Down On The Corner

By Paul Moffett

• Normally, August is a slow month, musically speaking, due in large part to the Kentucky State Fair, which sucks up a big chunk of the live music dollar. Not so this year - many, many acts are on the road, trying to build a circuit to earn enough to keep doing music (and avoiding a day job at the same time.) It's a measure of the state of the "music bidness," particularly the record business, where sales have been nearly in free-fall. We continue to watch these developments closely, hoping to see what is developing for the future. In the meantime, you, the music fan, have a surfeit of choices and at reasonable rates. Go forth and enjoy.

• In a related angle, here at LMN we get a lot of email CC'ed to us that is originally intended for the act's fans. Most of them urge their fans to "come out and support us," but never quite say why the fans should do that. It appears that the idea that fans should be entertained by an act has been lost in the struggle to "make it."

Perhaps some savvy musician might take note and return to the notion that his/her fundamental job is to entertain the audience rather than to present "art" (or whatever) that the fans should come out and admire. It might even engender results - what a concept: a live music show where the audience is there to be entertained, first and foremost. .

Naah - we're all artistes on this bus. .

• For this issue, several LMN writers got really carried away with their material and wrote much more than usual. Because I really didn't want to slash and burn their text just to make it fit the available space, this column will be shorter than usual. .

Have a pleasant August.

Codas

• Steven Thomas Emert, 37, died in Brandenburg, KY on Sunday, July 6. Emert was a bluegrass musician who was an original member of the Kentucky Ramblers. .

• Jay Ronald Wolfe died in New York New York on Sunday, July 6. He was a native of Louisville and a musician.