We all remember our first: our first concert, our first car, our first love, and our first heartbreak. Absent of these painfully blissful experiences, there would be little need for a music summit, much less any music at all, music written and performed, to immortalize the story.  This past weekend, a first-time four-day event planted the seed for unity and community for its attendees. 

Tasha Johnson, a Denver band manager sat down with me and shared her insights from the seminars and the music, at the Colorado Music Summit, held on November 8th – 11th, 2007 in Denver, Colorado.

Event registration began Thursday at the Curtis Hotel, with guest speakers, Nick Forster, President, E-Town, Chuck Morris, President, C.E.O., A.E.G. Live, Don Strasburg, A.E.G. Live, and Speech (Arrested Development). The event branched out to many of the musical establishments of Denver, including Cervantes’s Masterpiece Ballroom, and Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey.


Tasha, Did you pick up any tips from the seminars?

    You can’t be in it for the money.  You have to be in it for the music, or it will never work. 

Did you feel it was a success?

    It was a success among the bands who participated.  We all attended each other’s shows.  There were over 75 bands,  locally, nationally, and internationally.  It turned out to be a networking of bands, instead of a festival for fans. It’s so hard to tour out of town, to book gigs.  You can create a loyal fan base and an out-of-state network without all the headaches.  Every fan was a band member who became a fan that night. 

With so many bands, did it support local music?

    Being that it was the first Colorado Music Summit, they totally supported the local music scene by how many Colorado bands they booked in their showcase.

You manage the band Home (www.myspace.com/thebandhome). 
How did your band benefit?

    We hung out with bands from Ireland, California, South Carolina, and New York City.  We drank, talked about doing shows together, about possible touring.  We would have never had the opportunity to meet so many bands and connect like that.  We saw that we could all help each other out, to meet a common goal.


I am intrigued.  There are so many other questions to ask you. 
How did you become a band manager? What was it like to play out of state at two festivals this year? 
We haven’t even talked about how great of a year that 2007 has been for Home. 
Can we get together for more interviews?

     Depends, (she says smiling).  Is the Cheesecake Factory in your budget?

 

Okay, so here’s the skinny. I provided the link, to make the music from the CMSs’ bands available.  If you want to know what it all means, read on here.  What we’re talking about are three topics: C-town’s first music summit, the band Home, and Tasha.  Let’s cover the summit first. 

At the very moment Tasha was at the Summit, I learned, through a free local paper, Life on Capitol Hill, that there’s a monster summer event being planned for Denver, 2008. It’s no wonder someone like Chuck Morris was in town.  And, I’m sure that the local venues are going to draw off that crowd, not to mention the city itself. Can you say cha-ching? Tasha is pickin’ up on how important networking is.  It’s how the shot callers and shot calla’s make their living.  And I’m pickin’ up on the promoters’ vision of a city humpin’, bumpin’, and rockin’. It’s time to network, peeps, let’s network, network, network. 

Now, let’s deal with Home.  Home is self-described as a Folkadelic Jamgrass Funksplosion.  They deliver on each description.  Period.   If you don’t believe me, go to their show.  Surely, a writer’s proclamation is open for debate.  Even lyrics are refutable.  But, a room full of butts shakin’, show after show, confirms as scientific evidence that Home has something brewing in their six-member band that can’t be acquired in any potion.  Tasha was very proud of Home’s performance during the CMS.  “Home’s a live band,” she said. “They shine in their most critical moments.”

 
Lastly, there’s Tasha herself. 
She is elusive.  Her interview answers were short and business-minded.  She’s been known to stand in the shadows at a Home show, but she’s never refused to talk about music with anyone.  Despite her shared insights on the CMS, elusive she shall remain.  Elusive, too, may be our memories of our first:  our first concert, our first love, and our first heartbreak. 

However, as long as musicians inspire other musicians to immortalize the memory in song, and promoters are out there providing a platform - and throw in some shakin’ butts, beer, and music, there is the promise for the experience of another first.

    

    

http://coloradomusicsummit.com

www.myspace.com/thebandhome