BEST place for live MUSIC/musician ROCK BAND in OR??? (Portland: best city, casino)

[167878]

so, i currently live in S.FL , I'd like to knowwhere the best city/area is to make living playing in a rock band...That is very diverse, heavy/electric blues, rock, psychedelic, think of, Beatles,Floyd,Hendrix,Doors,Cream,Zeppelin,Sabbath ,Mozart,Beethoven, 20's-60'sblues n' Jazz ,(we branch out in more, but these are the main influences to give you an idea)..influence....a band that can actually PLAY anything, but this is what we like (all original, but know plenty of covers )..NO disco,rap,pop,dance,screamo,death metal,techno,*ahum* 'modern day' country (well johnny cash and old old country-yea some-) or any other various forms of non-melodic noise today considered as music(sorry if that offends you)..

so lets say we have our sh*t down, have an album, a website,a studio, some capital,(and maybe-(big maybe) and RV) -everything to get up and running, just open minded places to play that PAY, and that you can work your way up from bottom (average bar venues ~few hundred audience on weekends..$400-500low end a night{100$ea is the min. around here}-$1000higher end bars)-and private parties of course)) to Top (biggest venue/fest you can get into without needing a Major Label) say crowds of thousands of audience per weekend/event..pay,, free basically for exposure.

also, a place that isnt loaded with wanna -be players, and also venues that are booked for a year straight that pay in free drinks and tips. Some where that it doesnt take a great deal of struggle to get in and get KNOWN, but somewhere big enough where being known actually matters.

ive considered LA, but sems like a rat race, same as NY, but not much of a Rock scene..(i m not intereested in heavy metal scenes)? (which im sure lots and lots of places are...metal and rap...), Austin, seemingly too small from what i hear? over hyped-i heard alot of people say its great? Orlando/ maybe Tampa too (or lakeland inbetween both), not enough venues??Anywhere in FL ideas?(just not not miami)-seemingly not big enough cities? Eugene/Portland Oregon i hear is a nice friendly town/area tht may be good for my type of music/ROCK? New Orleans?katrina made that place a mess from what i hear, and its more geared toward jazz/swing blues...i just dont really know, i v never bee any of these places,...i'd realllllly prefer to stay in the SOUTH, i like the people and weather. so any ideas would be much appreciated....we're in our 20's and ready to get going-and not spend a year trying to fight off competition to get our foot in the door (tho of courseyou have to be better than the comp to make it).

as a side note..any info on how to get on a good going circuit (say around state, or even nation wide?) w/o booking aggents and managers?=i assume just draw alot of attention and est. a following, and im looking for aplace where we can do that from nothing...(i like the idea of tamp/orlando since its pretty close, just dont know if thats optimal).


thanks a whole lot...any out of state areas are appreciated, im doing this for most of the states...thanks...i prefer southern weather, but, liemmek onw how it is up there.

[backdrifter]

There isn't a huge "rock" scene in the Northwest, but it is ground zero for New Weird America, freak folk, psych folk, sadcore, twee/indie pop, lo-fi, and similar genres. Portland really has a huge music scene, but it's really difficult to make a living being a musician there because it's just so saturated. You have to have a day job. It is frequently said that "Everyone in Portland is in a band." These same things, to a lesser degree, could be said for Seattle. Eugene and Olympia also lean this same direction, but their scenes really are too small to "get known." So yeah, if this is the kind of music you play, then maybe they'd like you up here.

[Steve97415]

The BEST place? There's only one and that's Portland.

[167878]

^ very interesting, thanks for the info.

[CandRach2]

Country music in Oregon?

[sarahkate_m]

I have to agree: Portland. If you wanted to do WA, maybe Seattle? There may be more disposable income (patrons) in WA....

Kate

[Hawk J]

Originally Posted by 167878

^ very interesting, thanks for the info.

Perhaps y'all will find a gig at one of the casino's.

Best of Luck Bro...

[167878]

^thanks, again for some more descriptions of the music 'scene' up yonder.

[Tiger Beer]

Seems like for rock/metal...seems like the Midwest is where it seems to be surviving/hanging on...I'm thinking of cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, etc.

Portland is pretty much post-rock, it seems to me.

[167878]

Yea, I know what your saying, I've done lots of research into the major music areas, and have a handful of connections around that've been around...and a lot of what they say is matching what people here say. I hear Seattle has some real good players...but every major city in a state has plenty of good players...lookin for somewhere that's more of a laid back area, with 'powerful' connections...not so hustle and bustle of the big city where your just a number. hmmm...