to my good friend, lead guitarist for The Needletones Owen Burgess , about his feelings concerning the future of music in Tavistock and what particular pressures he was under as a working musician.
“Upon returning home in the early hours of the morning after a particularly enjoyable gig at The Ship Inn, in Looe, I decided to scribble down a few troublesome questions concerning my somewhat egocentric vocation. They were: How long will this last? How do I get more ‘work’? How do I get paid more? Do I even deserve to be paid the amount I do? Why am I doing this? I then spent the remaining twilight hours coming to absolutely no conclusion whatsoever. But seriously, these are questions that every small time working musician must be asking themselves. I seem to have endless discussions with likeminded musicians every day and it’s always the same subjects; not enough venues, not enough punters and not enough money. I used to think that this was all terribly
unfair. Why aren’t people swarming into the room to hear me play? Why aren’t I walking away from each gig with a nice wad of cash, just big enough to enable me not to work for the rest of the week? Naturally, by default I blame Simon Cowell, Radio One, the local council, the cost of fuel and the cost of beer. I’ll blame anything, except of course, myself.’’
Owen has helped to sum up some of the thoughts that many musicians are having at the moment and has touched on a very relevant question in trying to discover who is to blame for the changes in the music scene at Tavistock. The truth is, perhaps everyone is to blame for their part in the music scene and it is always far too easy to blame someone or something else for why you didn’t get out to see a good band at the weekend.
So why are the venues so afraid to raise the bar and start up more music nights, more battle of the bands and more open mics? And why are the college bands not out there pushing their music into every
possible nook and cranny in the town? The bottom line is that teamwork is required if a music event is to be successful. The venue and musician have to work together, to promote their productions and gather the people. The venues need to be willing to pay for good bands as well as push the up and coming college bands and musicians need to get out there and organise their own music nights. I for one would love to see more dedicated music nights in the town to complement the events already provided by The Wharf and showcase what Tavistock and the Tamar Valley has to offer.
I would hope that in the next 15 years, Tavistock can shake up the music scene once more and other teenagers and younger audiences can have the same fond memories of local band nights that I have.
The Needletones are playing at Calstock Social Club on Saturday 26th May at 9pm and on Saturday 7th July at Berefest in Bere Alston. For the full list of their upcoming gigs, check out their website
www.theneedletones.co.uk
All photos by Steve Clark. “I wish I’d known it was on …….”
EVENT ORGANISERS AND VENUE OWNERS
Do you know that it’s free to advertise your upcoming gigs in the Tavistock Diary?
As well as being delivered to homes and venues in Tavistock, the Diary is online at
www.tavistockdiary.com so you can paste a link on your website or facebook page and let all your followers know what’s happening!
After all, “ If they don’t know, they can’t go!! ”
Call Yvonne on 01822 610575 or email
yvonnebullivant@tindlenews.co.uk
Please note: Free entries can only be included if space is available. Guaranteed Advertising rates start at £17+vat and free editorial may be available. Call or email for full details.
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