I have been exploring the South Florida music scene. Very laid back in the Keys. You can play lots of different styles there.

There are some rock bands in Miami. I have set in with a few. I played a few songs in a small club near me tonight. It was OK.

The pandemic fear looks like it is going away. Who knows what this new variant from South Africa will bring. I have had all three shots... let's hope that works.

But...this is what people pay money to see here in Miami. If you listen to the video it starts with the typical Auto-Tune idea but quickly goes to highly rhythmic music.

This sort of thing, Hip Hop, and Country look like all that is left in the mainstream here in Miami and very little Country at that.

Is it the same where you live?

https://themiamibeats.com/videos/

Billy

Nashville music (it ain't country no more) has always been big up here in Port Fierce (Fort Pierce) for the young-uns and oldsters alike.

The other big market, hip-hop/rap is handled mostly by DJs.

Then there are a lot of retired people who generally hire singles or duos (that's us) who want to hear roots pop/rock.

People are tired of the pandemic. Unfortunately, this is what happened during the "Spanish" Flu pandemic, which delayed the end of that pandemic, and it seems we might be making the same mistake.

Of course, we have vaccines (for those brave enough to err on the side of safety) and Moderna says they are already working on a mRNA vaccine for the new omicron variant.

The good thing about mRNA vaccines is that the technology has been around for years, so its safety is proven, and it is relatively easy to tweak. That allows the working part of the vaccine to be implemented quickly.

Of course, people have to get the jabs, which too many anti-science people are reluctant to do, and that means we will probably live with booster shots for the rest of our lives.

So I'm still being cautious about the gigs I accept. Fortunately, we've been targeting the +55-year-old market in Florida since 1990, and they are preferring outdoor events.

Good luck to all out there gigging. I hope you find safe work.

Insights and incites by Notes

I never really considered the music business to be dangerous in the past. Of course, we never had a Pandemic in our lifetime.

How nine people can die in a concert in Houston and have the concert go on for another thirty minutes is behind belief.

There is a lot of "it ain't country no more" country music that would be fun to play and perhaps there are a few places in the western parts of Dade county where that is possible. I would enjoy that and writing a few original "country" songs in the mix would be fun.

BIAB is actually pretty good at getting an original country tune going.


I hope we all get to play when we want to.



Cheers,

Billy

As a devotee of the traditional Hymnal, I miss the church services; but feel in time things will return to normal.
As it is, I am fortunate enough to have a very good radio station nearby (91.5 Freedom Radio, Columbus, OH) which features recorded messages by well-known preachers. This is relevant to the thread because of the decided tendency of the station to attempt to include all churches in the programming, including those whose musical and preaching styles lean decidedly hip-hop. This is a great thing; however, the language is not easy to understand. The lyrics and the preaching seem slightly foreign. It is interesting to observe the station programmers work to find the happy medium and to hear the talent slowing things down a bit for the general audiences. It's all good.

Hi Ed,

The"church" in its various forms is one of the last very reliable places for musicians to be able to play live and get paid.

There are churches I have been to in Texas that have better sound systems than Carnegie Hall.

Some of the best blues music I ever have listened to came from small black predominately black rural churches in the deep south.

The Pandemic has separated people from so much of daily life it is hard to even comprehend.

I was unaware that Hip Hop had found its way into religious music but it does not surprise me.

As to not understanding everything being said, I can relate to that. I have been many times to The Maronite Church, which is an Eastern Catholic Church with everything in Arabic. I can speak common Arabic, not well, but much of the service in that language is over my head. The music is also very different from Western music.

We should all celebrate the fact that there is so much diversity in music...

Cheers
Billy

IMO there are two kinds of music: (1) Music I like and (2) Music meant for someone else's ears.

Although there aren't many types of music I don't like, there are songs in every genre that I like and others that were meant for someone else.

My tastes are broad, my music collections consists of Classical (mostly Romantic era to Contemporary), Jazz, Blues, Pop/rock, Standards, Musica Latina, Reggae/Soca, and a bit of many other genres from Cabo Verde, to Brazilian, to Tuvan, to Chinese to Klezmer, to Afro-pop and whatever.

In our duo http://www.s-cats.com we just play what people request. Since we targeted the older audience, it resulted in our play list here http://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/songlist.html

Some of them we hardly play anymore because our audience changes as old folks die and younger folks take their place, but it's all fun music to play.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

When we talk about musical tastes it's easy to over generalize by age group and I've been guilty of that myself and then get surprised. I've mentioned the large variety of music we play on Catalina Island to mostly young people but the overall audiences are all ages. We do mostly classic rock with some high energy funky jazz thrown in. We even do some Johnny Cash.

18-20 year olds have come up to me saying how much they like our music, especially the hard core rockin dance stuff like SRV, the Doors, the Stones, Allman Bros, Santana, etc. They dance to that seriously hard. To really bring this home I just read an interview with Billy Joel and he says the same thing. His concerts pre Covid had a large contingent of young people and some of his superstar friends have said that too. It took him by surprise at first but he loves it. He said it's a whole new audience for him. he said seeing all those young people gives him energy because he knows those kids have not been fans for 40 years, they're new so he really wants to put on a show for them. I feel exactly the same.

When I talk to them the kids are not giving up their electronica EDM/Rap/Hip Hop stuff but they also like our music. I have to say they are much more open minded about old music than I was at that age. I had no interest whatsoever in my parents or grandparents music.

Bob

Bob's mention of Catalina Island reminds me of the runway there.



They sell Buffalo Burgers at the airport which is one of the attractions. There is a sheer cliff on the eastern side of the runway. The runway is pretty short. There is a winding road down to town.

It is a short flight from LA in a small plane. There is a DC3 there that they use to move cargo to the island. Sort of a step back in time.



There is only two way to get there, by plane or by boat.

A photo of the town of Avalon.



Humphreys (in the photo) and there is another large indoor venue and something call Jazz Trax that happens every year.



LA is one of the most frenetic places in the world. Arriving on Catalina Island you feel like you have been transported to another world.

Perhaps because of bands like the Rolling Stones and people like Mick kids have become accustomed to seeing older people play in the mainstream venues. I am sure that has been a part of what has bridged the generation gap.

My recent interaction with some very young musicians has been a bit of a surprise that they would be so excepting of an old guy like me and have a serious interest in music that I grew up with. I am getting an education in modern music I never knew existed.

The openness they have demonstrated and willingness to have very personal conversations about their lives has been a wonderful experience. I am beginning to think that it is us older folks who have created the "age gap".

As an older person in general, living in a polarized society, and the pandemic with its travel restrictions has caused a horrible sense of isolation for me.

I am super happy to be breaking out of that shell.


Billy