Recently I had made a post on Facebook regarding someone
inviting me to attend a Trop Rock festival concert up in Tampa, an eight hour drive,
so that I could watch someone else play. I had to have a little fun with this
one. I posted that was akin to taking a race horse to a race so he could watch
the other horse’s race.
I had little doubt that I was just on a mailing list and by
happenstance, I ended up as a recipient of the invitation. However, I enjoyed
the analogy, as it was both funny and accurate at the same time.
Jim Jowsey, who is the program director at The Shore radio
in New York, one of the carriers of both of our podcasts, made a very good
observation about it all however. Jim
suggested that because I’m involved in so many different promotional aspects of
Trop Rock, perhaps some people are not aware that I’m also a
songwriter/musician. That was an eye opener!
Just to set the record on that straight:
1 1)
First and foremost I am a songwriter and a
musician
2 2) As a songwriter, I’ve been published in
Nashville since 2000 with McClure & Trowbridge
3 3) My first Trop Rock song was written in 1994 “Wahoo
Sunrise”.. twenty one years ago.
Regarding what Jim suggested, I suppose it’s a risk that I
have to take. I’m not going to change. Perhaps I do need to fine tune some
things however? I’ll figure it out! Thanks Jim!
In all things that I’ve been passionate about, I’ve always
felt the most important thing to do is to share it with others. In doing so,
there will always be a certain percentage of people that fall into the interest.
Some will be gun-ho, others eighty percent, fifty percent, thirty percent, so
on and so forth. In some cases people will not embrace my passion at all. That’s
okay too! If someone gives it a try and it’s not for them, hey, at least they
tried it! You have to love people who are willing to look at something and give
it a shot, especially if it goes against their personal grain!
For myself it’s always been prevalent with beer and music. I
also have a love for various types of auto racing, but a sport is something
that is much of a chore in exposing someone to, so it’s a matter of diminished
return for the time invested. Beer and music, on the other hand are just the
opposite!
It is so rewarding when someone kindles an interest you may
not have ever known existed. It’s likewise just as fun being the person who
starts that fire. In both cases, it brings like-minded people together.
In my mind, it’s very, very important to give back to the
whole genre that you are working in, if one expects it to grow. I see so many
performers all about promoting themselves. Frankly, I get that. It’s the number
one responsibility they have to themselves! No argument there at all.
The thing is, so few ever get to the number two responsibility! There are so many that are so wound up with the
number one responsibility, that they don’t even know there is a number two responsibility!
Let’s take a look at the beer side of this equation, for a
moment. I recently bought into a bar, but long before that I was involved as a
patron, and saw things from that perspective. How about we use the Key West
Beer Festival as an example? I see this all the time however. On Sunday we had representatives
from all sorts of breweries at The Cork and Stogie. We carry over sixty beers.
A rep from say, Lagunitas Brewing, orders a Cigar City Brewing Jai Alai IPA.
Not only is he/she drinking it, but they are also heaping it with praise, left
and right. They are wearing a Lagunitas shirt, so everyone knows who they are
and what they represent, yet they are all over someone else’s beer telling
everyone in the bar how good it is! If it’s not Laganitas, it might be someone
from Anderson Valley doing the same thing with Bell’s, or someone from Biscayne
Bay Brewing praising the beer from Sweetwater, while they are all excited about
MIA’s beers!
Does that strike you as being odd? Where’s the competition atmosphere
anyway? Aren’t they supposed to be duking it out with each other in an alley
next to the bar, as one would expect reps from Budweiser and Miller to be
doing? Not in their minds. Their philosophy is the entire antithesis of the
Budweiser VS Miller crew.
Now let’s compare that with Trop Rock musicians. Overall, 90+%
of Trop Rock musicians are all about promoting themselves. As I mentioned
earlier, that is their first priority. However, as I also mentioned earlier,
that’s all they do. Everything with that ninety something percent is “ME! ME!
ME!”. They only thing they talk about is
themselves. “I’m doing this and I’m doing that. I’ll be here this week and
there next week. Today I’m out on my boat, beautiful day!” While these things
are essential in being a public figure, they are not promoting the roller
coaster that they are riding on.
Where is Trop Rock going? That’s a question I have a feeling
that most Trop musicians aren’t willing to address.
How about we look at a statistic. I am acquainted with
someone in the media, and specifically he works with a television station. In
this capacity he has easy access to statistics on virtually anything. He does a
good amount of work in the Trop Rock industry as well. I was at a gig and asked
him if he ever looked into the stats on how many Trop Rock fans existed in the
world today. His response was immediate and to the point. From the moment that
I finished my question to the point of his direct answer was what we call in
music, a “quarter note”. “Two Million” was his answer. I was surprised pleasantly by the number.
Next is the big question regarding that number: Is it two
million and counting, two million and holding, or two million and dwindling? At
the moment, our most optimistic outlook is that it’s holding. We’re picking up
around the same amount of new fans as we are losing fans. That’s on a good day.
There are bad days as well.
Okay, with that in mind, let’s go back to our friendly
brewers! In the late 1970’s there were 200 breweries in the United States.
About that time there were a few microbreweries around, the first having been
Anchor in San Francisco, which was an eleventh hour financial rescue by a
college student named Fritz Maytag in 1965. A little less than ten years later,
other breweries started popping up, unquestionably inspired by Anchor’s
products. By the late 1970’s you could most likely count the amount of
microbreweries on your fingers.
By the end of 2015/2016 there are expected to be 5000
breweries in the United States. That’s 4,800 more than there were in the late
1970’s!
Read that again please: 4,800 MORE than in the late 1970’s.
How did they do it?
They did it by doing something that is pretty much not being
done in the Trop Rock industry. If you recall, in the Trop Rock (and music in
general) field it’s “Me! Me! Me! Promotion”.
What the new brewers did was, in addition to promoting
themselves individually they equally promoted the Microbrew/Craft Beer industry!
Remember above the individual reps from unrelated breweries
heaping praise on one another’s beers? They worked together, from individual
standpoints in promoting the industry itself. Four thousand eight hundred breweries
later, I think calling it a success is a vast understatement.
Lets put it in another perspective: Ten years ago craft beer (then known as micro-brews) amounted to .2% of the beer sales in the U.S. Today it's at 11%. Hello. That's a 5,400% increase!
Can Trop Rock musicians do something along the same lines?
Of course they can!
Here’s what I’ve been doing and maybe it will give some
others ideas on what they can do? After all, we’ve got that creative gene, don’t
we? ;-)
1)
I write this blog as often as I can. Sometimes
it’s music, sometimes Key West/Keys happenings. However it’s always something
of interest to those who follow our genre and participate in the lifestyle, be
it local, or vicariously. As of this moment, we have 126,593 views.
2)
I started the beer show when DK and Amo
approached me about doing a segment on their show Island Time Radio a few years
ago. It’s still running! Along with all of their other weekly guests, it
promotes Trop Rock’s lifestyles. Our crew has expanded as well with Dani Hoy who
is both a personality on the show, as well as the editor.
4)
At The same time Dani Hoy and I started the
music podcast, we started a music show “The Key West Music Show – Conch Rockin’
in the Keys”, which focuses on music both made and played in the Keys. We
promote both local artists and visiting artists. The show is carried on all of
the same stations that the beer show is. IT IS UP FOR A TRMA AWARD!!!
5)
Publishing a book, “Bar Stories”, under the name
and definition of “Key West Chris Rehm, Trop Rock songwriter, musician,
performer, and author.
6)
I recently bought into The Cork and Stogie Bar
in Key West (1218 Duval St.). We have had one Trop Rock Station broadcast from
there (Tiki Island) and have another (Radio A1A) scheduled for MOTM Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday (November 6,7, 8)
7)
Bartending With Boris mixed drink videos. Entirely
ridiculous videos which promote everything Key West, with a slant angled at
Trop Rock in most videos.
8)
Started a Facebook page to help encourage the
growth and development of the Trop Rock genre.
So those are a few of the things that we do here in Key West
to help promote Trop Rock itself, from many angles. The bottom line is if we
can all focus on Trop Rock growing, across the board we all have a better genre
to work within.
The radio stations, most of which are a labor of love, will
actually flourish.
More business for promoters
Performers will fatten their bank accounts.
Think about it. It's entirely possible that the shows that Dani and I do, could actually be putting more people in a show in say, California all because someone heard us and said "I have to check out this Trop Rock music I've been hearing about!".
At the end of the day, performers have to realize that they
are just another fish in the water. If they want the water filled with plankton,
it’s their responsibility to fertilize the harvest.
Let’s all take the example that the brewing industry has
laid on the table, as an example of what a marvelous cornucopia can be had with
the right focus. They went from 200 to 5000 breweries, working collectively in
the same direction.
Your number two responsibility is promoting the entire genre!
What can you do for number two?
Give it some thought: What can you do to help the industry
grow?
It's good karma.
Trop Rock can grow, just as the craft beer grew (and continues to to so). It can be done!
