CONNECTING THE DOTS....

LOCAL BANDS AIM TO REJUVENATE MUSIC SCENE IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS....

ANDREW STRANGE UP MANAGING EDITOR....

With local music venues closing left and right, Southeast Texas is quickly becoming a musical wasteland. Organizers for the Connect The Dots Festival, which is will take place Sept. 11 and 12 at the former Scout Bar location on Crockett Street in Beaumont, offer hope to area music lovers and concert-goers and attempt to rejuvenate the SETX music scene.....

Lamar senior and Beaumont event coordinator Joe Deshotel said the second annual festival promises to be bigger than before.....

“It started out as something we wanted to do annually,” he said. “Originally we wanted to do a festi- val that we could make a little bigger every year and keep it manageable.....

“This year there are going to be 12 bands and a D.J. Most of the bands are indie-rock bands, there are a couple folk artists – the two opening up are acoustic acts. Four of the bands are from Austin and the rest are from Southeast Texas.”....

Deshotel said the festival is a good way to feature local talent as well as encourage touring bands to make a stop in the area.....

“We see a lot of really talented bands and individuals from here leave the area,” he said. “And once we have all that talent out there, this is a way to get them to come back and play shows, as well as bring bands that they meet on the road back to play shows here.”....

Deshotel, guitarist for La Snacks performing on Day 2 of the event, said there is a growing inter- est among out-of-town acts to play....

shows in Southeast Texas. “We go out and play a lot of....

shows in different places and meet bands who want to come to Beaumont,” he said. “A lot of times...they have heard about the scene.... When bands do play, people actually go to watch them and that is a really big deal for touring bands.” Deshotel said the festival is about more than just entertaining fans. He said he hopes the festival acts as a forum for bands to make friends and secure contacts for future endeavors.....

“The whole point is to bring the Austin scene here and open doors for Beaumont’s music scene,” he said.            “There            are very few            local bands that are actually going out and booking tours; but for those that do, the ones with the road experience need to do something to help the younger bands and keep the music going.....

“All these Austin bands have played SXSW and they are going to come here, have a good time and go back to Austin and tell people they should play in Beaumont. And when one of them comes through they will call one of us to play and vice versa.....

“Last year we played SXSW with a band from New York and helped them get a local show. Then this summer our band went to New York...and opened a gig for them.....

“In a way it may seem obvious, but to young bands that are just starting to go out and play shows, it may not be. So, we are trying to help create an opportunity for bands to do that and make some connections. Something like this definitely works out for the bands.”....

Deshotel said the appropriately named festival has also helped establish a relationship between area business and local artists. “We also have gotten involved with some local businesses, which connects the dots in an even broader sense,” he said. “We are a music scene, but we don’t just listen to music. We eat food, buy clothes, create art and do all those other things. So we thought about the places in our area that are unique and help foster creativity and what we can do to support them. If we can make ourselves more community conscious and spend our money in those places, then they will still be around and remember us the next time we want to do something like this. It’s important to keep in mind whom we support when we want people to support us.”....

Deshotel said he hopes Connect The Dots will host a variety of events in the future. “We want to use different bands every year and try to expand the idea of Connect the Dots,” he said. “For example, there is a fashion degree you can get at Lamar. This may be a venue for those students to show off what they are doing now instead of waiting to get a job working for someone else. We also have a nice art program here. Maybe next time we might think about incorporating an art show. We will always incorporate music in some way, but the idea is to show the community has its own diverse culture. “Ultimately we would like to brand the....

name so that Connect the Dots brings you not just a music festival in the fall but different events like film, art or fashion throughout the year. (We want to) use the connections we have made to get people from other cities to come down who are also excited about showing their own work. We need to do something to stop the bleeding of talent from this area and get some of the people who have moved on to tell people where they are from and get people talking about our area.”....

Deshotel said the lack of establishments hosting live music have not stopped his desire to make his musical mark in Southeast Texas. He said he hopes the festival will raise awareness about the arts in the area and encourage people to make events happen by demand.....

“There are more than 10 buildings down- town that I have looked at, all of which would make good venues for the sorts of things we have been talking about,” he said. “But be- cause of ordinances, who is next door, who owns it or if they disagree with the type of business you want to open, it just doesn’t happen. And right now there is no infrastructure for a music scene here. It is going to take more than a few people putting on a handful of shows to make a serious difference. But if we can have a successful music festival at a time when all these venues are closing down, hopefully it will send someone a message. You can have something like this be successful, but if it’s on the consumer’s terms. You can’t just give us something and expect us to support it because it’s the only thing going on. Give us what we want.”....

Festival admission is $7 each day or $10 for an advance wristband for both days. Doors open at 7 p.m.....

Performing acts for Day 1 are We Were Wolves, The Midgetmen, The Amorist, Death Is Not A Joyride, Cousin Phelpy and Celia Carver. Performers for Day 2 are La Snacks, Mothfight!, The Roaring 20s, The Boxing Les- son, Gonzo Sirens and Justin Soileau. Music will also be provided by Michael Molina of Beaumont both nights of the festival.....

For more information, go to www.ConnectTheDotsFest.com.....

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