Bands in music scenes across America play shows in any venue that will host them, any time they will host them. A random show in the back corner of a bar on Thursday night may be anything but random to the band.
“There are a lot of them,” Scott Caradine, owner of Proud Larry’s, said. “I’ve got an employee here that’s a bartender and manager that plays drums, and I bet he plays drums in six different Oxford bands.”
In a digital age, venues like Proud Larry’s offer valuable exposure for bands trying to make it. In September, Proud Larry’s hosted 13 shows and have 15 scheduled for October.
The Bandsintown app lists 18 shows in Oxford through the first two weeks of October. Cary Hudson from Sumrall is playing back-to-back on Oct. 3-4 at Proud Larry’s and Taylor Grocery.
“It’s about both of our businesses,” Caradine said. “We try to bring as much national and regional music to Oxford as we can, but what keeps things consistent are local bands. Local bands have friends that come and see them. So, they help our business as well as have a place to develop, build a fanbase, play live on stage.”
Cadillac Funk is a staple at Rooster’s Blues House. Band founder Andrew Yurkow said the business is as much about strategy as it is stage time. He spent the last five years in Oxford playing and building an ever-growing fan base.
“I would spend the whole paycheck from the gig on (posters). I would get girls to tape them up on the inside of doors on the restrooms of different restaurants, not the ones I was playing at. I would put them everywhere, ‘til people were just sick of hearing the name Cadillac Funk,” Yurkow said. “It was just a matter of overexposure when I started.”
Yurkow said while he was still working on his sound, he developed a following because people were seeing his name, following on Facebook and calling for gigs.
The new scene is flooded with acts: Winn McElroy and Morgan Pennington of And The Echo; Colin Sneed, Johnny Valiant, Landon Boyte and Shane Prewitt of Unwed Teenage Mothers; Andrew Bryant, Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster and GR Robinson of Water Liars, who are playing the last three Saturdays of the month at Proud Larry’s.
New-age promotion is largely digital, and though getting music to the masses can take only a few iPhone taps, the market is flooded, making venues like Proud Larry’s, Blind Pig and Ajax all the more relevant.
Some are growing out of Oxford. Bass Drum of Death just played two sold-out shows in California as a support act for English rockers Royal Blood. Originally founded by front man Jon Barrett as a one-man band, the garage rock trinity now features two guitar players and a drummer.
In contrast to many of the up-and-coming artists, local act Kudzu Kings has been part of the Oxford music scene for over 20 years and still occasionally gets the band together.
“I think you’ve got to start grassroots somewhere,” Robert Chaffe, band member, said.
Chaffe plays a variety of instruments for Kudzu Kings, including piano, organ and triangle.
The country-funk, funktry as they call it, group went about their pre-Internet explosion promotion differently.
“What worked for us was steadily growing grassroots around here. Next thing you know, we’re getting the good slots on football weekends. Next thing you know, we’re an Ole Miss band,” Chaffe said. “If Ole Miss is playing Georgia, we’d go to Georgia.”
The Kings chased their fanbase, following the football team and playing in front of alumni who used to watch them in Oxford.
