Midsize venue only 1 note in Greenville's developing music scene

Edwin McCain is arguably Greenville's most successful homegrown musician, but it was Charleston, not his hometown, that boosted him onto the national scene.

"Greenville has never really been a music town, so they have no baseline," McCain says.

Maybe not, but a movement has been under way to change that perception. Since the Handlebar's closing last year left Greenville without a midsize venue, the city's musical identity has been a topic of hot debate.

In public forums in recent months, music lovers have explored the possibility of enticing a promoter to open a similar midsize venue — seating 500 to 1,000 people — to showcase up-and-coming acts that may bypass Greenville for a market like Asheville or Charlotte.

But is Greenville's music scene — or lack thereof — really about a venue?

As McCain sees it, Charleston has long had a more music-friendly culture.

When McCain was forging a career in the early 1990s, Charleston had an independent radio station 96 WAVE, plenty of local clubs, and fans who were hungry for new music.

That radio station, McCain says, "galvanized the city as a trend-setting music town." The station played his music, even rough demos, and McCain gives 96 WAVE a huge share of the credit for his success.

In Greenville, "people haven't had that luxury of saying to themselves, 'Hey, let's go out and hear some music.' It's usually an event that has to happen, to get people out. In Charleston, there was music everywhere," he recalls. "And so you could say to yourself, 'Let's go hear some music,' and you wouldn't even know who you were gonna go see."

But Greenville, McCain says, lacks a couple of important puzzle pieces in order to become a hot town for music.

"It's going to take a venue that becomes sort of a rallying point for up-and-coming bands," he says, "and a different generation of people that are moving here and that are part of the scene here."

Comfortable and familiar

Musician Hans Wenzel describes Greenville's music scene in five succinct words. "Cover bands, DJs and karaoke: For me, that kind of sums up the current musical identity of Greenville," he says. "It's rare that people will actually go out to see a local original artist, and support that."

Greenville likes its music safe, familiar, radio-friendly.

From a national perspective, that can be a good thing. Andrew Buck is a music agent with New York-based APA, an agency whose clients include a diverse lineup of artists, from rapper Flo Rida to alt-rockers AWOLNATION to iconic metal band Judas Priest.

He sees Greenville as a city on the way up, with fans hungry for music, or at least for the well-known acts he promotes.

In Buck's view, Greenville's music scene is "burgeoning," and promoters need to bring even more shows to town.

Because of the colleges and festivals in the area, Greenville "is gaining a lot of notoriety, especially with some of the shows coming to the market," Buck says. "There are a few really solid promoters who do an amazing job and are making this market stand out."

It's another story, though, when it comes to booking acts with a more experimental or indie vibe. Joady Harper, CEO and senior agent with Rocky Road Touring, represents out-of-the-mainstream acts like Har Mar Superstar and Skinny Puppy. Harper says she has better luck booking her artists in Spartanburg than Greenville.

"My personal experience has only ever seen me be able to place acoustic artists in Greenville," Harper says. "I'm not sure if that's because that is the genre that does the best there, or the market just doesn't connect with other artists I work with."

Wenzel has played music in Greenville since 1999, both as a solo artist and with bands such as Noxious and Swinging Richards. Trying to carve out a successful career has been discouraging, and Wenzel is taking a page from McCain's playbook. In June, he will move to Charleston and try his luck there.

Fans in Greenville don't make it a priority to support local music, especially original artists, Wenzel says.

"I don't think that we're really attracting other national acts, regional acts, to this area because people are afraid to go and see something they've never heard before," he says.

Mikey Carvajal grew up in the Greenville music scene, and his band Islander has gone on to tour with national artists like Seether and Papa Roach. Islander forged its sound in small clubs in Greenville and Spartanburg before moving on to bigger things.

He has fond memories of going out to the Powerhouse in Taylors as a teenage music fan. The music venue was affiliated with a church, and fans could check out hot new bands for a couple of bucks and a canned food donation.

"It was really good bands, like touring bands at the time," says Carvajal. "And the truth of the matter is, we don't have something like that nowadays,"

For Carvajal, the music scene in Greenville is a well-kept secret, and that's due to everything from the scarcity of venues to the lack of fan support. He wishes that people in Greenville understood just how many great bands are bubbling under the surface, paying their dues in basements and tiny clubs, in front of audiences of a couple dozen people.

Like McCain, Carvajal continues to make his home in Greenville as he builds a national career. But he finds it disappointing that his hometown doesn't make it easy for other aspiring musicians to launch their careers.

"I really think Greenville has a thriving music scene waiting to be discovered, but because of how it's been handled, the way we haven't stewarded it the way maybe we should, and cultivated it, a lot of those musicians are sitting in their bedrooms, and nobody knows that we have them," Carvajal says.

All about that stage

Club owners have their own frustrations with the scene.

Chuck Floyd, owner of Gottrocks, has been promoting music in Greenville for 15 years, and "we've obviously done OK with it. But it kind of hurts my feelings when I see regular sports bars doing better business and more business than music venues are."

If Greenville wants to see itself as a cool music town on par with a place like Austin, Texas, it's up to music fans to do their part, Floyd says.

"Until the public gets involved and starts supporting the artistic things in Greenville, it'll never happen," Floyd says.

But having a midsize venue could make a difference, he says.

The city has small venues such as Smiley's Acoustic Cafe, which seats fewer than 100, and places that can hold 100 to 300 people, such as Independent Public Alehouse and Gottrocks. And then there are the Peace Center and Bon Secours Wellness Arena, which seat far more people and attract national artists.

Which means that acts on their way up the charts may bypass Greenville for a market like Asheville or Charlotte, with more venues and larger fan bases.

"I'd love to see a larger venue; I'd love to see a 1,000- to 1,500-seater venue that would bring in some of the larger acts, some of the stuff that, say, the Orange Peel is doing in Asheville. But at the same time, I'd love to see people get out and support the venues we have now," he says.

Wes Gilliam, talent buyer for the Radio Room, a 65-seat music club that brings in a mix of indie-rock, punk and hardcore bands, has a different view of what would elevate Greenville's profile.

For starters, Gilliam says, a music subculture, with all sorts of under-the-radar artists, is far more interesting than a culture. Gilliam, who is putting on the Hey Look! Music Festival May 30 at Thomas Creek Brewery, is always on the lookout for a different flavor when booking shows.

It's the "what's gonna blow my mind?" factor, he says.

"I think what we really need is a 200- to 300-person club, not a 500- to 1,000-person club," says Gilliam. "I would love to be able to do that, bring cool shows in, keep it intimate, keep prices reasonable."

A place like that would allow bands to network and form friendships, boosting the music scene across the board, Gilliam says.

Fans have the power

The conversation has started. Fans have gathered at places like Moe Joe's and Gottrocks to talk about what makes a music scene, and how Greenville can juice up the scene it has. And a recent TEDx Greenville Salon focused on the city's music culture and ideas for improving it.

Much of the discussion has revolved around how to surmount the obstacles, everything from fan support to parking problems to less-restrictive ordinances downtown. But many music lovers say if fans demonstrate the demand exists and city officials are open to making downtown more music-friendly, the chances of getting new venues and more musical variety are vastly improved.

For national agent Buck, Greenville has the potential to support all kinds of music, and he doesn't rule out any style of music when it comes to routing a tour.

"Honestly, I am always willing to take a chance," Buck says. "As a company, we have put all different genres in the market. I am not scared to put any genre of music in any situation as long as the demand is there."

Greenville has the power to create a music scene, Buck says.

"At the end of the day, fans create a 'scene.' Where that scene is big or small can help create demand and interest in music in that community," he says. "Music is all about the grass-roots movement, and fans create the culture in the market. What kids are listening to resonates with agents and makes us realize that we need to route more shows through certain markets."

McCain is hopeful that Greenville's fans will step up and give the city and its musicians a boost. The calendar of events around the Upstate is a busy one, he acknowledges, but all folks have to do is put down their smartphones and open their minds and ears.

"When people do go into a venue and stop looking at their phones for five minutes, they're still as able to be moved as they always were," McCain says. "It's just getting them in there, into that mindset."

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