The Death of Palatable music in Central Arkansas ! The Rise of Crap!
Ok ! Time to rant about what to me seems to be a conspiracy to kill anything that is harder than what would be heard on American Idol here in Central Arkansas. Many venues are bowing to this trend due to the fact that there seem to be many people who don't like heavier music, but I feel there is also an equal number of people who enjoy music with real artistry and not just those that learned tunes from Rock Band or Guitar Hero. Is it that our system thinks that we are more rebellious or unkind than those who listen to other forms of music ? They would surely be wrong as I can attest to a great many people in a group I belong to and consider my family and I will be with them Memorial Day weekend at one of the greatest parties where everyone gets along like brother and sister. I can think of no greater example of this than the family I have from Rocklahoma and the bands I have had the privilege of working with. To name a few, I can start with my brother Kevin Graham who has nothing but kindness and compassion in his heart and will protect all of us in the RoK family as his own, then there is Curtis Hoyte Yancey and his lovely wife Valerie who are the nicest people you will ever meet. On to my friend Johnny D who I enjoy talking to so much because he and I both see the struggles with music and the pain that bands feel here in Central Arkansas. Mike DePetrillo from Dryver is another example of a man with strong values and excellent wisdom and also a very nice person. This could go on forever but I will drop some names here to show that you who judge our tastes in music and think we are evil are wrong. Shout outs to Jimmy Short, Valerie Hill, Molly Lays, Natal John, Christy Gross, Melissa Fair, Scha Miller, Donna Vernon, Joe Calhoun, Todd Lee, Travesty Davis, and to one whom I have never met in person but respects me and is always there if I need him, Randall Kane. All of these people are metalheads and are all family, have families, and we are not evil, we just enjoy good, awesome music and not that which is forced down our throats by the powers that be. That list of family can go on to the tune of 5,000 plus members all of whom are good people. We were all there when two boys vanished from the festival last year and upon learning they were missing, many of us lost many hours of sleep trying to determine what happenend to them. Countless hours of myself and others scrubbing video footage and looking at pictures, volunteers searching areas in and around the venue, support from others in the form of money for volunteers for gas, water, supplies or delivering supplies. So, you see that while you may judge us by the music we listen to, you would be wrong in your assumptions because 5,000 plus people came together to search and find two boys that many of us had never met or even knew. Take heed of this Central Arkansas, while the metal is thriving in OK, TX and RoK seems like it is approaching a sellout this year, there is talent here but they are choosing to go to other areas because you are afraid to book them because of the status quo and that you make less money if you go outside the accepted norm. Remember what real music is, not this fabricated crap that many of the status quo want, remember your roots and support real music. If truth be known, many of the bands you will not book play the same type of music that got you started in your aspirations to have your own venue. I suspect this is why one of our favorite places for music shut down this past year, I suspect that the lease or some permits were not allowed to be renewed and thus forcing the music out of the area where they want the status quo stuff and not what was their norm ! Yes, I am talking about Juanita's, something fishy there about the whole thing. The Rivermarket area is the hangout of bankers and realtors and just the usual 9-5 office workers that follow the media and social standards at every turn, so why would the city want Juanita's to remain there ? The majority of those who cause hell in society come from these status quo groups and not from the metal music or non-American Idol viewers. I could go on about the evils that these groups of people perpetrate upon many of us who they believe are below their level, but the bottom line and point of this was to make the venues in Central Arkansas wake up and realize, we are not the enemy as consumers of metal music, they are in bed with the enemy or those who listen to what is just pure rubbish. As I end this rant, I must make one final mention of a man who devotes his every waking moment and would give his last breath to keep metal alive much as I do and the others that are too numerous to mention ! A big shout out to Jay Kohl of MF Metal Music for all he does for metal ! UP THE HORNS !! \m/
