THURSDAY,APRIL17,2003
COVER STORY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 11
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bands venture out into the clutches of the mainstream music industry, the more the city remains a secret.
"That's what makes Lawrence a unique city as far as music goes," said Nate Harold of the local bands Kelpie and Getaway Driver. "It's just seems like nobody's trying to be the next big thing. Everybody's doing their own thing and they're content with being a secret."
Indeed, author John Villani ranked Lawrence 15th out of 100 of the best small art towns in America. The National Endowment for the Arts ranked Lawrence 12th in U.S.cities with the largest percentage of professional artists.
Harold, Weskin senior and Jayplay music critic, said Lawrence's modest size forced groups of artists to overlap and become a part of one another's respective medium. For instance, the Pink House aside from regular shows, is currently featuring an art exhibit.
"If you go to the Replay, everybody there is an artist, writer or musician," Berard said. "It's interesting because we have this small town with all of these cultured outlets."
But Lawrence's artistic community, including its music scene, still doesn't and likely won't ever resemble an "industry."
A safe place
Applying the word "industry" to music elicits the image of a Third-World peasant manufacturing thousands of identical rock stars, first reaching into a basket of appendages, then attaching them to a bony torso. Add tight jeans, a faded little league baseball jersey and a pair of dusty Chuck Taylor's — Presto! — rock star #39945 is born.
But music doesn't work that way, at least not in Lawrence. There are, however, shortcomings to the tacit rules Lawrence places on local music.
Brandon Hubbard, a KJHK DJ who books bands locally, said limitations on how much musicians can grow may lead to less opportunities for new musicians.
"I think it's on the negative side for the most part," Hubbard, Lawrence freshman, said. "It's because Lawrence hasn't had a steady all-ages venue since the Outhouse. Limiting to an 18-and-over crowd
"Although Lawrence has certainly had a few issues, its character seems more intact over a 10- or 20-year period," Myer said. "Some people I've met in Austin actually bow down to the altar of Lawrence."
has definitely stifled younger musicians from getting an earlier start."
Josh Myer Former Lawrence resident
Hubbard said fans and bands in other cities tended not to move around as much based on their college and career agendas. While a constantly shifting local population means fresh blood for the city, Hubbard said he didn't think it was being taken advantage of.
But in other cities, where more options may be available for artists, "the day job persists," as Josh Myer, a former Lawrence resident said. Myer moved to Austin for more opportunities in theater, but the high cost of living always looms.
And Myer still extols the virtues of Lawrence.
"Although Lawrence has certainly had a few issues, its character seems more intact over a 10- or 20-year period," Myer said. "Some people I've met in Austin actually bow down to the altar of Lawrence."
So Lawrence may forever be the younger sibling of other music cities. But younger siblings are in a position to learn what mistakes to avoid. While the lines of cultural communication continue to link cities together, Lawrence still insists on playing by its own rules.
"The regional aspect of music is unavoidable just because the people you see most often are people in your town," veteran rock producer Steve Albini said in an interview with Punk Planet magazine. "Now there's a much broader dissemination of information; these regional scenes don't necessarily have geographic boundaries. They have philosophical boundaries instead."
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— Edited by Amber Byarlay