One thing I will say for the Indianapolis music scene, there
certainly is a lot of it. When I first looked into doing this podcast,
I had done a little research and concluded that there were around 3700
bands in the Indianapolis area (both original and cover). As I
approach the release of Episode #50 (and prepare to schedule recording
for Episode #75), I'm starting to realize that this was only scratching
the surface. Not only had I woefully neglected to include surrounding
towns (Greenwood, Bloomington, Lafayette, Muncie) into my calculations,
but I had also assumed that in 2005 every band had made their way onto
the Internet where I could find them, which was most-certainly not
the case. My informal, unscientific research now leads me to believe
that the number of individual musical acts (solo and band) is almost
double my original estimate.
This leads to some interesting, though completely pointless, statistical axioms. It is said that one in four people meet the criteria for having a mental illness. The average band has four people. There may be as many as 7000 bands in the area. There are a little over two million people in the nine-county area.
So, obviously there is room to expand the number of bands in the metro
area, as there are still 493,000 potential drummers out there. I don't
know about you, but I'm buying stock in Zildjian next week.
By my own personal account,
I've sampled about a quarter of the bands in the area, averaging maybe
three per week (more on some weeks as the monthly Battle of the Bands
that I judge usually affords me eight new acts in one night alone). In
addition there are the myriad submissions, recommendations, and stuff I
find while aimlessly searching around the various music sites around
the web. Therefore, it should be no surprise that I glossed over
Branch Gordon twice in the past two years before finally
seeing the light after catching him in person at an open mic night.
The first was a personal recommendation from a mutual friend of ours
after his first EP, Under the Fluorescent Lights, was released. I
listened to it, thought it was pretty good stuff, then filed it away in
that folder where I keep all kinds of things I intend to one day
revisit, but never get around to. The second was from local music
promoter, Kolo Bell, who made me write Branch's name down and promise
to check his stuff out the next time I sat down to a computer. That sat
in a memo stored on my cell phone for several months, along with a few
other to-do items like a grocery list from 2006 and some passwords to
various clients' networks I used to maintain three jobs ago.
The
point of that story, and indeed of this podcast, is to ensure that you,
dear listener, do not make the same mistakes I did. Branch is a
wonderful, exciting contributor to our local music scene, and with the
release of his first complete EP -- and a full CD in the works --
hopefully moving on to even bigger things in the future.
Special thanks to Claude and Annie's in Fishers
for the hospitality, and the free beer (Yes -- for those of you who
have received a copy of the "Indy In-Tune Venue Marketing Services"
proposal --this is what we call a
"shout out," not that I wouldn't endorse them anyway.)
Branch Plays with his father, Lance, in the cover band Shoes and Strings.
Our contests continue. If you would like to win one of ten free Jeremiah Cosner CD's, simply log in with or create your profile on our web site and submit your name on the contests page. The drawing will be made on September 1, winners will be notified via email.
Indy In-Tune is proud to be a co-sponsor of the 8 Seconds Saloon Rock Battle. Come out and hear the next heat Friday August 21st at 7:00 PM.
We hope to see everyone at our annual Podcast Marathon at this year's Kammy's Kause.
Come out and see a dozen or so really great bands in a picturesque outdoor
setting, Friday and Saturday, August 28th and 29th at the American
Legion campground in Fortville, Indiana.
Fellow Indy podcast Crossroad Resonances (MySpace | Web Site)
is sponsoring the September to Remember on September 11th and 12th.
For details and a list of bands being featured, check out their show.
Yeah, the rumors are true. "Podcast Studio B" is becoming "Radio Studio B" as Indy In-Tune shifts from podcast-centric programming to live 24x7 streaming right to you phone, desktop, and Internet radio receiver. Click here to get details on how you can get your music played.
