An Open Letter to Blues News on 
The State Of Blues Venues For S.A. Bands and Inherent Problems
A Musician's Perspective.

I've been asked recently by fellow musicians, industry people and punters alike, exactly what is the problem with the gigs and numbers in blues venues this year...and having managed my own band since it's inception, as well as being a player in the music industry for the past 34 years, I feel compelled and qualified to answer this problematical question, there are unfortunately, many points to consider.

Firstly, there are simply too many blues and blues/rock bands for a city the size of Adelaide, ranging in calibre from the mediocre to the magnificent. there is just not enough genuine blues rooms in the metropolitan or country areas. This conundrum allows the publicans, promoters, agents and venues to adopt a dismissive (and in many cases, appalling) attitude towards artists or bands trying to book gigs. Some of these attitudes range from poorly paid venues (starting at $250:00 a night for a band - what a joke), to the "Don't call me today, call me next week" syndrome through to the classic "Leave your number, I'll call you back", which of course rarely, if ever happens, to the "Bugger off, if you don't like your money we'll get someone else who'll work cheaper", knowing full well that they can and will.

Secondly, the time has come for the blues bands in this State to show some solidarity and unity, and refuse to work for or under some of these detestable treatments. For example, we could have a base rate, and refuse to work under that rate. This would not allow any band to shaft their contemporaries by working for less (as some who shall remain nameless...they know who they are...do), causing a domino effect by making other bands work cheaper to compete. I know we are in a highly competitive industry, times are tough, we are all in there pitching for our own outfits, but there must be some form of unification put in place somehow.

Thirdly, the worst aspect of the shabby treatment casually handed out to bands in this State is the 'cancellation factor'. This insidious practice is where the venue operator/publican books a band in good faith for a day and date six to twelve weeks in advance, but then, a week or less prior to the booked and confirmed gig, just because their business is down or for a myriad of other excuses, cancels the publicised gig. This sets up what I call a 'double whammy' effect on the band which instantly loses the income it has budgeted on from the gig (to say nothing of the money wasted on phone calls, posters and promo packs already given to the venue operators, etc). When the gig was initially booked, if the bands had any idea they were dealing with a 'suss' venue, they could have booked an alternative gig at another venue, thereby protecting their income when the 'suss' venue blew out, avoiding a painful financial body-blow. Unfortunately, there is no effective way of telling a 'suss' venue from a good one until it happens, and then it's too late. As I've stated previously, the reasons for these cancellations are many and varied, from the sublime to the ridiculous and IT HAS TO STOP. Cancellations of this nature are not allowed to happen in any other industry.....imagine the boss at a day job saying "Sorry boys, had a tough week, I'm not paying you". Yeah right!

To all the blues bands - there is no secret recipe for getting gigs. Simply persistence, hard work, and more persistence, and in closing I'd like to point out that 1998 was a far better year crowd wise than 1999 has been so far. There has been a decline and general malaise throughout the blues rooms in '99, why.....I don't know, but here's hoping for a revitalised 2000 and beyond.

John 'Haff' Haffert