WV’s Got Talent (has been CANCELLED)!

Recently a friend of ours asked us to write up a little blurb plug for him as part of a bio he’s putting together for his company. It’s actually the second time someone’s asked us to string some praiseworthy sentences together for what they do -- you know, like you see on the back of books:

“From start to finish, Legoland Has WMDs is a white-knuckle ride into the third world nuclear bazaar that this once proud country has become since Gen. Blockhead seized power. The author gives a never before seen peek into who’s making the decisions that affect us all, and offers solutions to bring democracy back to those proud, little people. You’d be MAD not to pick up Legoland Has WMDs, and the author’s first book, Who Stole My Yellowcake?”

It’s fun to do, especially when it’s deserved, and we’re flattered that people’d care what we say.

But it made us think deeper about writing our own praise graphs. You see the one about us covering local bands better than everyone; we can’t prove that, but we set out to cover the coolest local bands and we’ve tried our best. So when we see the talent level bemoaned or unfairly dumped on, we at least want people to be right about it.

Our good friends in The Demon Beat were recently named West Virginia’s best new band by something called the Boston Phoenix. When we hear Boston and Phoenix together our first thoughts are about seeing the 1976 NBA Finals on NBA Classic; it’s a confusing name, for sure, but it’s actually based in Boston.

So they named The Demon Beat West Virginia’s best new band, and we don’t dispute that, although the band has been around for more than two years. The band has been to New York, appeared on radio shows, and have been winning a lot of fans all over, so it’s not a surprise that they’re getting noticed.

The Boston Phoenix, in praising Adam, Tucker and Jordan, said that there were only three good bands in the state, total, and now, The Demon Beat is one of ‘em. Congratulations, Demon Beat, we guess. It’s a kind of backhanded compliment, but hey, any publicity is good publicity.

Who are the other two good bands? If you say Brad Paisley and Kathy Mattea, you don’t understand the question. Although technically, Brad Paisley kicks ass.

And you’ve heard of X-Fest, obviously, the annual fest that X106.3 has each year. We recently came across an article Dave Lavender put together in the Herald-Dispatch talking to Erik Raines and quoting “Loud and Local” host Brandon Woolum on the 2009 edition.

So we swing by the X106.3 page and check out Woolum’s page, and after reading his take on Hydrogyn (awesome), Stitch Rivet, VOA, Split Nixon, and LTGH, we were surprised to read Woolum say “I honestly just wish the local stage would go away,” this from the host of the Loud and Local show.

We’ve talked to Woolum a few times and he is ultra nice. In his post he talks about the drama surrounding local bands being picked and “haters” badmouthing him, we’re not doing that at all. While we would love to book something like a loud and local second stage, he is in almost a lose-lose situation, so we don’t envy him there.

Now, just like all jobs, after so long you’ll probably start to hate it, even a radio gig. And, Woolum says that there’s really not much demand for having the local bands play, and there are monetary factors at play; the money that X106.3 pays the local bands could be better used on landing a national act, he says.

But for all the good things Woolum says about the local bands (with the exception of Hydrogyn, and the inclusion of Split Nixon and Jason Mays, whom we’ve also met and is quite the Kentucky gentleman) it sounds like “the X” may get rid of the loud and local second stage. He talks about there being “roadblocks” involved with putting it on.

And even though X-Fest on the whole may not be our thing (we keep forgetting it’s supposed to be mainly a metal fest), and three quarters of the local bands not up our alley, we’d hate to see it not be there for the local bands. Woolum isn’t badmouthing the tri-state’s talent pool, just kind of tired of dealing with it, it seems.

So is the X buying or selling the L&L second stage? We don’t know. We don’t listen to the radio at all, really, and they know better than us the demand for local bands at X-Fest. Our first instinct is to want to support efforts to cover bands in the form of local radio shows (the one we know about), and get ‘em on a big stage if they deserve it.

We try to give the credit where it’s due, and need to go ahead and write that blurb.