[Musical Intro]
Schifani: That was “Syllable Seven,” one of more than 70 active bands here in Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge is the home of about a third of the musicians in Louisiana. Though some people argue the local music scene is dead in the capital city, lead singer of Syllable Seven, Bobby “Reverend Red
Beard” Fields, couldn’t disagree more.
Fields: I go to great live shows all of the time – every weekend in fact. If I to go to a great live show
every weekend, I could.
Schifani: Baton Rouge is home to at least eight venues – bars, restaurants, stores and theaters – that provide space for musical performances. These include North Gate Tavern, Spanish Moon, Chelsea’s Café, Mellow Mushroom, Varsity Theatre, Hartley Vey in Manship Theatre and even Here Today Gone Tomorrow Thrift Store.
While there are multiple venues for live music and plenty of local musicians to provide performances, some would still argue that there just aren’t enough local bands or live shows to attend in Baton Rouge. One problem could be the lack of support from some of these venues, according to local rapper Amahl Abdul-Khaliq.
“There’s a lot of talent out there and there’s people hungry for it – but there’s no place to go,” Abdul-Khaliq said.
He argues that although there is plenty of local talent, many Baton Rouge venues cater more toward touring artists than those who are locally based. Abdul-Khaliq said some genres within the local music scene, like rap and hip hop, have a harder time booking shows at some of Baton Rouge’s venues.
Abdul-Khaliq thinks that one solution to this issue is combining different genres of music in live performances.
“Everyone in Baton Rouge should know the whole community,” Abdul-Khaliq said, “People need to step out and do something different.”
He suggests that instead of having a show with two or three performers of the same genre, venues should mix it up.
“Just because you do rap, you shouldn’t just do shows with other rappers – that’s just ridiculous,” Abdul-Kaliq said.
Fields argues that the only reason people could possibly think that the local and live scenes in Baton Rouge are dead is because they simply aren’t looking for it.
Fields: You have to want to find it. It’s not going to find you all the time. To people who believe they actually want to find good local music, it’s your responsibility to find out what’s going on in your area. What type of stuff do you like? Plug that into some searches and find out about some new bands or events that you don’t know about, and be willing to go pay a small – extremely small cover to go out and see it.”
Schifani: Angela Schifani, Reveille Radio News
 
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Contact Angela Schifani at [email protected]