Audiences dictating who gets booked at a club !

[Dangermouse]

It would seem that the scene here in the UK will soon disappear up it's own rear end the way things seem to be going. ( I WOULD LIKE TO STATE THIS IS JUST AN OPINION ) .
Some acts perform for the love and passion for the music, some acts perform purely to earn a living whilst preferring to get out of bed when they wish.
It would appear to me as an artist with a passion for country music be it old or new that unless you are willing to perform the songs that the audience of today want to dance to you struggle to get bookings. We seem to have got to the situation where an act such as George Strait could perform at a club on the QT and when asked what people in the audience thought at the end of the show they would say he was SH*T all because he didn't sing their favourite song or sing the songs the dancers knew a linedance to. I would like to ask why the majority of clubs here in the UK have the letters CMC/CWDC after the club title when it is plain to see that they will pamper to the needs of the people attending just to put bums on seats. At the risk of being thrown to the wolves I have to state that at times some clubs book an artist that clearly cannot hold a tune in a bucket or even play the instrument they are holding onto on stage simply because they perform the songs for dance and therefore are held by the dancers in the highest regard. On the other hand an act that works full time at his or her performance and contributes to the country music scene with different tunes / lyrics and melodies is shunned because they don't sing the same songs as all the other acts on the circuit. We have reached the point it seems that there is no difference between a live act and a CD the end result is the same. May I suggest that the clubs would save a lot of money if they just played CD's as the dancers wouldn't care as long as they get to do their favourite dance !. As for the acts on the circuit , if clubs only paid the door money it would soon sort out the chaff from the acts that perform with a passion. In my case if I just wanted to earn money couldn't it be said that it would be much easier to just get a 9 to 5 job where I wouldn't have to drive from one end of the country to the other , carry heavy equipment up and down stairs , be asked to change my clothes in a toilet , and be told your SH*T because you did not happen to sing the one song that he or she sat in the corner happens to think is the best song in the world . When will we learn that the audience on a club night consists of listeners , watchers as well as dancers . Clubs need to remember that it may be ok for the club to say sorry we won't book you because you dont sing the songs the dancers want , artist can also say sorry we won't appear at your club because we don't want to. The scene suffers from two things that I feel will be its death , clubs who allow people to dictate who gets booked and acts who fear that singing different songs will lose them bookings. This may seem like just a winge but after 20 years on the circuit IT IS A FACT.

[kev]

I'm confused - you say "This is just an opinion" at the start, and then end with "It is a fact"!

Personally I think you've hit the nail on the head in the title to your thread. Audiences DO dictate who gets booked - theatres, clubs, television. What's the old saying? "He who pays the piper ... etc".

[camsgrandad]

You're not wrong mate!

[lo&m]

Some of us remember when the audience on a club night consisted of listeners and watchers as well as dancers. We lament the passing of those times. Dangermouse has been on the circuit for 20 years so he probably just missed it by a whisker.
Bands (and it was nearly always bands back then) played what was currently popular of course, but you would also get lesser known covers, occasional original material and 'signiture' songs. Happy days.

[Smudger]

Some of us remember when the audience on a club night consisted of listeners and watchers as well as dancers. We lament the passing of those times.

The clubs I go to have listeners, watchers and dancers.

[lo&m]

Then cherish them while you still have them. Tbf it's not that listeners and watchers have disappeared entirely. More that the linedance industry is setting the tone for what passes as entertainment at UK country music clubs, which is what the OP said. A significant number of listeners have left as a result.

It's a strange thing when you think about it - this argument between listeners and dancers. Country music has historically always appealed to both. And patrons have always done both on the same night, listened, danced. Why does Uk have to be different? (Rhetorical question.)

[camsgrandad]

There's a Country Music Club in St. Helens where the organiser rang an artiste she'd booked for this coming New Years Eve to cancel him, saying he was "too country". Apparently, some of her punters had seen him the previous week and told her they didn't want him because he played too much country music! The best part of it is, she's now booked another artiste that I know is even more country!! So the fools who complained are going to be well p....d off now, especially as the new guy will tell them exactly what he thinks of them if they moan about what he's playing.

[lo&m]

As former forummer, Nickyjo, used to always say: A good dancer can dance to anything.

[camsgrandad]

As former forummer, Nickyjo, used to always say: A good dancer can dance to anything.

I was once told the exact same thing by a linedance teacher of over 20 years. The problem these days is, people are taught one dance to one song, and not told how to work out what dance fits to what song, so if it's not a song they know, they start moaning because they don't have the nous to think of a song that fits.

[Smudger]

As former forummer, Nickyjo, used to always say: A good dancer can dance to anything.

I was once told the exact same thing by a linedance teacher of over 20 years. The problem these days is, people are taught one dance to one song, and not told how to work out what dance fits to what song, so if it's not a song they know, they start moaning because they don't have the nous to think of a song that fits.

My wife's line dance instructor purposely teaches dances to other country songs, not just the one that the dance was choreographed to.

[camsgrandad]

As former forummer, Nickyjo, used to always say: A good dancer can dance to anything.

I was once told the exact same thing by a linedance teacher of over 20 years. The problem these days is, people are taught one dance to one song, and not told how to work out what dance fits to what song, so if it's not a song they know, they start moaning because they don't have the nous to think of a song that fits.

My wife's line dance instructor purposely teaches dances to other country songs, not just the one that the dance was choreographed to.

I wish there were more like her!

[kountrykickas]

I thought all audiences had the right to pick the artists.All they have to do is NOT ATTEND and BINGO no money to pay the act they don't want to see.Anyone running a Western Club in today's financial climate needs to maximise the audience and not alienate them.

[Dangermouse]

It is a fact that audiences have the right to attend a club night when an act they like appears and to stay away from the club when an act they don't like appears, however since the club is normally a country music club and not a favourite artists club shouldn't the importance be put on the country music side. If everybody was to only attend a club when a favourite artist was appearing then most clubs would already be closed and where would all you dedicated fans go then. It may never cross a persons mind that sometimes an artist will travel miles and miles to get changed in a toilet and then do a show where they can be called worse than muck just because they didn't sing a certain person's favourite song. We could also look at it from another angle, would you ever imagine that a person would go along to a local city hall or theatre to see just for example Hal Ketchum and then walk to the front of the stage and ask him to perform a few Status Quo numbers because rockin' all over the world just happens to be a song they like. Mind you it is the nature of the beast to say I have paid my money however little that may be therefore I own you and you will do as I say not as I do.

[kev]

would you ever imagine that a person would go along to a local city hall or theatre to see just for example Hal Ketchum and then walk to the front of the stage and ask him to perform a few Status Quo numbers because rockin' all over the world just happens to be a song they like.

The irony is that that is exactly what happens in the bars in Texas and Nashville - people ask for songs they like, whether it's by the artist they're seeing or not. It never seems to bother people like Dale Watson, and for the band I saw in Nashville in June, who merrily played a country version of "YMCA" when asked, it looked like it was just all part of a (jolly) day's work!

[Zum]

I have been told that there are some clubs in Scotland who ask for a play list before booking a band!!
The scene in Scotland is dire,My thoughts are that a great many of the attendees are not true Country Music fans,I see rave reviews on a solo or duo who rely almost entirely on backing tracks and have little knowledge of the instrument which they are(not)playingThe excuse given by club organisers is that they cannot afford a band,There are a few clubs where I can see a four or five piece band for an entrance fee of a fiver and I know of other clubs who take a fiver for a solo with tracks and in many cases a duo receive more money than a band. I was reminded by a club organiser that I should be attending clubs on a regular basis to help keep the music alive even if I don't like the entertainer.
Since the majority seem to be happy attending a club with a "backing track" singer there will soon be no "live " bands on the club scene.
Billy