Syracuse Ska Forum

One of my heroes, bluesman RL Burnside, passed away on Thursday, and I got to talking with a friend about it last night, how that breed of hypnotic, earthy musician is going extinct because the context that spawned them no longer exists.

SkaDanny mentioned that Mike Park would love to sign a modern analogue to the Specials.

The Specials formed in a time of social upheaval and ethnic tensions.

The shows I've been to (all in WNY, granted) have been overwhelmingly white and middle-class.

Broad generalizations, all. Make of them what you will.

Many of us have been talking about this for some years now. The poppier the ska gets, the more it appeals to middle class white kids. If you want a short answer, that's it.

When you check out trad ska or non-poppy ska, you'll see a much more diverse audience, because it appeals to a wider group. Ska in NYC and LA is very multi-cultural, as is society in general.

FWIW, expect to see me book more "urban" style ska in Syracuse. Like, I'd love to book Bomb Town or Bedouin Soundclash, for example.

There is no shortage of that style of ska in America, but those bands aren't as well known as the poppier ones. And I think we should all work on that.

I'd be absolutely thrilled to see Bedouin Soundclash.



But, I can't see Bomb Town exactly being a big 'bridge gapper'...

I could be wrong though.

Moi aussi. Jay is such a nice guy. And they were absolutely AMAZING at Warped Tour.

Hehe. I can't WAIT to go see them over Columbus Day weekend in NJ.

Yeah. I wasn't asking a question so much as hoping to start a discussion on the matter. Ska gets pigeonholed as a specific sound (that appeals to a relatively narrow group,) and I wanted input on that phenomenon. Developing greater audience diversity is a worthwhile goal (and makes good economic sense, too.)

I like a variety of ska styles, and I intend to put my money where my mouth is as a promoter.

For starters, there are some talented reggae bands in Rochester, and I hope we can work the edges between the genres. Jazz and blues also have a strong presence here, but I have no clue how to bridge that gap.

Yeah, we have some AMAZING Jazz and Blues musicians in Syracuse. And I too wish that somehow we could work with them and get kids into them or something.

Some ska bands more obviously use the R'n'B side of ska and that would be the most obvious way to proceed on that ...