Wednesday, February 27, 2002

SEATTLE: GOOD AT MOPPING UP?: Interesting piece from The Stranger about a singer in a marginally well-known Seattle band (and, before you ask, I have no idea who) who's been accused of rape. The writer Kathleen Wilson details how the local music scene has rallied to close ranks and protect the accused, but in order to raise the question as to why such community is never shown before things have spun out of control. I guess this is true of pretty much any local music scene - there's very little support on offer for people who are heading off the rails (and there are always a lot, music being an industry with an enormous amount of room for failiure, fucking-up and fears, with the added extras of public humiliation and easy-find drugs). Maybe this is something the organisations who attempt to develop music on local or regional bases could usefully be employed to do - rather than buy drums and undermine local promoters by putting on free showcases, why not work on providing some sort of "pastoral" support structure for local musicians? If, say, Merseyside is going to establish itself as a sight of musical talent, it might be a good idea to try and help that talent before it gets banged-up, bonged-off or bundled-up.
Community? [The Stranger] - for once, "no names" is used for some purpose other than the frission of "I know something you don't know"


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