Loud Love Blog: Touring bands and easy-access music
by Drew Wilson on May 30th, 2011
Drew Wilson, the man behind the curtain of WRVU’S “Loud Love” Show, is a punk rock connoisseur from New York City and one of the last of a generation who can say they grew up going to CBGB's. He moved to Nashville to get into radio and found a spot at the Vanderbilt station in 2008, where he put his training to use and took over the waves of Music City with the only punk rock show on the radio at the time. Now, in 2011, he's still playing the best of new and old punk, hardcore, and garage rock, and he's a fixture at the local shows as well as booking and promoting local bands, and keeping the volume turned to loud.
We’re living in a time of huge changes and fast information. This isn’t news, you’ve already heard it from every publication out there that needs a quick article at deadline. But that’s only half the story. It’s also a time obsessed with getting back to basics and retro this and throwback that. “Old School” is just about the most desirable musical manifestation. Music doesn’t know where it’s going; the big companies are always the slowest to change, but once they’re into it, there’s no going back. Wherever you get your music now — be it Itunes, Amazon sound clouds, torrents, or even your friendly local brick ‘n’ mortar store or radio station — the delivery isn’t the point anymore, it’s down to the music. Filler songs are mostly a thing of the past, every track has to be a single, everything has be a hit.
One result of all this, is that the live show has become the most important thing to a band again. The live show is everything to a band now; that’s how you get your blog buzz and, if your show is good, those singles always sound better in person. We’re living in a golden age for concert attendance. If you’re on this site and reading this now, you know about more music than your average top-40 arena show crowd. That means you’re in the ideal spot for your music to come to you. Bands can get big fast over a little buzz and trending topic, but not big enough that you can’t still go see them for $5-$15 at a decent sized club. Bands tour together, festivals pop up everywhere, and every band that broke up a while back that you never got to see is back playing shows again now. From Guided by Voices to Soundgarden to The Clean to The Oblivians to The Dismemberment Plan, everyone’s back together and you can catch them live. That’s where the money is. Guarantees, t-shirt sales and an adoring crowd are far better than waiting to see what your label did for you lately. Lucky for us, that means even more shows that are events. Just look at the shows page here on Sinizine.net: half those amazing bands I’d drive hours to see, and they’re all swinging by for less than $20 for a ticket.
Last week we talked about how great the scene is here in Nashville and the stunning amount of quality local bands, now we’re telling you that the touring bands are just as good right now, and the opportunities keep growing. Between your local scene and being in the enviable location of living in a town with venues sized from dive bars and house shows, all the way through clubs, theaters and arenas, being in Nashville means that without even going anywhere near lower broad, you can see something amazing every night of the week.
Next week we’ll tell you about those nights when you just need some downtime and getting your music on yourself.
D.Rew
Loud Love
Sinizine.net