Hi folks,
As most of you will know, our AGM got postponed at this years Boxstock due to time constraints (ie trying to cram as much as possible in to the day), so we'll be holding a virtual AGM right here.
As with a real life AGM, the floor is open, so please voice any thoughts, questions or ideas right here. As this is a closed group only HGMC members can get involved.
If you wish to volunteer to help run the HGMC, this is the time and the place to make yourself heard. Roles up for the taking are Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. Even if you can not commit fully, a little help would go a long way.
Likewise, if you have any skills or contacts that you think may help move us forwards, let us know and we'll find /create a role just for you!
The floor is yours ladies and gents.....
RM
Replies
My first Boxstock, only built my guitar in the Barnsley workshop a month or so before. I was looking to learn more and be inspired - achieved both those aims. Great workshops, though it was a little hard to find out where and when a couple were - just a board with times on would have been handy - it could be altered through the day as stuff overran. Seemed to be a lot of new guitars made, guess one aim for the next one would be to attract all these people back to the more intermediate workshops such as those run this year by Chickenbone John and Hollowbelly - both of which were excellent. Maybe those in the know could be persuaded to do a few demonstrations - fretting seems a rather black art, I'd be interested to watch someone at work - not a workshop as such.
One thing that struck me on Saturday night was the number of people who left at the end of Dave Acari's slot. I guess from what's been said above that he was the more mainstream act, to attract the non CBG crowd and keep the venue happy. Were that done again, maybe have such an act on last, to keep the numbers up. Have to say I loved BB and BMH, it seemed a shame the room was relatively empty by then.
Friday night was great fun, from the hangover I had next morning we must have got local prices cos I'm a tight git and wouldn't pay 4.50 a pint! All in all a great weekend, thanks to all involved and, intrigued by the hints you've dropped, looking forward to future events.
Jim
Now then - any volunteers to take the helm of the HGMC?? Any thoughts on where we should be taking things as a group, not just regarding Boxstock?
Answers on a postcard please to....
I attended Ealing Blues Festival this Summer (formerly Ealing Jazz Festival), being a baking hot weekend for a change (usually rains!) it was packed out on both days - the music, all Blues standards impeccably played on expensive Strats, was the same as the year before, and the year before that...ad inf....
Would be nice chance for HGMC to liven things up a bit, i could try and get in touch with the Ealing Blues Mafia ....er, nice people there and find NoTone a slot, no-one's ever really heard of people playing home-made instruments before round here, people are always extremely surprised when i tell them about CBG's, if HGMC can crack the 50 mile thick walls surrounding London they can go anywhere! (-:
I met some researchers from Harrow Council recently asking how they could liven things up in the musically dull area where i live, and suggested the idea of a Harrow Blues Festival - they were quite shocked when i told them i had to travel 60 - 200 miles to find a lively local music scene going on!
There is one Pub here that only does Tribute bands, most of the few remaining Pubs restaurants don't do live music/open mic at all or are too small to hold more than a few punters...and buskers are moved on by Security... Blue Meanies! (-;
Piggy-backing on an exisiting fest makes sense. We have approached various events, from local park fairs to Glasto, but being relatively new and niche, we have met a little resistance. Our fest / event CV is growing though, and we hope to run more events this year, si its only a metter of time....
Is this an offer to run an event then Steve, with help and support from us if required....? :o)
"run" is a big word for me, piggy backing sounds like a possibilty, i'll look into it certainly - hoping my sales skills will come in handy! (-;
If anything promising comes out of my endeavours you will be the first to know Ben (-:
Hi Ben,
I personally didn't like the venue much...the upstairs sales stalls seemed out of it and the drinks were a bit on the expensive side but not as bad as the Salutation who were operating two prices, one rip off price for us and a cheaper price for the locals, I think this is totally wrong considering we filled the place...£9 for 2 ciders!!!
I agree with Soul & Steve, another open mic in the day time would be great, those 2 guy's who did the lunchtime set were good, but they had nothing really in common with CBG scene .
Maybe next time you could give the UK's Home Grown talent a chance to shine ... The likes of HB,Stumble Col, Brickdust & Pyno,Jez Longshanks, Belinda, Lost Tone, Leadfoot, Yellowbelly Flat are all fanastic live CBG acts... with the right venue ( a big pub with out-buildings & some land ) you could create a real festival atmosphere, a true gathering of the CGB clan...mixing sales stalls with cheaper food & drink stalls, 2 or more stages so we have acts playing all day thru to a late night log fire jam session .
This years bill was really good but for me there was no Ben Prestige Wow!! moment.... last year he really raised the bar for Boxstock headliners, in my opinion his performance gave the great SSS a run for his money.This year it was always going to be difficult to follow that up in fact I'm not sure you can so why not try something different something more home grown.... The learning and building sessions are always good but other than the Friday open mic the weekend didn't have much of a Home Grown feel to it...which is what I thought HGMC & Boxstock was all about. This CBG scene has born some great new talent...why not give em the stage.
It's a cheaper option all round but I think it could work.
Sorry if I've rambled on a bit but these are my honest thoughts and observations,I may have read it all wrong and if I have let me know.
Keep Rockin!!
Kev.
...aiming to be another fantastic live CBG act myself... next year! (-;
Thanks for your thoughts Kev - nothing to misread here, an honest view is what we're after!
To paint a picture - in past years Boxstock has pretty much broken even, but never really made any money. It has also not really increased in terms of attendance - On average we have 50 folk in for the day sessions, and 80ish for the evening. This year we made a decision to try and break it out to a bigger audience, and to improve the evening numbers. To do this we booked extra artists, some more mainstream than usual, and employed a pro postering company. I also did several radio interviews, and we got a double page feature in the Manchester Evening News. This all resulted in the room feeling, I think, pretty busy for the gig. We had approx 150 in, and there were a lot o folk there who were not from the cigar box hardcore. From that point of view, I reckon we were succesful.
The move was also part of the plan. While the Public has been good to us, we felt it time to move to a proper music venue. The benefits are many - better sound gear, proper stage, ready made audience, built in publicity plan etc etc.
We also felt that by staying at the same venue we were excluding some folk in attending - by moving venue each year, we hope to attract new faces who will then come to other events even if they are in other towns.
Band On The Wall I felt was great for us - the size, the feel, the people. Not to say it was perfect - I hold my hands up to the errors. It was a mistake to have the trade stands on the mezzanine - in the Picturehouse entrance would have been much better - but overall I thought it worked well.
As for the Salutation - Again, I liked the atmposphere. True it was a bit on the small side and like watching a gig in a corridor, but it worked ok. I didnt realise there was an issue with drink pricing though - I dont drink much!
As always, we're still learning - at the end of the day, we just want to make our little scene more accesible for folk, and put on a bit of a show where we can all get together and have a bit craic. This year we really pushed the limits, and next year will probably be a step back to our roots.
The problem is this though - there simply are not enough pro level cigar box players to put on a fest each year without it getting repetitive, and unless the artists are at such a level, its pretty damn hard to get a venue to give up a Saturday night for us to do our thing. Most venues make the weeks wages on a Sat. Dont get me wrong, I love all the folk you mentioned, but just look at the facts. HB has played every Boxstock so far. Tinqui8 has played at half of them. Some of the other folk you mentioned were asked to come and play, but could not attend. Some dont want the pressure, some do it just for fun, and some of them just dont want to be involved in Boxstock at all, and thats cool.... it just means that we're very limited on who we can put on.... even if we just have one stage, nevermind two!
I could be wrong here, but I feel that the open mic Friday (which is free for everyone) is the time for these folk to shine, and the main gig is a chance for us all to let our hair down and enjoy some music - afterall, I reckon for many its more about the music thatn it being about CBGs.
Plus, those who are at the top command a decent wage, so we have to make sure we can pay them by making the weekend profitable, which Im afraid cant be done by relying soley on the hardcore CBG crowd - we have to get more mainstream folk through the door too.
Im of the opinion that there are already folk running good events more along the lines of what you suggest - Brians Shindig, John Maws garden parties, StumbleCols Cambridge Fest, Brickdust & Pynos Soiree etc, so would making Boxstock more like this add anything to the Cigar Box calander?
Having said all that Kev, I cant argue with your observations, so this is whats on the cards for next year;
It will be at a new venue, somewhere further South. The venue we are looking at is just one big space, so folk will not be seperated so much during the day sessions.
Ticket price is likely to be much cheaper to make the weekend more affordable, though we'll still need to charge for workshops to cover costs (plus they help finance the gigs).
It wont be purely CBG artists, but whoever we book, they wont be mainstream - it'll be Home Grown all the way.
Stalls will be in the main room or by the door - not tucked away upstairs.
Early days yet, but its all happening!
In addition, there may well be a new event on ther CBG calander, but thats all I can say about that right now....
.....quiet...?
HGMC...always willing to help out where i can Ben if requ'd ! (-:
The build workshops were very popular at this year's Boxstock, lots of new beginners starting out, and the Cajon drum one was a great idea...though i wouldn't have been able to get it home! ....but maybe a more intermediate players workshop could be useful, especially a technical one possibly about setting up for performance / simple studio equipment, amps, mics, cables, leads, recording setup etc., or a show and tell section on percussion, drums, jingles etc.,and a chance for more live playing time like an open mic in the "foyer" over lunch?
Thanks for your input Steve. The idea of a 'gear' session was mentioned, and we'll make sure we have one next time - there are certainly enough folk performing and recording to make it relevant.
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