I just wanted to get people's opinions on the idea of musicians playing Bar-B-Q Joints, as mentioned in a couple of posts below.  Is there anything wrong with this?

Especially when the joint in question is Stubb's BBQ?  Step on in, folks, for some of the tangiest, tastiest ribs you'd care to lick right down to the bone.  The beer flows fast, the sauce stands thick, and if you want, a waittress will sell you one of the fine T-shirts on display around the place.

(Okay, so the ad bit was a joke . . . )

but really, there seems to be this stigma about singers/artists going from huge gigs to small gigs, as though that could be anything but the usual rhythm of life.  When someone is talented and "in," they sell out stadiums.  When that same person, still talented, is "out," they fill up fine BBQ joints like Stubbs BBQ in Austin Texas, where you can get a great slab of ribs, beer flowing like a river, a t-shirt, a magnet, and some of the finest talent of the day!  What is wrong with that?

Oops, I did it again.

Just a couple of years ago, the guiding force behind one of my favorite stadium acts of the 70's, ELO, put together a new album called ZOOM.  The powers that be thought he ought to take the album on a stadium tour, when all he (Jeff Lynne) wanted to do was a "shed tour."  He was booked into arenas of 20,000 capacity or more, but didn't sell enough advance tickets to keep the venues.

So the ELO and Jeff Lynne fans of the world didn't get to see the tour, owing to its being booked into venues too big for what the paying public would pay for.

But you know what?  If ELO or Jeff Lynne played a BBQ joint, and I got a chance to see them, I sure as heck wouldn't joke about it as though they had fallen from some pedestal.  There is no great honor in being "flavor of the month," in my opinion.  There is only the work, the music, and the endless drive to keep doing what makes life matter.

So head on down to Stubbs BBQ, and enjoy the ribs, or perhaps a bit of pork.  Buy a keychain and a shot glass, and while you're there, listen to some of the sounds that may make Austin even more famous, very soon! 

Herring405

(portions of this message may have been paid for by some bbq joint)