resurrectionsong

July 16, 2004

Advice for a Musician

This comment was left on an earlier Living in Colorado post.

I am thinking about moving to Colorado with my guitar from Dallas. Any comments

And I thought I would open up the floor for comments for the young (I assume) lady.

For me, I would like to note that Colorado is no musicians paradise. There aren't a whole lot of bands or artists who got their starts here, and , of those that did, not too many ever made it very big. If the hope is to come to Colorado and become a musician--well, it's at least as hard to do here as it would be anywhere, and maybe a little bit harder.

On the other hand, as a place to live, Colorado is still high on my list. It's a beautiful state with reasonably good weather throughout the year. The people here are generally nice; the economy, though lagging behind the rest of the country right now, still couldn't be thought of as "bad"; and the mountains are glorious. There is a lot to recommend living in Colorado.

Any other thoughts?

Posted by zombyboy at July 16, 2004 01:23 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Not having been in Colorado except to change planes, I have to defer to you, Zom, on its musical climate. However I would think that outside of Denver there might be places an aspiring musician could find a niche in which to practice and play and arrive at a style that works for her -- if that's what she's after.

There are certainly venues (mountain resort towns?) where a good musician could be heard and get feedback that could put her on the road to L.A. or Nashville or wherever she might have in mind, if indeed hitting it big is what she has in mind.

Just my 2¢.

Posted by: McGehee at July 16, 2004 05:26 AM

I think our largest problem, musically, is that Denver (and Colorado in general) is really on the way to nowhere. Every other major city is hours and hours away from the major metro areas of our fair state. The route most bands seem to take sweeps across the country from its upper corners, across the bottom, and back again. Thus, we tend to get stuck with only the major acts that can justify the expense of coming to our beautiful bit of the middle of nowhere (e.g. Britney, bleh!).

On the other hand, if she's a folk musician, she could do pretty well here just locally, given the popularity of people like David Wilcox in the state (not a local, but a folky, and a darn fine one).

Somewhere in there I had a point. Moving along.

Posted by: andy at July 16, 2004 07:13 AM

Colorado has very little in the way of local music. It's almost a wasteland. If you are in a heavy metal cover band you can play at the Iliff, and that says it all.

The biggest problem with Denver is the cost of living (full disclosure - I grew up in Denver, lived there for 20 years, love it immensely, and consider it home, but I moved to Akron, OH two years ago when the economy tanked). My house here in Ohio would have, literally, cost double in Denver. The average starting home price is $250K. Rent for apartmanets is pretty steep, too.

The bottom line is that Denver is for people who enjoy the outdoors and who are willing to pay for it. I was an avid mountain biker, snowboarder, cyclist, runner, etc. Colorado was the perfect place for me until the dot-com bubble burst and I couldn't afford to live there any more. Akron has been much better for me economically, but I've had to change some of my leisure activities as a result. It's a trade-off.

If you are the kind of person that is in to outdoor activities and who will take advantage of the mountains (and I really mean take advantage - not simply look at them in the distance and say "how pretty") then the economic trade-off is easily worth it. Otherwise, I would think twice about moving there - especially if you are working in a low-paying career field. There are plenty of places around the country that are nice and where the housing is affordable.

[Obviously, if you have family or history in Denver then that makes everything different. I'm assuming that this isn't the case with the commenter.]

Posted by: Jerry at July 16, 2004 07:15 AM

As a Texan seasonal skier (boo, hiss *I know you locals hate to see us on the slopes*) I would just like to add that I enjoy a good guitar player in the lobby, or bar. We go to the resorts occasionally and I really enjoy folk music and John Denver covers with a good scotch and soda after a day of uncontrolled flailing down the side of a mountain.
In my visits to Denver, mostly to visit old buddies, there was always a couple of cool little dives with live music playing on a Thursday night during the Spring. (fond rememberances *deep breath*)
Anyway, if she is hoping to hit the jackpot and take her gig to another level, I would advise against Colorado. Though she may need to specify genre, there are epicenters for all musicians that want to catch a break. Austin, Portland, Nashville, Branson, etc.
Anyway... good luck to her!
-Super

Posted by: Superhero at July 16, 2004 09:13 AM

Super makes my point better than I did, mostly. I think if the correspondent is looking for a place to pay her dues and both get experience and develop her own unique sound -- things it's best to already have down before you move on to L.A. or Nashville to try to get discovered ('cause it won't happen in Colorado, by all accounts), then Colorado makes at least as much sense as any other place, and more than some I could name.

Posted by: McGehee at July 16, 2004 09:20 AM