When you live in a small town

This in "I think this comes.." = buying discs out of obligation, fantasy desires of a "scene", not for listening pleasure.

punk kids i knew when I went to high school in Delaware tried (and now in college continue to try) very hard to start and support a 'scene'. i say more power to 'em.

i mean, yeah, it sucks if people are just talking the talk and not actually listening to each other or really trying to be any good, but if the effort's real and sincere, then great.

it takes time for a "scene" to be worth talking about even. at the very least, it sounds like people are recognizing that music in and of itself has some value. Eventually some of these bands will get good and be worth listening to.
You can't control a scene, you can only control you.

yours truly, Dr. Phil DeRogatis

you say no one famous ever came from here

"punk kids i knew when I went to high school in Delaware"

Ha, really? when was that? I was probably one of those. Delaware did have a bunch of good bands around the 'scene' like Nero, Zen Guerilla, Racoon, Young Vulgarians, Boy Sets Fire, etc. plenty of people actually listened and liked them. Things went a little down hill after some those bands went national or moved on. (some are still around) The punk scene does get tons of support, but a lot of the bands aren't too good and fizzle out. Which is probably true with any small city. The thing about Delaware is that it's so close to Baltimore or Philly that thier scenes often overlaps.

Well, I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Prob'ly die in a small town
Oh, those small communities

All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity

Educated in a small town
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another boring romantic that's me

I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town
Now she's small town just like me

No, I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be

Got nothing against a big town
Still hayseed enough to say
Look who's in the big town
But my bed is in a small town

Well, I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
And that's prob'ly where they'll bury me ...

Just fuckin' go for it man. A high enough level of activity generates its own critical mass. Fuck what anybody anywhere else thinks either.

Gosh I hope Dave Q isn't being sarcastic, because he's completely right.

I (still) live in a small burb and in high school we created our own little self-important niches. Shows in friend's backyards,Mixtapes, zines all that shit. Which I think is critical when your Young and creative so you don't end up looking at your classmates through a rifle scope.

Athens, Ga and Olympia, Wa were pretty podunk small towns once too. Keep any boosterism orthodoxy to a minimum and scenes can be great at fostering, supporting creativity.

"Villify this place and people say you've got no roots
But all I want for Christmas is a pair of walking boots
To get out of this village "

i think a "scene" is an organic state born out of a common love. if everyone is, as you say, buying the discs but not listening to them i'd say what you have on your hands in a clique, not a scene.

not that it's a way for a scene to start but i wouldn't get too wrapped up in labeling what you've got.