Jersey Mike

I often find myself in conversations with people that begin with something along the lines of “Man, I’m so bummed that the music scene sucks around here.”

Normally, this conversation is at a show that I’ve put on.

And usually, there is a nice, healthy-sized and enthusiastic crowd in front of the stage.

To which I rhetorically reply “What do you mean? I think it’s pretty good.”

And then the other end of the conversation rattles off some opinions about how great things usedta be…or what they could be if there were better clubs/bands/people/weather/etc, etc.

I was one of the subscribers to the notion that the Harrisburg music climate was lame. Cheezed out on top-forty cover bands and hobbyist garage rockers that play out once a month and at their company’s holiday party.

You see, when I moved to Harrisburg almost seven years ago (to the day), I absolutely hated it for what it isn’t.

It isn’t a hotbed of social or cultural inventiveness. It doesn’t have a big four year university that normally acts as an incubator for a thriving live band circuit. Shit, we only have one sushi place on Second Street.

Of course, we don’t have an all-ages venue like Chameleon or the 8×10 or The Silo.

But after about eighteen months of a furrowed brow and a shitty attitude, I realized that- if I wanted to make it past the age of thirty (I did) I’d have to change my outlook. And if I learned one thing from selling speakers out of a minivan in the nineties, it’s that attitude is everything.

(Don’t worry- I’m not about to get all Dale Carnegie on you.)

I began to ignore the things that Harrisburg isn’t and began to embrace what it is.

It is a Capitol city positioned on a glorious waterway chock full of amazing people with lofty visions and a hearty appetite for partying and imbibing. It is central to Philadelphia, Baltimore, State College, DC and even New York City. And we do have a smattering of decent places to see live music.

Now, what the venue bookers decide to do with their calendars is a different topic altogether.

When I began booking the music at Appalachian Brewing Company five years ago (!!!), the calendar was limping along. No digs against the former booker (Eric and I are chums), it’s just that booking music was only part of his job- along with managing a 50,000 sq foot building. I was hired strictly to book the music. So the focus was different.

And sure, for the first year, we trial-and-errored a mixture of genres and series’. For a good two years, we were pigeonholed as a “jamband room”. Which wasn’t wholly incorrect. But at the time, jambands were bringing the crowds. But for the past three years, I’d like to think that we’ve developed a fairly robust programming schedule that hits on all of the bases- everything from Folk to Hip Hop, Indie Rock to Electronica.

And yes, if I may toot my own horn for a moment, I’d like to think that we’ve enhanced the nightlife options for show goers of the Greater Harrisburg Area.

So when someone says to me “Man, the music scene is really lame around here” – I take a mild amount of offense.

Look at the demographics- we’ve only got 47,000 people in Harrisburg-proper. Barely a quarter-million in the immediate surrounding areas. And it’s a heavy government-employer region. Many of the 25-35 year olds who do go out aren’t accustomed to seeing a new band that they haven’t heard of or isn’t played ad nauseum on terrestrial radio. So that works against us as well.

So what are we left with?

Plenty.

All things considered, there are plenty of great bands playing great shows to great crowds- considering what we’ve got to work with. If there are 100 people out on a Friday or Saturday night to see a band at Gullifty’s or ABC or Dragonfly, everyone would say that show is a success.

And why not? Certainly, if that show was in Philly or Baltimore or even State College, expectations would be much higher.

I had unattainably high expectations for this little city when I began in this business back in early 2002. And it would anger me to no-end when there’d be so many shows where nobody comes out. But I’ve always believed that attitude (and perspective) is everything.

Now don’t get me wrong- I’m not implying you should lower your expectations by any means. Sure, shoot for the moon. Keep your eye on the prize, etc.

But don’t expect something that just isn’t there to begin with.

Do the best with what you’ve got.

Here’s one more quick example: this past weekend, we presented Cracker at ABC. Probably the biggest band that we’ve ever done. 20 year career. Millions of units sold. Immeasurable amount of airplay. And they were coming to play the little ole Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company. My production partner and I battled over what we’d bring in for a PA system. I told him “Dude, don’t worry. We’ll just have to do the best with what we have to work with.” But it wasn’t enough. I thought he was going to choke me on more than one occasion. (He still may)

In his mind, our production budget was half of what it should have been. I told him that more money simply was not an option and that we’d have to get the best that we could for the budget allowed. Weeks went by where we grappled over who to contract and what to bring. And in the end, we went with Now Hear This Audio with Ed Pennypacker and Dave Neale at the helm. The support staff was Chile (my production guy), Bob “Zouba” Hooker, Jake and Jason of The April Skies (our back up/crowd control/runners), Mike Zinn on lights,  and myself at the steering wheel. In the end, we had a gigantic PA system, a blank room that could hold four hundred people and a multi-million selling iconic recording artist coming in to rock the party.

And you know what?

It couldn’t have went any better.

Sure, we’re not Philly, Baltimore or DC. We don’t have any all-ages, strictly-music venues. And Harrisburg might not be at the top of the priority list for many A-List bands.

But we’ve got great people, tons of passion and enough knowledge to make the sweetest and most refreshing lemonade out of the Lemon Tree known as Harrisburg.

I was sixteen years old when Cracker’s Kerosene Hat was released.

Low was all over the radio.

And when my friends Mike Voorhees, Charlie Russo and Brian Lescavage and I would drive around in my Mom’s minivan after school listening to mix tapes, someone would always groan when that snare drum hit and the guitar kicked in for that unforgettable opening to the song.

“Gee…who made the radio mix?”

You see, it was sort of taboo to put a bands “radio song” on a mix tape. Mix tapes weren’t supposed to be full of the stuff you could hear on K-Rock or WNEW. They were supposed to be chock-full of the deep cuts. The stuff that only real fans knew. The goodness that came on around track three on side two. No “Feed The Tree” from Belly. No “Cannonball” by The Breeders. And blaspheme the fellow who dared include “Killing in The Name Of” by Rage Against The Machine.

It was supposed to be “Full Moon, Empty Heart” and “Saints” and “Wake Up”.

This past Saturday night- when Cracker launched into Low, I was on the deck having a cigarette with some new and old friends. But I heard that snare hit even through the glass door leading outside. And I immediately extinguished my butt. And went inside…stood in the back of the near-capacity crowd…and reveled in the fact that sixteen years after Charlie, Mike and Brian groaned when I put Cracker’s “radio song” on my mixtape, they were here…playing their hit in my venue and- even knowing that the song had become part of the bands collective muscle-memory some fifteen years prior-  it still gave me chills.

“I’ll be with you girl,  like being low…hey! hey! hey! like being STONED!”

You see, had I told Charlie, Mike or Brian some sixteen years ago that “some day, Cracker is going to play a small club that I’m going to book when I’m in my thirties” they probably would have laughed at me.

Hell, I would have laughed at me.

But this show that we did last Saturday wasn’t just another band playing another night at The Abbey Bar.

Sure, it was to celebrate the venue/restaurant/brewery’s twelfth anniversary. And it was a party.

But it was sort of a testament…a personal achievement for me.

It took me back. Back to my youth, to a time when all I had to worry about was washing dishes at Samson Catering on The Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights and then, on Fridays, spending my paycheck at Music Merchant across the street.

I spent part of a paycheck on a Kerosene Hat cassette.

And this past Saturday, Cracker gave me personal redemption for putting their radio song on my mix tape.

And no, I’m not talking about freeing all of the imprisoned white guys…

This Saturday, May 30 2009 is Appalachian Brewing Company’s 12th Anniversary Bash.

And if you’ve been paying attention over the past five years, you should know that ABC’s Anniversary Fest is one of the biggest parties of the year- right up there with BeerFest and New Years.

Last year, we did a free show with Mike Doughty; 2007 saw The Hold Steady wrap a line around the building and up the ante for EVERY show that we do; before that was Lake Trout and 2005 was a free show with Lotus.

This year, friends, we bring you 90’s icons Cracker performing what’s all-but-guaranteed to be another capacity show- so be sure to get there early!

The day begins at 4PM on Walnut Street (adjacent to the building) where the Brew Crew cooks up a fantastic, All-American barbecue and the soon-to-be-infamous Outhouse Races commence. Dynamic DJ Duo The Thing With Two Heads rocks the ones-and-twos for the outdoor, afternoon portion of the day.

At 7:30, doors to The Abbey Bar open with more rock from TTWTH, and support sets from Chicago’s Backyard Tire Fire and a quickie acoustic jaunt by our new favorite-songstress Casse Langford.

And finally, at around 9:45, Cracker brings the hits-

It’s a free show.

It goes all day.

And it’s all rock.

…shut your mouth and start this minute.

Twenty seven days til’ CRACKER at ABC

(Oh, and it’s FREE)