When I visited Nashville, I was impressed by the number of working musicians. Regular people without names you or I would know, making music and getting paid for it. There are three-story bars that have live bands playing on each floor, even in the middle of the day. Compare this with here where, for better or worse, live music doesn’t happen to you; you have to seek it. While Boston will never be like Nashville, I think having more and better music is possible. We have great musicians (and some of the best music schools) in the country, but nobody is willing to write them a check.
When I was new in town, I went to The Lilypad about once a week. Open mics, jam sessions, jazz, I’d go to anything. Eventually I converged on a monthly jam session. It was $10, every month or two, and I got to play with people I’d never met. It was a supportive, fun environment, and I made friends who I still have, years later. Eventually the jam sessions dried up, and when I asked my friend what had happened, he said the band couldn’t afford to play there. What? These guys could fill a room on a weeknight with 40 to 50 people, many of whom bought alcohol – something a lot of small touring acts can’t even draw – and they can’t break even?
The Lilypad, it turns out, charges performers about $200 an hour (the exact figure depends on the act). This is not a professional venue; it’s a storefront in Cambridge. Bands keep the cover charge but get none of the drink sales, so the risk and reward fall on them, not the venue. The fee must be paid weeks before any tickets can be sold. If a band can’t put up hundreds of dollars, it can’t play.
I am picking on The Lilypad because it’s a great place. It does a lot for the community, and the people who go there and keep it running are clever and dedicated. I know it’s hard to sustain a small business (as small-business owners remind us so often), but this sucks. It sucks for the musicians who want to play and for the people who won’t hear music that might have helped them. I think that The Lilypad can do a lot better for us, but I don’t blame it for turning a profit. If the city wants more music, it should figure out why this business model is the one that’s viable. It should figure out why there aren’t more places for us to play and create a policy to fix it. But for god’s sake, don’t make a committee that will form another committee to discuss the matter. Just try something.
I was talking to a guy who is a little older than I am about this, and he told me that Inman Square used to have not one but two jazz clubs. Now we seem to have half of one. I’ve thought a lot about how when we lose good things, we forget what we even wanted in the first place. Our dreams get smaller, our eyes trained farther downward toward the sidewalk, and the life of the city ebbs away. By calling this out, I just hope to say that things have been and can be better. Your favorite third space may not exist yet.
The best trumpet player I know is moving to New York in August. We’ll never hear him again, and honestly, good for him. We don’t deserve it. I think those in charge should realize that music is not just about the couple days a year we set aside to make noise; it’s something that can and should happen every day.
Nicholas Marchuk is a local author and engineer. His work is available at major retailers and on his website, nicholasmarchuk.com. Comments and questions can be directed to his contact form and may be responded to in this publication.
About The Author
