World United Music Festival – Post Mortem

There are those who find huge success in the music business at a young age – artists, promoters, producers, etc. These people might reasonably have the perspective that every show sells out. People are hungry for music and will always hang onto your every note. They will treasure and enshrine your very turds as if you were excreting little golden Fabergé eggs encrusted with diamonds. These same people will grow to believe that they have achieved this success because of their unique genius – this same unique genius will forever guide the human race in its stellar glow.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), these blessed few are just living a delusion. The reality is that reward in the music business is seldom in equation with the input talent and hard work. Rather, the disproportionate success afforded to a select few is meted out according to some incredibly complex chaos theory understood by no one. Consider that by one estimate, 99% of the revenue from the multi-billion dollar music industry is shared by only 1% of the participants – this includes record company executives, retail chain, accountants, attorneys – and, of course, the 50 or so artists that get enough record company support to get radio play and populate the charts. This, of course, leaves the remaining 99% of musicians and musical hangers on to share the orts from the table.

This is one of the great things about having a long music career played out on the seamy underside of the business. It's like being a musical colonoscopy probe.

I've experienced insanely drunken bar patrons screaming in my ear while I'm singing. I've driven hundreds of miles to play to an imaginary audience – of course for no money. And, I've been part of festivals that failed to draw the crowd they'd expected.

But NEVER have I seen a festival fail on the scale pioneered by the World United Music Festival. Forevermore, WUMF will mean to me Wholesale Unparalleled Multiple F**kups. I mean… YIKES ALMIGHTY!!!

Now, before I launch into a post-mortem from the performer's standpoint, let me say that I find it a little disingenuous to hear criticism from the likes of the American-Statesman, contrasting the failure of the WUMF to the success of the ACL. Particularly without mention of the fact that the Statesman is a financial partner in the ACL. The ACL may or may not get free space ads – but they certainly get about three months of free editorial content, including spotlights of every act, regardless of their relative obscurity, detailed diagrams of festival grounds, etc. By contrast, the total exposure given to WUMF by the Statesman was ONE PARAGRAPH (a small sidebar at that) in the XLent magazine the day before the festival was to begin.

And the coverage given by the Statesman infinitely surpassed that given by The Austin Chronicle. SXSW is partnered with The Austin Chronicle -- the Chronicle didn't even mention the existence of the WUMF. Was this the fault of the publicity company or is this just conflict of interest at work?

That said, John Conquest, long time publisher of 3rd Coast Music didn't even know of the existence of the festival until rumor reached him just a few weeks ahead of the scheduled date. I'm certain John would at least have given the WUMF a few words – this kind of event it right up his alley. His ad rates are such that even a band can afford a monthly mention. Well, I'm sure that he'll now have WAY more than a few words to share with readers – I can't wait!

The week before this festival, I told the members of my band that if the festival was anything short of a confused, poorly attended disaster, I would be amazed. However, even I didn't fathom the depth of the abyss into which the WUMF fell.

So… just what happened here?

I can only speak from my role as a participant… but as a 50 year veteran inspecting the entrails of the beast, I do have the perspective of experience.

WARNING 1: This event was originally to have been held in San Antonio at the convention center hosted by the Roots Music Association, and, like the Americana Music Association event in Nashville, coordinated with a conference, panel discussions and the works. Applications for showcases were accepted through Sonic Bids, I'm sorry to say a warning sign in itself. This event was unceremoniously cancelled just a few weeks prior to the scheduled date. The cancellation was attributed to a "misunderstanding" about the cost of San Antonio Convention Center security. Participants were told that the event was being rescheduled and each of the showcasing acts would be contacted. According to my recollection of the list on the RMA website, around 30 acts were on the schedule: still ambitious, but doable.

WARNING 2: A long time elapsed without hearing from anyone. There was no forthcoming information from RMA, nor was there any rumor of a rescheduled conference.

WARNING 3:  Finally, I received an email saying that the event was rescheduled and was being partnered with the "World United Radio Conference." Those who had originally been slated to perform were asked to confirm that they would be available for the rescheduled happening. Fine… I did that.

WARNING 4: I didn't hear from anyone until mid-August… for a festival in November, this is insanely late! Most festivals that I play schedule at least 6 months to a year in advance. Inside this time frame, it's too difficult for WORKING bands to find support gigs and route tours. By this point, my band was already booked Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, so my performance options were limited.

WARNING 5: I'd never heard of the people who contacted me after this – they were not Texas residents and I wasn't at all sure who the players were in this new drama.

WARNING 6: Sets length was truncated to 30 minutes, according to the communication, due to "… the amount of artist we have performing." Notice the use of "amount" as opposed to "number" in this explanation, thus equating the "performers" to a commodity such as beer! In addition, if there WERE a performer that might draw locally, it'd be hardly worth the effort to catch a 30 minute set – not to mention the stiff $35 day pass.

WARNING 7: There would be over 150 performers on 8 stages! YIKES… I don't think I've ever seen a startup festival with more than one main stage and perhaps an acoustic tent! What the….????

WARNING 8: No one locally seems to know anything about this festival.

WARNING 9: There's no actual photo or real description of the festival grounds. As far as I can see on Google Maps, it's a big undeveloped area behind the outlet mall, later accurately described by one actual musician who DID play as "…a big, barren, dusty, empty field."

WARNING 10: The scheduled dates are November 14-16… IN CENTRAL TEXAS????  Did no one consult an almanac? I've seen Novembers in this region that rivaled a Southeast Asian MONSOON SEASON for constancy of rainfall. If not the rain, then cold, even SNOW… November is just volatile weather-wise. Imagine SXSW scheduling ONLY outdoor events in March. You can't, can you?

WARNING 11: The music was to be in the above mentioned field… the associated conference to be held at the Embassy Suites, a couple of miles north of the field. Conference event times coincided with performances. My own event was concurrent with the "Roots Music Awards" ceremony… hey, thanks schedulers.

WARNING 12: The organizers didn't seem to have any understanding of what might draw a crowd in Central Texas – certainly not what they had on the bill! Even headliner, Asleep at the Wheel, being a well known but still local act, is good for a packed night at the spoke, but certainly not a FESTIVAL draw! I don't intend ANY slight of ANY performer who signed on to do this thing – but let's get serious. Have you played in Austin and vicinity? (I have to assume they intended to draw from Austin since San Marcos is hardly big enough to supply the expected 100,000 ticket sales.)

Do you know what it takes to draw a crowd in an area where, seven nights a week, world famous performers routinely play for the contents of the tip jar? The best way to get a belly laugh from a club owner is to ask, "What's the guarantee?" HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! Even those who land coveted SXSW showcase spots or ACL appearances learn they STILL have to aggressively promote their gig – there are NO automatic crowds anywhere at any time. My friend, Mike Jasper, who moved to Austin seeking the "Live Music Capital", says that if he were to move again, it would be to the "Live AUDIENCE Capital".

WARNING 13: I've played for a festival crowd as large as 26,000 persons… and I've played at festivals where no one showed up at all. (Topeka Mid America Fair… performers included my own band and Chuck Mead/Shaw Wilson performing as "Dos Cajones". Chuck and Shaw played to me and my band, and conversely, we played to Chuck and Shaw. But… we got paid!!!) I've developed a bit of pre-cognition regarding the viability of events. This event did NOT emit the 26,000 person audience vibe!

So… thirteen being my lucky number, that's enough warning signs. My triskaidekaphilia paid off… my performance was cancelled just as I was leaving home headed for San Marcos. I would never have pulled out of anything I'd previously agreed to do – that's against my personal credo. Instead, I was told that The Augie Meyers project (whatever it was called) could perform only at the time I was slated to play. I tried my best to feign disappointment, but inside I was dancing a jig!

I'm really sorry that this thing DIDN'T work out… the folks behind the Roots Music Association seem to be good people and I think the errors stemmed from zealous idealism, not cynical greed or any other less admirable facet of naiveté. I'd like to see some real independent competitor to SXSW and ACL. It's going to have to start small, though… REAL small, in the wake of this ship wreck.