OWL CAFE GIGS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY?

May be I should have entitled this post: "There is good news and bad news regarding playing at The Owl Cafe in Laurel."  First the good news. John Letcher is handling the band scheduling at the Owl. That frees Kathy up for cooking and managing the cafe. Do not contact the Owl directly for gigs or to ask who is playing. John's phone is 406-633-0099 in Laurel. John is a good man to take on this responsibility as booking agent. He and others of Kathy's friends also volunteer on Saturdays by seating guests, serving coffee and busing tables. Other good news is they are considering possible Wednesday PM music as well. But, there are no details available at this time.

Now the bad news.  I had hoped they would avoid what I considered to be a problem at the Prairie Winds in Molt. About five bands tied up the entire year's schedule there. That made it simple for the manager who was running the cafe and also booking the bands. Fran actually wanted them to do that. The bad aspect is that other or newer bands could not get in to play. Now people like Jim Southworth already has his band, "Southbound" booked in to play every month in Laurel just as they did in Molt. Highway 302 has done the same. Letcher said they would give up a gig date for another group, but I will believe it when I see it. At this time I would suggest that if a band wants to play at the Owl that they contact John Letcher and let him negotiate with Southworth or 302. There is no reason any group  should have to beg another band in order to perform there.  Currently there are only 3 dates left open and all are in May including Memorial Day weekend when most have family events lined up.  The rest of the calendar is booked solidly until June. As of this date Letcher has the following bands scheduled:

February:  7th Highway 302, 14th Southbound, 21st Memory Lane, 28th Back Porch Productions.

March: 7th Highway 302, 14th The Unexpected, 21st Cold Frosty Morn, 28th Southbound

April: 4th Highway 302, 11th Southbound, 18th Spur of the Moment, 25th District 4 Fiddlers

May: 2nd Canyon Creek, 9th OPEN, 16th Southbound, 23rd OPEN, 30th OPEN (Memorial Day)
            Weekend   

Today, January 31, 2015, one of the very best bands around, "The Maverick String Stretchers" performed. These fellows were heard being praised by some very savvy country music customers at the Owl. In my opinion it is a shame they are not scheduled again through the next 4 months.  As all of these musicians have day jobs it is not an easy task to book weeks or months in advance. In contrast other groups are made up of retired or self employed folks who can play most anytime. This is also a reason that it may prove difficult to book bands for Wednesday PM gigs. As of this time the Owl closes at 8 PM although it is rumoured that the hours may change - even to being open 24 hours. Pickers with typical day jobs may have difficulty scheduling to play on Wednesdays at any hour. They do have to get up early on Thursday to head to work. Other very good bands with this problem include "Spur of the Moment," "Sound Dog Serenade," "Canyon Creek" and "The Unexpected."

Readers of this blog can decide for themselves what is good or bad about my comments on this post. And as far as "ugly" that may only be me and my criticisms. Oh, what the hell anyway. My posts are always highly opinionated as frequent readers know.