Let me start by sending a shout out to the staff at New Times for publishing a new annual journal called "Sound Check", completely devoted to the live music scene in the county. Great work by Glen Starkey and crew. He's the man.
Essentially a reference guide, it lists, among other information, 213 working bands in the area.
Two Hundred and Thirteen. Looks like a big number even spelled out.
And that is not all of them. I know, because Funk:30 somehow missed the memo...and I know of a number of other groups that also did not get listed. So, what if we said there were another 50 bands that also didn't make this edition? And these are working bands. Who knows how many more garage/basement/jam bands are practicing right now out there. And it doesn't include touring bands that come through the area. Let's put it in perspective.
As of 2008, there were around 270,000 residents in San Luis Obispo County. Quick math therefore tells us that there is a band for about every 1010 people. While I don't have other county statistics to measure that against, I have to think that is a very high ratio.
And the diversity is incredible - you can hear just about anything you want in terms of music genre if you look hard enough.
We love our live music on the central coast, yeah?
Towards the end of the summer season, I tried to see as many live acts as was reasonable. Now, over the years I am have seen many local bands, but in this case I made a dedicated effort to see bands I had heard about but not yet experienced. I'm up to something like 25 bands so far, with my biggest night reaching seven in a single evening. So...I am barely 10% through the list...oh man...
I saw blues bands, an 80s disco band, some nice lounge acts, a band devoted to swing, funk/soul performances, a handful of cross genre cover bands, hard rock cover bands, world/latin music bands, a band focused on mountain/bluegrass, all-original bands trying to make the big time, and a few that defy classic definition. All were at the least OK, some pretty good, and a few quite exceptional.
And that was in the first 25.
What a treat, SLO County, let's enjoy it, and continue to support the live music scene. Another reason to love the Central Coast.
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