It wasn�t hard to hear the music in Hutchinson during the 1950s and 1960s.



Main Street had a club on almost every corner. Finding weekend entertainment was as easy going downtown.



As the afternoons turned to evening, an already busy area came even more alive. Music and dancing were about as common as passing a sailor or airman on the street. It wasn�t uncommon for the Fox Theatre to play host to a set of local bands, or for bands to rent a building and hold a concert on their own � and turn a profit.



Rhythm and blues and rock �n� roll were still fairly new concepts, but widely popular. B.B. King and Rufus Thomas even came to town. House bands playing covers were considered quality entertainment.



�Main Street had people all over,� said longtime local drummer Ed Curiel. �Third Thursday is the way Main Street used to be all the time. Clubs, and people walking down Main.�



The Hutchinson of 2014 provides some opportunities for musicians, and holds promise for the future, but it�s a long way from its heyday a generation ago.



Days gone by



Curiel, who has been a drummer since he was 14, began playing with The Twisters, a band known for playing popular dance numbers of the time, including Chubby Checker�s �The Twist.�



As time went on, Curiel played with various show bands, house bands and dance bands, playing rhythm and blues, rock �n� roll and other popular tunes. Finding a gig was never hard.



He played for The Imperials, a house band at the popular Hutchinson club The Fireside, located near the then-open space at 30th Avenue and Lorraine Street.



�The Fireside was the place to go in Hutchinson at the time,� he said. �We always ended up with the biggest crowd, and I think that was because we played more rhythm and blues that you didn�t normally hear on the radio.�



Curiel said The Imperials would perform three times a week, sometimes more if they went to play in another town. Curiel�s brother-in-law, Ralph Brown, remembers the club being packed.



�It�s hard to imagine there�d be a couple of places in this town that would draw hundreds of people every night that they would be open,� Brown said. �Then there would be a dozen little spots that would sometimes have bands and they would draw a crowd.�



Curiel and Brown have played in many bands, both together and separately, throughout their lifetimes. People went out to have a good time, Brown said, just to enjoy the music and especially drink beer.



However, Hutchinson wasn�t exactly unique. Both Brown and Curiel recall performing at clubs in Nickerson, South Hutchinson, McPherson, Kingman and Preston.



�It was quite the scene,� Brown said. �People wanted live bands. It was just the times.�



Brown still performs with King Midas and the Muflers, a popular area band for more than 40 years.



�What�s nice about King Midas is that we�ve got an old three-piece horn section which you just don�t see anymore,� Brown said. �It just has a certain sound to it that you just don�t see. It was a great period to grow up in.�



Changing scene



As times and tastes changed in Hutchinson, so did the culture. Harsher liquor laws and new musical trends such as disco and karaoke pushed people away from live entertainment.



�It used to be very loose as far as alcohol was concerned,� Brown said. �It probably wasn�t a good thing, but that�s just how it was. People would go out, have a good time and not worry about it, then go home.�



Slowly but surely, the demand for local music started to evaporate as people sought out different forms of entertainment instead of live music. Since the 1980s, demand for local music has tapered off, Curiel said, and hasn�t been able to bounce back. A town once filled with numerous venues now seems to leave musicians with something to be desired.



�There are not very many places to play; it�s not like it used to be,� Curiel said. �A lot of people want you to play, but they don�t want to pay.�



Sean Story didn�t see Hutchinson in its golden age. He grew up in the 1990s, playing guitar and singing for various bands since his early teens. In his mind, the Internet changed everything for local performers.



�In the beginning, sites were excellent,� he said. �Now it�s destroying bands trying to break through and ultimately starting to hinder the process. It�s a completely different set of rules.�



Over the past two decades, Story has seen the interest in live music and local bands wane. Music festivals like Wake the Dead at the Kansas State Fairgrounds have seen minimal success and community support, Story said, making it hard to build the local scene.



�That�s just the reality we live in,� he said. �We can�t play for free all the time; as life gets in the way it can be hard to keep things going, and that can be problem.�



The scene today



Curiel now plays jazz with Brown and guitarist Randy Key in a band called Drum Sax Axe. They have a standing gig on Fridays at Cool Beans.



Brown�s son, Tom, plays in a band called Years Ahead, a Hutchinson-based gang of 20-somethings who were friends long before they formed the band.



Like many local musicians, the members of Years Ahead hold weekly practice in a basement, and it�s often more festive than serious. They exchange quips, hang out and practice their set. They are currently recording an album in Fowler, and about half of their current set list is original music; the other half is cover songs.



The punk pop/alternative styling that Years Ahead creates is largely about friendship and a common love of music. Brown said he and his band-mates might dream of snagging that big break, but right now they�re enjoying the moment.



�I�m fully content with what we�re currently doing,� said band member Josh Zimbelman. �It�s definitely a hobby, a passion. We all love music. We all love playing. I�ve never been on tour, but if we could go on tour I�d never think twice about making it happen.�



Both Brown and Zimbelman remain positive about the state of the music scene in Hutchinson and believe it is improving, despite some criticisms.



�There�s not anyone reaching out and wanting local bands to play,� Zimbelman said. �It�s about local bands going and asking venue after venue to set up a show.�



Others, however, see greatly increased opportunities for musicians.



New audiences



When Jennifer Randall began working with Third Thursday in 2008, she felt the community needed more exposure to local art and music, and an inclusive venue that had been missing in Reno County. That monthly event downtown now offers local and regional musicians and artists a place to showcase their talents.



�I feel like I�ve really made it easy to be out there,� she said. �Bars exclude people; not everyone drinks.�



Third Thursday is Sean Story�s favorite event of the month, and he credits it and Concerts for the Cause, for creating a new audience for local talent.



�They�ve opened up a lot of outlets for people to perform,� he said.



Local musician and community promoter Bob Colladay sees potential in Hutchinson, but thinks more needs to be done before local music can really thrive.



�We have the seed of a scene,� he said. �We have the talent here. There�s enough bands, there�s enough venues that will have music, but I don�t think there�s enough demand from the citizens.�



Mike Klaers, manager of The Rusty Needle, also says the demand for local music is on the upswing.



�I think there�s a demand for something to do in the city,� he said. �I think there�s a demand for bands because my phone rings off the hook.�



The Rusty Needle has been hosting live acts for three years, is booked with Friday and Saturday night acts until August, and is planning a larger concert for early September, around the beginning of the Kansas State Fair.



�It was basically a thing that had fallen off the map in Hutchinson,� Klaers said. �Even my fellow bar owners were saying, �Don�t do live music; it�s really not beneficial,� and now really almost all venues are trying to do live entertainment of some sort.�



Lacking a stage



A problem facing the Hutchinson musicians, Klaers said, is finding a place to play, especially for younger musicians.



�That�s the struggle I�m sure local bands have, because it�s not like Lawrence or Manhattan or Topeka, where you can go from one venue and then go clear across town,� he said.



Yet, during the past several months the number of venues for local music has diminished, with the recent closure of 14 North and Double Barrel Grill � two places that regularly featured live music.



Mary Hemmings, interim executive director of the Fox Theatre, said the demand from her patrons for local music is not great. Occasionally, she said, a local band will inquire about using the theater, but that usually is about as far as it goes.



�If you�ve got a following of only several hundred people and you go into a theater that holds over 1,000 it presents a challenge,� she said. �When you start charging ticket prices it becomes very hard for a local band to meet the expense.�



Kansas State Fair General Manager Denny Stoecklein said his office receives nearly a half-dozen inquiries from musicians wanting to use the fairgrounds for performances each year. The problem many of these groups face, he said, is production costs. While using the venue can be relatively cheap, the band or the promoter assumes the financial risk if there�s not strong attendance.



�It�s challenging to find an affordable and popular venue,� he said. �When someone wants to have an event, the rental of the venue is just a small part of it.�



Stoecklein said this is a problem the fair runs into when booking its September stage shows. As costs have gone up, the fair has had to re-evaluate how it books artists.



�There�s definitely an interest for live music in Hutch,� he said. �The challenge is finding an affordable and popular band. It�s a risk we assume every year.�



While it might be unlikely Hutchinson will ever return to the vibrant scene of Curiel�s heyday, the longtime drummer said he remains hopeful the entertainment scene will improve because there is still a genuine interest in music.



�Young people have a very different style of music; it�s not my kind of music,� he said.



However, both he and Brown know the key to improvement is re-creating a demand and interest in listening to live music.



�How are you going to get people out of their houses?� Brown said. �That�s what it�s going to boil down to. We could do better.�



Jason Probst / Hutchinson News editorial board