Know what Ruben Studdard, Bo Bice, and Taylor Hicks all have in common?

They all had to LEAVE Birmingham in order to "make it". Never mind that they had been gigging in Birmingham for years... once they made it "on the TV" only THEN were they celebrated as "Birmingham's Own"; joining the ranks of Courtney Cox, Polly Holliday, Eric Dover, Condoleezza Rice, etc. (well, Alabama more than just Birmingham.) Thank goodness for Oteil, Boykin, Speegle, and many more unsung heroes or we might not have ANY local celebrities. You haven't heard of them have you? Well, one plays with the Allman Brothers, one is big in Japan, and one is touring with Leon Russell. Yet, they still all enjoy the anonymity of going to a bar with out anyone recognizing them.  (sarcasm alert)

But, here in B'ham, local promoters (like Dave Rossi and Citadel "we are not in the business of breaking new bands" (actual quote) Broadcasting) have furthered and made the careers of  Sister Hazel, Matchbox 20, Widespread Panic and John Mayer just to name a few--- ALL out-of-towners.

(Quick aside: I'm not commenting on which bands suck or are great, just talking about local support)

What pisses me off about seeing throngs of crowds for the local American Idol contestants is I know most of those fair-weather fucks are the same that would have gone up to one of them in-between covers at the local On Tap and asked them to turn down because they were interfering with "The Game" on T.V. And heaven forbid they play an original; nobody wants to hear that; they just want to hear the song they just heard on the radio for the four hundred and twentieth time.

There is SUCH a vibrant local scene; from Nowhere Squares to Promise the Ghost to all the other local bands I'm pissing off by not mentioning. Why do we have to wait on some other town to dig them before we do?