Local Blogging
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Hey,
Not sure how many of you promote the city you are in and to what extent. Recently Ive thought about really putting more focus on my city (Cincinnati). I already am conscious of local bands and shows but almost always lean towards national and international acts.
Obviously, its easier to be in NYC or LA and cover the locals, but Ive noticed lots of midwest bloggers here as well. Whats your take? -
My blog can be very Toronto-centric, at least in terms of concert announcements and coverage. Which only makes sense, since I write about what is interesting or relevant to me and as great as Sasquatch or Coachella may be, if I'm not there I really don't care.
There's just so much info available from around the world today, if you don't apply some sort of limits on what you choose to cover you'll go quite mad. -
I know what you mean about going mad. With so much material to work with now it is hard to be a catch all, you'd need to be doing this full time to review everything. I tend to deal with the latest bands coming out of Dublin and whatever else sounds immediately interesting.
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my blog is lansing-centric as well. and michigan-centric to boot. i feature a lot of bands that are from the area and i go to a lot of local shows and write about them. i think it's great to have that feeling of showing where you're from on the blog - i mean, i cover other regions as well (omaha, etc.) but i always have to give it up for my hometown scene because it's a scene that deserves shine and recognition.
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I live in a place that's been described as the "musical armpit" of England, so no, I don't cover many local bands.
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Haha, sounds like you must be somewhere down south as well then Eugene..
I'd love to be able to cover the local "scene", but it just doesn't exist. Any band with even the tiniest of talent will quickly migrate to London than stay in this kind of cesspit. An Abba cover band is about the height of local musical excellence here.
When Art Brut played here, it was an event of world shattering proportions. I'm guessing they won't be back. -
Where is this musical purgatory you describe? I only ask so that I can make a note not to go there.
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I love it when blogs take on a local viewpoint...it gives them a unique voice and is also great for community-building.
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From the beginning, I've made a point of writing about at least one band a week from the Cleveland/Akron area on I Rock Cleveland. It's really not that hard. Once you start digging into your local scene, you're bound to find plenty of gems. Oh, it could also be the case that Cleveland has some really f'n good bands.
The best part of covering bands in your scene is that they really appreciate the work that you do, and inevitably they become readers, too. -
Eddie, it's a small world. I live in Rye which is next to the Kent/East Sussex border. You're right. Besides the odd half interesting tech-metal band. There's nothing going on here at all.
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Ah, Rye, I know (of) it, mostly from the All Tomorrow's Parties stuff that I only just found out we had. You getting the chance to go to either of those? I'd have killed to got to weekend two but I found out about it too late. Next year though, I'll be there!
I'm up in Gillingham myself, so right in the painful north Kent feeding commuters to London zone. Which means anything of value is up there. Every local band I've seen has been pretty awful. -
Yeah, ATP is like a ten minute bus ride from my house. Couldn't get a ticket this year (although the lineup didn't really blow me away anyway) but I went when Albini and Mogwai were curating and it was something else.
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for selfish reasons I say take a more local viewpoint...you're close to me, and there aren't a lot of cincinnati blogs...I'd like to know more about what's going on down there...it's not even 2 hrs away, and I head over now and then.
cubs v. reds in the 'nati on June 10th...i'll be there. -
We're usually geographic generalists, but give some special attention to Chicago bands. I'm inclined to think it's too big a scene that gets ample coverage without needing our help. But almost every little Chicago band I've posted on has contacted me and was really appreciative. So that's nice. We also did a "Chicago week" last fall--talking about old and new music. And we're working on a series of interviews with Chicago musicians.
Eugene and Eddie, doesn't Kent have a history of great garage bands? The Dentists, Milkshakes, etc. I wrote up the Len Price 3 about a month ago. They're from somewhere in Kent... -
I think taking a more local viewpoint is in the future for eachnotesecure. There really are alot of local gems and lets face it, the national indie rock blog attention is focused on the big boys. No sense trying too hard to grab those readers when a local focus could be even more fun.
And Dodge, im a big Reds fan, im down there all the time, I hope you planned your trip around a good show at Southgate House or elsewhere..... -
EACHNOTESECURE 4-ever
Donewaiting is a weird blog, because we do the national thing but we also have 7 or so other blogs attached to the site writing about their city's local scenes..
BUT
we are based out of Columbus, and that's where our bread and butter comes from. We have a "respectable" national presence (and great when it comes to SXSW), but Columbus treats us right.... We've done shows with the Decemberists, Andrew Bird, High on Fire, started a record label, blahblahblah all because of really paying attention to our town.
One day there will be an I ROCK CLEVELAND / EACHNOTE / DONEWAITING party.
We might invite blogs in Indiana that reference Kentucky..... MAYBE. -
My blog is all about my local scene (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC). There's a pretty active group of clubs in each city, and some really supportive local labels (Yep Roc, Merge, Sugar Hil). I don't get out nearly as often as I'd like, so I started the blog as a way to keep up with what's going on. From time to time I'll post about national acts playing locally, but generally only if they're playing with local bands.
I suppose that it limits the general appeal of the blog, though there are great bands around here. (Only updating once a week probably doesn't help my traffic either...) I'd love to see more blogs with the heavy local focus -- far better than seeing the same stuff (no matter how good) everywhere you turn. -
aw yay!
i know the kids of funtime OK are from michigan as well (detroit-area really), but i don't keep in contact with them though. -
I'm also in Michigan, can't wait to go sailing in the Great Lakes.
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"Eugene and Eddie, doesn't Kent have a history of great garage bands? The Dentists, Milkshakes, etc. I wrote up the Len Price 3 about a month ago. They're from somewhere in Kent..."
Kent's coughed up the odd head turner but really it's few and far between. What's huge at the moment is bands that sound like Embrace and bands that sound like terrible Botch cover bands. -
i try to promote local musicians and events whenever i get the chance...especially since i seem to have a whole area of the country to myself (i'm in seattle)...
seriously, are there any other mp3 bloggers on here (or elsewhere) from ANYWHERE in the pacific northwest (oregon, washington, idaho)??! we be seriously underrepresented - and i know we all spend a ton of time on computers out here. :) -
Kingblind is out there. He's a good guy.
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my friend martin has a indie pop-culture blog and he's in seattle:
http://armchairnovelist.blogspot.com -
I'm kind of the opposite. I'm in Chicago or therebouts and I really don't think you can do it much better than our arts paper The Reader (or pitchfork for that matter). So while I will write about local bands they have to be as good or better than any of the national acts in my sphere (americana, indie folk, alt-country, singer songwriter) to make it onto my site.
That said, I'm fans of these chicago area artists (google them as I don't know how to make a link):
Rachel Ries
Steve Dawson
Amalea Tshilds
Edith Frost
Martha Berner
Wilco (just kidding!)
The Hoyle Brothers -
As far as I know there are two half-way decent bands in my corner of Missouri:
Amsterband
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
... and I havent posted on either, and never will the latter, since I don't have all frickin day to type the band name. ; ) -
Would it be a good idea to add a map to the wiki with our locations? It could help with networking?
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i'm up here in cleveland and i'm writing about shows going on in the city to some extent. but it's a bit broad, mostly established indie bands because it has broader appeal than a rockabilly band from akron or something. basically, you have to decide on the scope of your site and what you want to write about. there's definitely room for bloggers writing about cities other than NYC, and as long as you have enough other content to appeal to people outside of your town -- if that is, indeed, your goal -- you should be fine.
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Unfortunately, most of the local bands in my area aren't very good. I do post a lot about a particular local venue - Mountain Stage. It's an international radio concert series that is taped live in concert here. But while the venue is local, the artists rarely are. Everyone from Odetta to Xavier Rudd has played there.
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I've been trying to write more about local Nashville stuff since a collaborative blog I used to write for went offline a few months ago - but it's pretty overwhelming. I've only been living here for just under three years, and I'm not too familiar with the local scene yet, so I'm trying to learn. I added listings to my site to keep up with national and local shows that I'm interested in, and I'm definitely trying to pick up more CDs by local bands and check out more shows. I also I think I'm the only music blogger in my area....
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suburban New Jersey is overrun by three-chord emo bands, so it is sort of difficult for me to get anything very local. I have found several great bands based in New York City because of my location though.
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You're right, Bethanne. I will post on SSLYBY right now!
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I think some of your are only seeing half the picture here though, its not ONLY about local bands but its alot about your local scene. When national acts come to town people know about it and the band because of you. I think thats what Im striving for a combination of....
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eachnotesecure: that's exactly what i do anyway. i focus not only on the local bands, but the shows that feature bands from everywhere else going into town. i get thrilled when i see a band i adore come into town and i get to go see them. it's an amazing thing. to say that some of us are seeing half the picture is kind of shallow towards those of us who see the whole picture.
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i agree - the trick is achieving the national/local balance without losing sight of one or the other. i always thought donewaiting does a nice job of straddling the line with columbus..
also, i think it's a lot more important for smaller cities that seem to get lost in the shuffle (like cincinnati or cleveland) than it is for larger markets like chicago and nyc, whose local scenes are already pretty connected to the larger picture. haven't lived in cincy for a couple years now, but i always thought that sort of thing would go over well there - i-see-sound tries, but they've got a somewhat different focus.
and i'm seeing the reds vs. cubs here in a few weeks as well - only at wrigley. -
clevertitles, no offense intended, im sure more folks were thinking that than I surmised, and bond, i agree about i see sound and straddling the line a bit.....
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Damn, I've gotta move. There are two good bands from my area, and the last good show over here was Pink Mountaintops/ Two Gallants in January.
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As Bethanne suggested, there will be a Contrast Podcast about local bands at some point in the future (probably CP 10 or 11) so you will all be able to air your voices on the subject!
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So that gives me about four weeks to move.... hmmmmm.
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YOur chance to do a 'mash up' Bethanne?
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i don't think i can mash up a straight up country band, the second coming of the decemberists, young and awesome punk rock, psychadelica "drug rock", and straight up rock and roll all into one. it's going to be "which band loves bethanne more" and "which band would benefit more from me featuring them on the podcast?"
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