When your music scene is miles from anywhere

Here in Colorado bands complain about how hard it can be to tour since it's usually a day's drive to get to venues in other states.

But it is a minor problem compared to what Alaskan musicians have to deal with.

Willamette Week Online | Music | A Great Place To Leave • Alaska to Portland may be the great music migration. | Sunday June 24th, 2007: "For musicians in most states, relocating to a bigger city may be a good career move, but it's hardly vital—after all, a band can always tour. But if you're a band from Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, the nearest major American city is 2,350 miles away—about the same distance from Portland to Detroit! And Alaska's music scene isn't just isolated: A serious shortage of venues and the absence of label scouts mean one of the largest Alaskan music communities isn't in Alaska at all. It's here in Portland.

In the past year and a half, there have been at least 10 transplanted Alaskan bands based in PDX (though three broke up in 2006). There are also several Alaskan solo artists, a couple of predominantly AK bands (the late Konami Defense System was half Alaskan, as is Day of Lions), and a handful of bands with members from the 49th state, including the Joggers. Even here in the City of Transplanted Roses, that's a lot of musicians from one state—especially a state that has only about 100,000 more people in it than Portland itself.

For many Alaskans, Seattle comes off as an impersonal monolith, and between the landscape and the cultural differences, California might as well be another planet. But the greenery, temperate climate and laid-back populace of Portland seem just right. Since 1996 (when 36 Crazyfists moved to PDX after a fruitless year in Seattle), Portland has become the primary destination for young Alaskan musicians. This history provides a ready-made (if modest) fan base for new expat bands, and an existing social network, too."

In search of the perfect sound engineer

Evidently Portland is blessed with exceptional sound people in its venues. Most cities are not so lucky.

Menomena: Pimping Our Ride/Gresham Represent! (S.F./Los Angeles, CA)-- local Cut: "After joining the esteemed ranks of Touring Bands (or, hyper-idealistic groups of musicians that assume Fame And Fortune would be heaped upon them if they could only find a shitty van and make it to Brooklyn and back) in late 2004, Menomena became acutely aware of the phenomenon of the Out Of State Sound Person (OOSSP – squint and it reads “OOPS”). Portland bands don’t know how good they have it up here. Whether it be Dave at Berbati’s, Shira at Doug Fir, Jason at Holocene, Chris at the Crystal Ballroom, or virtually anyone else who’s ever done sound at virtually any club in our fair city, there always seems to be an element of pride taken in a job that is heartbreakingly stressful and thankless (PS- thank you, o People of Portland Sound!).

The only problem with the quality of Stumptown’s sound engineers is that they spoil the bands they work with, so those of us traveling around the country for the first time are usually in for a rude awakening. Especially if said traveling bands try to play seventeen hundred different instruments simultaneously on stage. This sort of situation only serves to put the OOSSP roughly 1,601 problems ahead of Jay-Z, and judging by the hygiene of some of these characters, and I’d venture to guess that a um… “derogatory slang for female” definitely ain’t one. Sons of bitches!"

live music
clubs
Portland

Bank's local music program successful

Branching Out - New York Times: "Originally ... Umpqua simply planned to offer free music CD’s to people who opened new accounts; it was part of an effort to woo younger customers. The bank worked with a Portland music marketing firm called Rumblefish, which put together what has become a 214-song library of tracks by local, relatively undiscovered talent in the markets where Umpqua operates. A test run in a few markets found that the new customers who wanted a free CD of promising local artists included not just young people but, basically, everybody. The program was rolled out across the entire chain, and Umpqua even sent Rye Hollow, a Portland band, on a five-city tour; it performed at several banks, as well as at a brew pub in Chico, Calif. Earlier this year, the bank started a Web site where anybody, customer or not, can listen to clips, put together a CD and buy it. (The bank splits the proceeds with the artists.) And in July, it began selling its own curated 12-track collection, 'Discover Local Music: Vol. 1, Sacramento to Seattle,' at all Umpqua locations."

Rolling Stone's Best College Town Music Scenes

In 2005 Rolling Stone published the book, Schools That Rock: The Rolling Stone College Guide. Here are the 10 best cities. If you go to the article, you can get more info by clicking on each city.

1. SEATTLE

2. CHAPEL HILL/RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC

3. DETROIT

4. AUSTIN

5. NASHVILLE

6. ST. LOUIS

7. SAN FRANCISCO

8. ATHENS, GA

9. MINNEAPOLIS

10. PORTLAND, OR

Converting churches to music venues

The Wall Street Journal (August 30, 2006) had an article about how Church of Christ, Scientist in Yakima, Washington was purchased and became the Seasons Music Festival. WSJ.com - When Churches Convert to Arts Venues

"The acoustical properties and central locations of old sanctuaries often make them ideal concert halls, but converted churches and synagogues find other performance uses as well. Across the Cascade Mountains from Yakima, Seattle's Town Hall, another decommissioned Christian Science church, functions as a cultural kaleidoscope. ...

"A few of the dozens of other church-to-performance-hall conversions:

• In Eugene, Ore., a massive former Baptist church houses the Shedd Institute's three performance halls, two dance studios, library and an array of community meeting rooms.

• The Old Church in Portland, Ore., held Calvary Presbyterians upon its founding in 1882, then Baptists until its declining membership had to put it on the market. Rescued from oblivion by community action in 1967, it became a performance hall presenting everything from writer seminars to concerts by Tuvan throat singers.

• Since 1992, the First Congregational Church of St. Louis, built in 1884, has led a new life as the Grandel Theatre.

• In New Haven, Conn., the Yale Repertory Theatre is in what was the Calvary Baptist Church.

• In British Columbia, the Victoria Conservatory of Music has two concert halls in the former Metropolitan United Church, built in 1894. The conservatory took over the church in 2000."

Portland's Thriving Music Scene

A July 27, 2006 article in The Oregonian on why Portland has a great music scene.

Reasons include:

* More than two dozen independent music stores, with loyal fans who use them as gathering spots.

* Lots of musicians. And a wealth of local clubs for them to play.

* A culture that supports entrepreneurs.

* Inexpensive housing.

* Several Portland-based international music distribution businesses, like CD Baby, that support independent artists.

Our own tune: "Singing, recording, selling, promoting . . . Portland's DIY ethic is creating an indie music capital"

A Venue Idea: Doug Fir in Portland

A long article on a concept venue in Portland, Doug Fir, which might work as a guide for other locations.

Willamette Week Online, "FIR FRENZY": "Once a greasy-spoon relic from the '60s, this 10,000-square-foot cube was transformed last October into a ski lodge with Jetsons-esque cocktail chic. ...

"In six months, Doug Fir's below-street-level, 300-capacity live-music room has become the most celebrated, and in many ways most innovative, rock club in a city loaded with them. ...

"The club is a carefully crafted environment, designed to lure a broad array of nightclubbers. Shows start and end early. There's no smoking. As trivial as those tweaks seem, they're bold moves in a business better known for its eccentricity and edgy volatility than its marketing savvy. ...

"First-wave punks could be in their 50s now, and scenesters from the Northwest's '90s alt-rock explosion are as likely to have mortgages as vintage Sub Pop vinyl collections.

"'Now you can draw on people in their 20s, 30s and 40s,' Rose says. 'I have friends who've brought their parents to shows here. That's pretty remarkable.'"

Bank brands local music campaign

Umpqua Bank - Press Releases: "“Umpqua’s marketing initiatives use non-traditional means to connect with customers and the public in creative and surprising ways,” said Lani Hayward, Umpqua Bank executive vice president of creative services. “Music is one medium that has the ability to connect with people on a deeper level, in ways that reinforce our brand.”

The music brand profile developed by Rumblefish helped guide the development of Umpqua’s popular Discover Local Music Project. The project, the most recent collaboration between Umpqua and Rumblefish, is an extension of an in-store music-on-demand program that Rumblefish developed to reinforce Umpqua’s innovative in-store experience. Met with resounding success, the music-on-demand program led to a 20 percent increase in deposits at Umpqua Bank’s flagship store in Portland’s Pearl District.

The Discover Local Music Project expands on this program. It reinforces Umpqua’s focus on community banking by showcasing local talent in each community Umpqua serves. Rumblefish reviewed the music of hundreds of local artists in each of Umpqua’s markets for inclusion in the Discover Local Music Catalog. Umpqua, in turn, embraced the project with dedicated interest in connecting local communities to local artists by promoting their music both in stores and online at www.umpquamusic.com."