A Local Music Scene as a Social Field

Sociologist and anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) provides a framework for understanding social phenomena through his three main interlocking “thinking tools”: field, capital, and habitus (Maton 2008). According to Bourdieu, interactions occur within social fields; these interactions can be seen as a game with the players vying for accumulation of capitals (Bourdieu 2005; Thomson 2008). He identified four types of capital: economic, cultural, social, and symbolic (as well as several sub-types), positing that it is “impossible to account for the structure and functioning of the social world unless one reintroduces capital in all its forms and not solely in the one form recognized by economic theory” (Bourdieu 2006).

In conducting analysis of the data I collected, I took the liberty of building from Bourdieu’s framework in order to understand the social phenomena of a local music scene. Scholar of Bourdieu, Patricia Thomson (2008) notes that Bourdieu’s field theory “must be understood as a scholastic device—an epistemological and methodological heuristic—which helps researchers to devise methods to make sense of the world.” In organizing the plethora of information, I found that the insights could be organized into distinct, yet interrelated, areas. Taking cues from Bourdieu, I named the areas in terms of the “capital” they represent in the field of Savannah’s local music scene.

Physical capital: the role of space in enabling a music scene – Although Bourdieu does not identify a specific capital for elements of the built environment, in analyzing data it became clear that it was important to call out this form of capital. Nearly all interviewees in this study commented that the absence of mid-sized venues in Savannah poses a major barrier to the growth of a music scene.

It’s definitely been challenging because we tend to only have venues that are about 200 capacity and then we jump up to about 1100 … and there’s not much in between. And most of the touring acts that have some name recognition need and want to play the kind of 300-600 size venue, which we don’t have. (Kayne Lanahan, interviewee)

Additionally, due to certain regulations, Savannah has a shortage of venues that admit patrons under the age of 21—a significant potential audience group. Anna Chandler, local musician, said her biggest problem with Savannah’s music scene is the inaccessibility of live music to audiences under age 21:

I think that being a college town, for one, it’s outrageous … When you do have that age group come out, they are the most excited about it, they are the ones that are going to make mix CDs, they are the ones that have their parents’ money and are going to buy your merchandise, and, like I remember being in Greenville and indie bands come through and you cling to that so intently, that becomes your band. But that age bracket is just totally cut out of it [here] … It’s just really hard for your scene to grow if you don’t have that audience, they aren’t even allowed to be there.

Touring performers often skip over Savannah, even though it is located close to a major interstate and would be a convenient stop on Southeastern tour routes. The venue problem is one of the major deterrents; touring musicians tend to opt for shows in other cities in the Southeast that have cultural amenities like mid-sized venues and admittance for underage audiences. According to Angel Bond, lead singer for Savannah band CUSSES and operator of small informal venue No Control, “We get skipped because we don’t have [mid-sized venues]. A mid-sized venue would crush it here.”

A recent article by Michael Seman, University of Texas doctoral candidate in urban planning and public policy identified specific music venues in Austin, Seattle, and Omaha as “legendary music venues that fostered scenes later embraced by local leaders as catalysts for economic development.” His article went on to state that “despite these successes, there’s little formal research into how these venues emerged or what economic value they truly hold. At a time when cities are competing for the highly skilled, mobile workforce that wants first-rate cultural amenities, this seems a notable oversight” (Seman 2012).

It is notable, too, that each of the cities recognized as a top music city (Figure 2) have at least one mid-sized music venue. Even in the small music cities, those venues are nationally recognized. Athens, GA has the 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theater; Asheville, NC has The Orange Peel; Charleston, SC has the Music Farm. All of these venues allow patrons of the 18 to 21 age group.

As a local community organizer remarked in conversation, venues act as a physical manifestation of the local music scene. They enable interaction between audience members, between audience members and musicians, between musicians, and—importantly—between local musicians and non-local touring musicians (a subject discussed in the next section).

Finally, data revealed a desire for more visible, outdoor music and public spaces conducive to visible, outdoor music. Kayne described her wish of being able to walk around town on a Saturday afternoon and there would be stages with live music gatherings. “We have such a good climate here, and we have so many beautiful outside spaces,” she said.

Social capital: symbiosis and diversity in the ecosystem – Not only do venues and audiences attract touring bands to a city, but local bands in that city are needed in order to attract touring bands. And, symbiotically, touring bands are needed to spark development of local bands. Indie musician Dare Dukes summed it up: “I think one of the things you need for a thriving arts scene of any kind is an infrastructure for cross-pollination between local artists and national artists.” Laura Pleasants of the internationally-known Savannah-based metal band Kylesa explained that these relationships were instrumental to the development of her band:

We had this underground network … I knew all these people in these other towns who were in bands, and I knew who were the popular bands in each town. “Okay, that band draws, let’s play with them, and if they ever want to come to Savannah, we’ll trade a show.” So that’s how we used to do it. And it worked well.

Others supported this notion, including a musician in a young touring band from Canada, who described his band’s touring strategy as being reliant on relationships with other bands.

Throughout this study, I’ve taken note of perceptions expressed about the Savannah Music Festival. It undeniably brings world-class musicians to Savannah for three weeks each year. Local musicians do not typically perform as part of the festival. Thus, the infrastructure for cross-pollination among local and national musicians is not part of the festival, which is a point of tension for some residents. One local art and music advocate even described efforts to host an anti-Savannah-Music-Festival event, which would showcase only local musicians.

There is a wide array of types of musicians in Savannah, which was an important insight. Musicians can be classified based on multiple axes: hobbyist vs. professional, workhorse vs. artist, local vs. national, and new vs. established. Musicians tend to fall in different places along a broad spectrum of each axis, making for a diverse and complex ecosystem of musicians. This led to generating a typology of Savannah musicians and set of musician archetypes².

As discussed in the Introduction, music, by nature, has potential to be rich in social capital. It has the capacity to inspire communitas. The interviewees in this study confirmed the hypothesis. The most common theme that emerged among all interviews was: Music unites people. How, then, might the unifying power of music be channeled toward empowering the local music scene?

Cultural capital: constructing the narrative of place – Dare Dukes says of recognized music mecca Athens, Georgia: “The nice thing about a place like Athens is there is this kind of lore about it. It’s a famous music town, so there’s a certain amount of caché that comes from being there.” Kayne Lanahan echoed those sentiments:

Athens has such a long history of it, going back to R.E.M. and the B52s and that’s a market that literally has created some really mega star bands … It’s still a market that creates a pipeline of new music and bands … I think that’s just become sort of a badge, you know, once you’ve got one R.E.M., if you say, “Oh, I’m from Athens, Georgia”, they’re like, “Oh, that’s where R.E.M.’s from” … I think it sort of self-perpetuates.

Many of the top music cities tend to have generated a particular music movement or genre, such that a style grew to be associated with the city. This was the case for Nashville and country music, New Orleans and jazz, Memphis and blues, Atlanta and hip-hop, Asheville and acoustic folk, and Athens and indie folk. This cultural capital has real impacts. For one, it provides a scene for local residents, entertainment for tourists while they visit, and a point of orientation for new residents and visitors. But it also creates a city that becomes a place of pilgrimage for fans in search of the “authentic” source of that music, and who will come from far and wide to hear its performance in situ (Stokes Jones, pers. comm.). Certainly, the cities that have achieved that kind of a status offer a wider array of music genres than the one with which they are primarily associated. But it is their observable distinctiveness that has given them an advantage.

So, what is Savannah’s sound, and does Savannah need to have a distinctive sound if we want a recognized music scene? This has been a subject of much conjecture in Savannah’s local media of late. In August 2012, blogger Savannah Red said, as compared to cities like Nashville and Austin, “Savannah’s sound seems to be much more fragmented and diffuse which, to me, seems less able to be understood by the masses.” Others argue that diversity makes the scene more interesting and is one of Savannah’s greatest musical assets. Some would say genre divisions have become irrelevant in this era of music. Still others believe that Savannah does have a distinct sound.

Economic capital: reifying the value of music – In 2001, the city of Austin, Texas, one of the medium-sized model music cities, completed an economic impact assessment of their music scene. They determined that the music industry in Austin at that time generated:

$616 million in economic activity
11,200 jobs
$11 million in tax revenues
(TXP, Inc. 2001)