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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Changing Keyson Local Music
To the editor: My name is Scott Mann and I am a singer/songwriter and acoustic musician from Fort Worth. I have felt compelled for quite some time to climb on a soapbox and share my feelings about your local music coverage.
My music (www.scottmannshow.com) has been compared to a modern version of James Taylor and or Chris Isaak, but with more spiritual overtones (some call it Christian music). I played over 100 gigs in the last year alone, 75 percent of those paying, but I am not writing you this e-mail to get a pat on the back. I was really curious as to why your music editors primarily only cover Americana or alternative local and national music. It seems that very rarely do you ever hear about artists who write music that is on a little deeper level. I have been writing and performing deep and meaningful love songs and spiritual tunes for the last three years professionally, and more than 10 years altogether, and have never been mentioned in any Fort Worth Weekly music column. As a matter of fact, the music at The Wreck Room is not what most people (the older crowd who doesn’t smoke pot anymore) would even consider music, but ambient noise. There are a lot of great solo singer/songwriters and bands out there in the Metroplex playing the local coffeehouses that deserve some attention, rather than all this press on the local noise bands and or cover bands. What happened to real folksinger/songwriter music?
I have also been fortunate enough to be involved in a great organization called the Fort Worth Songwriter’s Association, where our membership has doubled in the last year alone. We have an open-mic night every Monday at The Rig restaurant and bar on I-35 South. A lot of great songwriters of many different genres perform there frequently. We would love to invite you out sometime. By the way, I notice in your columns a lot that you also like to drink?!! Well, they serve plenty of cold beer at The Rig. Come on out when you have some time. Best of luck, and thank you for supporting local music, no matter what genre it is.
Scott Mann
Fort Worth
To the editor: Ed Bass killed live music in Fort Worth when he closed the Caravan of Dreams. No deep analysis needed. Ask anyone who appreciated the variety of music presented at COD. It’s his fault, plain and simple.
Mary Schriefer
Fort Worth
To the editor: Once again I feel the need to contact you. It’s hard to sit back and watch the Weekly turn into such a hunk of crap. Are you kidding me? Your own super group? What happened to reporting the news about the local music scene? The original staff of the Weekly used to be out amongst the local scene, bringing everyone together. They knew all the bands and the fans. They brought a positive vibe to the scene and made everyone proud to be a part of it. You seem to use this column as a way to constantly print the same names, to the point that you seem to have some type of fascination with them beyond their involvement as musicians. I hope John Price does go on to be a big star; he is very talented. We got it. Let’s wait until something actually happens before we print his name again. There are so many bands out there that you all never mention, because the space is taken up by the same people every week. You print “speculation” about Collin Herring’s supposed deals, yet there are local bands out there who are actually touring, getting deals, and supporting the Fort Worth scene.
I am not trying to sound so negative, but in the last five years, the local scene here has drastically declined, due to the pretentious, callous club owners like Danny Weaver and the odd couple at the Ridglea. Club owners here in town used to support each other, not compete with each other. In some ways, it is your fault. Your precious job depends on the solidarity of this local scene, and you should be doing all you can to help that. Put away the pictures of John, turn off the Bone, and actually go out and see some local bands. Better yet, go introduce yourself, get to know some new people, and make your column something we can all be proud of.
J.D. Shellnut
Benbrook
Reefer Rave
To the editor: I just finished reading your article, “Reefer Sadness” (Dec. 12, 2002). No, I am not that slow of a reader; I was just busy with holidays, etc. I want to thank you for a very insightful article. It is rare to find articles this informative on the subject of medicinal marijuana that aren’t censored or biased. Again, thank you for willingness to shed light on this topic. Please keep up the awesome work!
J. Fort
Fort Worth
Feeling a Little Picht-ed
To the editor: Why are you writing about Clyde Picht’s web site now? If you were criticizing it for being woefully lacking in content, I would understand, but you seemed to be interested in it.
It was cool a few years ago, but Clyde seems to have forgotten about it. His calendar hasn’t been updated since September 2002, he hasn’t posted a “position paper” since 1999 (he’s only had six positions worth writing papers about, apparently), and his other areas have been mostly dormant. In 2002, he had a couple of tirades about the garbage collection carts, but there were only a total of eight new posts in the last two years!! This may be the only web site for Fort Worth government issues, but I thought there was a lot more going on than that.
He started the site in 1997, and it was quite active for the first few years. Then his longtime aide Chris Turner left, and things got quiet. Hmmm, I wonder if there’s a correlation?
Greg Shirey
Fort Worth
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