9 months ago
Sometimes the Current actually writes super good articles and this one is about how good our music scene could be. It sucks being in Austin’s shadows. It sucks that you have to drive an hour away to see a show by a larger act. SA has a great local music scene that continues to grow but as far as city promoters reaching out to bands, we need to get on it. We’re also a really large city so it baffles me that we can’t get those shows. This article explains this and much more of what our problem has been.
Last year, We Are Scientists played for the first time here and it was a fantastic show. They actually had a really good turn-out for our city and I hope they had fun. The article quotes a bunch of other artists who have come here and actually enjoyed the scene here. On Labor Day, I hung out with my friend Tash and she talked about how San Antonio has (or had) a very distinct punk scene and sometimes a bad reputation. The fact is we used to be known for live music. We need to get that back!
EDIT: more personal stories from the SA music scene that I’d like to share. Being that the WAS show was the last big show in San Antonio that I’ve seen (most have been in Austin since), the best example of how SA reacts to shows is this: My bud Tash, who I hung with on Labor Day and went to the WAS show with me, (along with my friend Christine, Chelly and lovely Renee) went outside to have a smoke and preceded to say this to Keith Murray & Chris Cain - “So are you guys here for the show?” To which they said, “We are the show!” San Antonio is a really relaxed atmosphere for shows. I hardly go to events where people line up for gigs. Most fans are there for the shows, not for who the people are. I respect that about San Antonio and I have to say this is the experience I’ve had with most SA shows. Is San Antonio too ‘lax for big acts or are we the best example of being over the celebrity and just appreciating the music? I don’t know. All I know is that we’re unique and maybe that’s the kind of bands we need to attract here. (such as We Are Scientists!)
11 months ago
a performance by Patina Miller singing Random Black Girl. It’s about how new musicals all just so happen to include a soulful, sassy, big-voiced, big-bottomed black girl in the ensemble…
I hate being sick but at least I’m catching up on all the fun internet stuff I hardly have time for anymore. And blogging like a nerd. That’s good for illness.
Anyways, this video is so funny and SO true. Maybe this is why I hate Glee or why I wasn’t crazy about many musicals we did during my 4 years at an arts magnet high school. You don’t see many of us up there unless we’re being sassy, fat and loud. This is also something that drives me crazy about Adele. I have mixed feeling about her, but she is incredible live and her ballads are pretty strong. But why are we surprised that she sings well? And why aren’t we influenced by her to listen to soul musicians who have been around longer? Why is she OK to put on the radio? Because of her skin? I never hear Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe or Res on the radio. And I definitely never hear black girls who are in rooted in any other music besides pop on the radio. This is not just an Adele issue; this could be said of Amy Winehouse, Justin Timberlake, or Duffy. They should sing Soul & R&B if they want to, but we should have the choice not to sing it if we don’t want to. And what the heck happened to Fefe Dobson?!
I grew up listening to everything from pop to country to R&B to jazz. And some kids would make me feel like I wasn’t “black enough” just because I owned a Blink-182 album or because I really loved Loretta Lynn. Well, I’m sorry I don’t own every rap album ever and yes, The O, Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is one of my absolute favorites. On the site listed above, a commenter put that a girl gave a performance on American Idol and sang a country song. The judges said she did good but she should have sang an R&B song instead. Why? There’s something wrong with this thinking. I love seeing my sisters in Punk bands. I love seeing us sing folk music. Soul means many things and it’s not just R&B.
Maybe this is why I think the Afro-Punk Festival is such a positive thing and I hope it brings out many people of many shades to experience it. Even though I may not go, I’m excited about it. It’s time to open people’s eyes and let them see we all aren’t Beyonce or some random black girl singing sass in a musical.
But you know, with Fela doing so well on Broadway, The Color Purple being so awesome when I saw it in NYC a couple of years ago, here’s to the hope that there will be a lot more awesome musicals with us in it and the hope that the Random Black Girl can be any Black Girl she chooses to be.
(Source: thesmithian)
via thesmithian
