Pittsburgh musicians are finding it more difficult to make a living (Clark: moving, yard)

[Huckleberry3911948]

i hear you. i regret this is not unique to pennsylvania. the arts are not heavily supported here either. america has hardening of the arteries and heart. too many have been brutalized. mean streets do not produce lovers of art.

[creepsinc]

As a formerly (somewhat) paid musician, my advice is to suck it up, get a day job and quit whining. It's very unbecoming. Also, it's not at all unique to Pittsburgh. Most real artists aren't recognized until after theyr'e dead. It's the way of the world. If you're doing it for the money, you're doing it for the wrong reason anyways. I'm so glad the "music industry" is dying. It's been a long time coming.

[TelecasterBlues]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

I'm so glad the "music industry" is dying. It's been a long time coming.

Amen.

[ajl777]

let's tear down the libraries and give the money they got to buskers and they can make clothes out of the books

[truemuck]

Originally Posted by TelecasterBlues

Bingo, other than that you have Perry Como, The Clarks and Rusted Root as common knowledge. We really don't have the music scene of near by cities like Baltimore/DC, Philly, I guess Cleveland(I'd debate that...so overrated), or possibly Columbus(emerging due to OSU influence). I mean, we HAVE a music scene that's doing alright and we do have some nice smaller venues...but what city of this size doesn't have that much? The article makes it sound like we once were some kind of musical hub or something, which to my knowledge, has never been the case to begin with.

I also forgot The Del-Vikings! Cleveland-Akron had a great music scene from the 60's-80's, but outside of The Black Keys and the college bands that play in and around Kent, not so much now.

I think Pittsburgh is a way cool city and probably could and would support a good local music scene. But, perhaps what is missing is a mid-size venue for rock concerts? Does Pittsburgh have something like the Agora(http://www.clevelandagora.com/)?

[TelecasterBlues]

Originally Posted by truemuck

I also forgot The Del-Vikings! Cleveland-Akron had a great music scene from the 60's-80's, but outside of The Black Keys and the college bands that play in and around Kent, not so much now.

I think Pittsburgh is a way cool city and probably could and would support a good local music scene. But, perhaps what is missing is a mid-size venue for rock concerts? Does Pittsburgh have something like the Agora(http://www.clevelandagora.com/)?

You know, I just made two posts the other day stating that it's ridiculous that we don't have any sort of mid-sized venue in this city. We'll toss money aside for a brand new failure of a casino...without table games or a resort hotel...but yet the thought of building a cultural addition, like a nice music hall to attract national acts, isn't even on the radar at all.

For shows that are a bit too big for places like Mr. Smalls(don't know what I'd do without that place), we try to ship acts 25 minutes east to Greensburg PA to play in the Palace, which is nice, but it's not in Pittsburgh or even the same county...so what's the point? Or we try to get them to play in Homestead at the Carnegie Music Hall, which is also not in the city proper and in a sketchy area. The Palace does alright with jazz and blues offerings, but neither are able to have success with bringing in mainstream acts. This is a problem.

On the other hand, we do have two perfect venues in The Benedum and Heinz Hall. The Benedum being reserved for theatre and Heinz Hall being the home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and also used for such riviting things as random motivational speakers and whatnot. Heinz Hall, I can understand, however, opening up the Benedum for concerts would solve the issue of not having a mid-sized venue within the city...but it'll never happen, they're both very classy and not really designed for that anyway. We need something exactly like the Agora to fill the hole and to prevent bands from skipping us over in favor of Columbus, Philly, and Baltimore.

Pittsburgh could easily be a very popular city within the next 5-10 years, the cost of living is attractively low, it's scenic, it is a nice city with its own vibe and identity...no cookie cutter crap to be found here, there's a lot to like. And with how the city has gone from an industrial dump to an example of a "green" eco makeover...well, people would eat that up with the way current fads are going and love to be a part of that. Build a few green communities and modern condos/lofts and we could be the unofficial poster child for that whole movement. However, it's the stupid local government and city planners that completely miss the boat and hold the city back from truly becoming something for others to envy. So much potential is there, but nobody is really doing anything with it...who needs concert venues when you have a crappy casino and a few new strip-malls in the suburbs!!!!!

[fleetiebelle]

There's a vacant movie theater on West Liberty Ave in Dormont--I've always thought it would be cool if someone turned that into a concert venue.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

There's a vacant movie theater on West Liberty Ave in Dormont--I've always thought it would be cool if someone turned that into a concert venue.

You mean turn it BACK into one. Back in the 80's I saw Steven Wright, Emmy Lou Harris, and Maynard Ferguson at the old South Hills Theater.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by truemuck

Not to mention, has Pittsburgh ever been a city known for a vibrant music scene? I mean outside of Donnie Iris and Christina Aguilera, (who I really don't care for), its tough for me to think of any act from the Burgh that really made it big and had a decent career. Heck, even Donnie Iris has a day job!

Rusted Root
The Clarks
Anti-Flag

[fleetiebelle]

Has anyone really heard of the Clarks outside of the DVE listening area? And I liked Rusted Root, but they're pretty much a one-hit wonder.