Dear Friends in Music,MiTH is evolving in two important ways – and we need to make all our musical friends aware.
1. As of the beginning of October, 2017, MiTH will BECOME A VENUE THAT PAYS MUSICIANS (our door charge will go up to R30 per person to help facilitate this).
2. At the same time, MITH WILL BECOME FORTNIGHTLY instead of weekly. OUR FIRST MEETING IN OCTOBER WILL BE ON THE 11th.
The obvious question in response to both changes is: “WHY?” Let’s answer each question in turn.
The obvious question in response to both changes is: “WHY?” Let’s answer each question in turn.
PAYING MUSICIANS: the truth is that, while MiTH started out as a jam among amateurs and anyone else who wanted to join in, increasingly professionals are now gracing us with their talents. The organisers have decided, after three years of maintaining a purely amateur ethos, that it’s important to recognise this. Also – we have now purchased more or less everything we need in terms of equipment (which is why we charged in the first place), and we aren’t in this to make a profit – so we’d like to pay the musicians. At the same time, we will keep space for amateurs, too. So: the FIRST FEW SETS will be dedicated to open mic and amateurs, and will remain unpaid, and the LAST FEW SETS of each meeting will be for musos who get paid.
FORTNIGHTLY MEETINGS: Our meetings have been going strong, so there's no reason to think MiTH is suffering in any way, but the simple truth is that the organisers are finding it a lot of work, and halving the number of meetings will halve the workload and enable us to remain fresh, enthusiastic and keep MiTH sustainable. The process of finding and marketing our artists, being at MiTH on a Wednesday evening to set up, mix sound, run the door and emcee is highly demanding.
It is also important to note that we are in contact with the Maritzburg Musicians’ Club and we will ALTERNATING WITH MMC – so there will be live music you can go to every week…one week in Sleepy Hollow at MMC on a Tuesday, and one week in Hilton at MiTH on a Wednesday.
OUR FIRST MEETING IN OCTOBER WILL BE ON THE 11th.
There are, of course, pros and cons to being weekly and to being fortnightly – we don’t deny that at all, but our first priority is to have MiTH continue – and in a way that is sustainable for the volunteers who make it happen. We think this is good for music. Thank you, again, for your continued support. We promise to keep the amazing music coming.
AGAIN - OUR FIRST MEETING IN OCTOBER WILL BE ON THE 11TH.
With great respect and love to all
MiTH organisers.
News supplied by MiTH.