of reality. You have seen a lot of them over the past few months, They are the ones crying in little balls in colleges, on streets, protesting, going insane, needing "safe spaces", crayons and colloring books. You know. The "ENTITLED." No patience, no reality, no abilities.
Gonna be fun.
MAB
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