The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/27337
Casual Chit Chat Each week, we have a casual conversation with a member of the community. This week, Promoter Jon Weiss of the Oneonta Theatre and Cassandra Miller chit chat, casually. You do the bookings for the Oneon- ta Theatre, whose official opening of its second season is March 25 with a show by The Felice Brothers. How do you decide what shows to book? I try to bring in shows that will fill the room, that will bring in 500-plus people. And I try to accommodate the tastes of the area. Our motto’s “Showing Oneonta a good time since 1897,” and we really want to bring in shows that will entertain the population here. You’ve got to keep it diverse and varied, too. There’s a demographic here that’s hard to book _ we’re either not big enough or we’re too big. There are some indie acts (like Cake and Les Savy Fav) that I’d love to bring here, but there’s not a big enough audience, and there are mainstream acts that we’re too small for. How’d you get started in the music business? I started like a good bunch of promoters do _ I was in a band. I found that as time went by, I found it was easier to book my own shows _ that DIY mentality. I’d always been in a working band, and I went on to putting on shows. In the ’80s and ’90s, I was in a band called the Vipers, it was a garage rock band. I created a festival, Cavestomp!, and started a record label. It was fun. I put reunions together for these underground punk bands from the 1960s. What brought you upstate? I own a home in Franklin, and I’ve always loved Oneonta. The first time I visited One- onta, I brought my daughter here about six years ago _ when she was 4. There was one of those rent-a-Santas in the plaza on Main Street in front of the Clarion, and she said, “Santa, how did you know I’d be here?” And I’ve liked Oneonta ever since. I noticed Oneonta was gearing toward a youth culture with the opening up of tattoo parlors and coffee shops, and it was becom- ing more of an arts community. Oneonta’s got a lot of potential for being a destination for arts and entertainment _ it’s near major markets like Albany, Binghamton, Syracuse, Ithaca. You certainly have an arts community here _ musicians, poets, painters _ there’s definitely an arts mentality here. It could be a Woodstock in a couple of years. And when you have city politicos wanting to see it go in that direction, there’s potential for that to happen. What do you think Oneonta needs? From a promoter’s point of view, it needs more bands to move to this area and it needs a bigger local music scene. Four or five years ago, when I was booking at Warsaw (a music venue in Brooklyn), the openers would be The Felice Brothers and Band of Horses. We can all see how that kind of music has become its own category _ and it’s rooted in this area. It has the makings of a scene. I like that kind of music and it’s good for business. I’d like to see them pop up in Oneonta. It’s got all the makings for it, it just doesn’t have the musicians, it doesn’t have the bands. I’m not equating Oneonta with Williamsburg (in Brooklyn), but I remember when musicians were moving to that area because of the af- fordable housing, and it became a destina- tion. I’d love to see that kind of thing happen here. A STRING OF FAVORITES: What’s your favorite show you’ve seen recently _ not including ones at the Oneonta Theatre? (Laughing). My favorite show to date was taking my 9-year-old daughter to see the Jonas Brothers, because she was in a full-on panic. At one point she said to me, “Don’t you think Joe Jo- nas’ pants are too tight?” What’s your favorite music venue (apart from the One- onta Theatre)? It’s everyone’s favorite music venue, but it’s long defunked. CBGB. It was my favorite back in its day. I watched The Police play CBGB with 12 other people on a Tuesday, and one of them was David Bowie. It was in- credible. The Police were nowhere. This was their first tour, and they were playing any- where and everywhere. There was Sting in his flight suit. Yeah, CBGB would be my favorite club _ how could it not be? Who are your favorite artists from each of the stages of your life _ through adolescence, through young adulthood and after? Up to about the age of 16 or 17, it would’ve been David Bowie. I was a Stones fan and a Zeppelin fan, but I really liked Da- vid Bowie. Through my twenties and into my fifties, there’s only one band when it’s all said and done, and that’s The Ramones. They’re the ultimate rock band. If you asked me what I would want to hear the last two and a half minutes of my life, it would be The Ramones. Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I don’t. When I think of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, I think of drinking green beer starting at 7 a.m. and I don’t do that. What’s the best part about living in the Oneonta area? I love just the beauty of the area and the speed at which you move, which isn’t fast. There’s a nice quality of this area that can make you kind of mist up. I can’t explain. I’ve met a lot of nice people here who are awfully good at what they do. There’s a genuine warmth and friendliness I find here. Keep a look out for the O-Town Scene’s new website, which wil be launching soon at www.otownscene.com March 17, 2011 O-Town Scene 7 Cassandra Miller What are your non-music hobbies? Motorcycles and aikido, a martial art.