OK...this is Bill, from PKN; as I put this together let me give you my take:
1. The concept.
a.I hemmed and hawed about selecting this venue; but it\'s hard to have a place to do a show that works for this type of event. Reason I chose it was it\'s a nice theatre that was reasonable on rent and was available.
b. Most halls that serve alcohol won\'t do a benefit like this.
c. WPKN is a station that has some reach (more watts than your avg. college station) that remains an outlet for artists. It\'s not a corporate entity that only plays 30 songs a day of major recording artists. It\'s a unique entity that is open to the community, has earned some respect over its 30+ year existence and has been 100% listener supported for the past 15+ years with no govt., corporate, or any money with strings attached. That said I am completely about giving new artists air-time and exposure to audiences they may not normally reach, bands like The Cosmic Jibaro\'s and of course The Breakfast. There are other places to get good music from; many of the local college stations have some great programs, there are a few good npr stations like WFUV around depending on where you live, and some good sounds on the internet and even satellite to some extent. But still WPKN has a uniqueness and independence that is very rare on the radio dial and we\'re fortunate to have that here in CT.
D. I think many people have a mistaken belief that WPKN is for old people; just folk and jazz or whatever. This by far is not the case, you just have to take some time and get to know the station and when you\'d like to listen. So I am trying to reach out to the younger audiences with shows like this as well so if they haven\'t heard it they go and explore it.
E. I\'d like to continue doing shows like this into the future with other artists, bringing some fun music into the area and putting it in venues that people feel comfortable. (not hassled)
2. The Edmond Town Hall Scene...
a. Re-entry is allowed.
b. There will be no heavy searches going on...to my knowledge there will be no searches.
c. There is no smoking...
d. Newtown, Rt. 25, is safe as long as you use your head, practice common sense and aren\'t being stupid about it I seriously doubt there will be any hassles for anyone.
e. there are bars in the area so come down early and have a few drinks or whatever.
Regardless of how sober or intoxicated one may be this will be a great night of music, as long as people turn out for it. Not sure how many people will turn up for this event, I took a chance on it and hope it will be good. If a few hundred + people show up I\'ll consider it a success and I\'ll be able to do it or something like this again. If not, I probably will go with more conservative bands...by that I mean, ones that will definitely have a good draw at this type of venue. While this is a benefit show there are still costs...if you get my drift. Only the proceeds go to supporting the station. The bands get paid, the venue gets paid, the sound co. gets paid, there are promotional and advertising costs...if there\'s anything left over it will go to paying the bills at the station.
As far as video taping and recording, it would be a great place to do it as was suggested...normally I have the equipment available and do this at events and then we use them for rebroadcast. They are being used for another event in NYC that evening so I will be relying on tapers etc. So if anyone is recording the show please contact me or come see me at the show.
Focus on the music and have some fun, I gaurantee (except for the lack of availabilty of alcohol on site) that it will be a good space to see and enjoy a show. For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Cosmic Jibaros I would encourage you to take a chance and come early to see them! They are very good musicians, several of the players this evening are formely from Deep Banana Blackout and the percussion section lays down some serious rhythms. Not sure how to describe them, they\'re a modern latin rock band that incorporates some old style with the new...sort of a Santana meets Ozomatli meets Los Lobos...if one can really compare bands.
Also, one final note. This Friday from 2-6pm leading up to the show I\'ll be playing music from both bands...Tim Palmieri will be coming in for a live interview, maybe some acoustic numbers. Also Fuzz (formely of DBB) & Carrie will be their from Rolla, to chat and perform a bit.
http://www.rollaband.comTune in, 89.5FM or online at
http://www.wpkn.org.
Hope that covers it...see you at the show, email me with any questions or concerns I\'ll try to get back to you!
