“You don’t learn how to write a song at school, you don’t do a Tafe course on how to play in front of an audience. Small venues were my university. I still go to music pubs and cafes all the time to do some study…a refresher course.” These are words spoken by one of the country’s most acclaimed songwriters, Paul Kelly, in his SLAM Rally speech in 2010.
SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) is a movement born in 2010 when music-loving denizens of Melbourne banded together to praise those bastions of grassroots music and independent emerging artists: Paul Kelly’s aforementioned schools of rock and roll known collectively as live music venues. Over two years SLAM has grown from a Melbourne rally to a national event that celebrates our local musicians in our small venues.
National SLAM Day is on Thursday 23rd February 2012 and you’re invited to band together (snicker – band) with fellow lovers of live music to show support for your local music community and to the future Paul Kelly’s out there. After all, the best way to get behind the cause is put your money where your mouth is and to “vote with your feet”. Pay for your tickets or cover charge, put some cash behind the bar (booze is a major source of revenue for live music venues), and magically elbow your way into the local music community purely by lurking regularly.
In honour of National SLAM Day over 100 venues are holding live gigs for homegrown talent. Check out the full list of shows at the SLAM day Gig guide.
RELATED: Five Ways To Save Live Music Venues
