My Music Town
“So close”
That should be the city of Harrisburg’s tagline.
“We are so close to Baltimore. We are so close to Philly. We are so close to Pittsburgh, NYC and DC”
And to go even further….we are so close to having a competent administration. We are so close…well, not really, to having our city finances in order…with that, we’re pretty far off.
Swing and a miss.
One thing we’re not very far off on is the viability of Harrisburg being branded as a full-on music city. Not unlike Asheville, NC or Austin, TX-
Sure, we’ve only got 46,000 (and dropping) residents where other cities that have multiple venues boast populations in the six-digit range, by comparison, I think that we’re pretty well satisfied, musically.
Considering our “tertiary” status in the eyes of the major booking agencies, we still do pretty okay with getting good names through town.
This past weekend sounds like it was pretty rockin’ on all accounts. Sunday night had four bands doing a fundraiser for Haiti- Koji, A Public Betrayal, the brand-new In Wilderness and Wade Yankey played to a capacity crowd at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. The night before, The Greatest Funeral Ever had a solid showing at the HMAC while we had a capacity crowd at The Abbey Bar for Pan.A.Ce.A, …soihadto… and East Hundred from Philly. Out in the reaches, Malone’s on Derry was jumping on Thursday for Adam Ezra and on Friday for Mark Santanna. Add to that all of the Morgan’s Place, Brewhouse Grille, Pep Grill and other downtown spots hosting acoustic music, there was, seriously, something for everyone.
Our venue choices are growing as well. You see, when I started in this business six years ago, all that anyone would talk about is how great things “usedta” be with the Metron and The Vault and concerts on City Island. Today, however, we’ve got the Whitaker Center (despite a current lag in relevant shows on their calendar, I’ve got faith that will change), we’ve got the bar shows in and around the area, we’ve got the questionably-attained-from-the-city HMAC (we’re an arts center, er…music venue, er…pool hall) who, despite the drunken-ways of John Traynor seems to be a place that the kids like going and, of course, The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company. (Don’t worry, I won’t leave my self out of the zing-ing. I’ve joked that they should change the name to Appalachian Banquet Company with all of the private parties that get booked in there….and I realize how long it can take to get a beer on the busy nights).
But this isn’t about me.
Harrisburg doesn’t have an identity. York is almost synonymous with Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Lancaster is known for how butter-churningly-Amish they are (but still rock shit at the Chameleon Club) and Reading…well, reading has that murder-rate thing going for them.
So why, with all of the winds of change blowing in this city, have we not begun thinking about branding ourselves?
Population is dropping. Businesses are fleeing for the suburbs. Crack dealers and prostitutes are just as plentiful as construction-hustlers. And we finally got what we wanted with the removal of Reed from office.
So? Where’s the change?
If the Thompson Administration wants to do some good in this “sit-tee” then they better start making a gameplan. Because they clearly didn’t have one going into office. So here’s my suggestion – brand and market Harrisburg as a music-hotbed of the midstate. Blast it out there. Make it “our thing” because, even though I just rattled off a half dozen venues and great bands in the area, I left a lot out. I don’t even know what goes on up on the hill, but I’m sure there’s music up in those parts. So then Linda doesn’t have to feel like she’s turning her back on anyone.
This city is “so close” to being attractive. It’s like, if you saw that pretty girl but she was wearing an ugly sweater…she’d still be good looking if she took that ugly sweater off. So, there you go, Harrisburg. Take off that ugly sweater and make us look good. So good that ALL the boys will want us. They’ll be lining up to bring us flowers and chocolate and get into our…
You get my point.
Harrisburg needs ideas? There’s one. Now you can’t say that I never contributed anything.
Certainly, if this were to occur, something would need to be done about the amusement tax. But with a budget that’s seven figures in the red, what’s a couple hundred thousand more in the name of progress?