Print isn't dead, at least not in Santa Barbara, California.
Just ask Sally Barr, the editor/publisher of Music! The Sounds of Santa Barbara, a monthly magazine focusing on the region's diverse music scene, especially its jazz players. And Barr certainly has enough credentials to pull off such a locally-focused publication, having been an integral part of Santa Barbara's music scene since 1992 and leader of the group, the Sally Cats. As the Sally Cats promote their new album, Wonderful Day, Barr took some time to talk about her magazine.
Q: Whose idea was it to start a magazine focusing on the music in the Santa Barbara scene?
A: I had the idea to start Music! The Sounds of Santa Barbara in August of 2009. I had been traveling quite a bit at the time and noticed that many cities had periodicals designated specifically for music and the arts in the area. There are so many different musical organizations in Santa Barbara with a wide variety of genres; I thought it could be useful to have the performances noted all in one place. I have been a performer (on violin, piano, mandolin, and voice) here in Santa Barbara since 1992 with all of the classical organizations as well as with many pop, folk, jazz-fusion (Headless Household), jazz (The Sally Cats), and Americana groups (Gove County String Quartet). Over time, I noticed that audiences were starting to decline. I believe this was partially due to the economy, but also I think the community at large wasn't necessarily aware of the vast array of music to be experienced. I put some feelers out to my colleagues in the community, and within a week, I had the first issue completed with a listing of musicians, teachers, schools, and organizations in the area; an interview with the Music and Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, Maestro Nir Kabaretti, an article written by Sally Greenbaum on how to cope with injuries sustained by musicians, as well as a “Live Music Calendar," and we've grown exponentially from there.
Q: When did the first issue come out?
A: The first issue came out in the last week of August 2009.
Q: What is the music scene like over there and what distinguishes it from others in California such as Los Angeles and San Francisco?
A: Santa Barbara has a much smaller population than these cities, with approximately 100,000 in the city proper, and only 200,000 when you include the surrounding areas. The music scene is overflowing for such a tightly-knit city: we have the Santa Barbara Symphony, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Opera Santa Barbara, multiple choirs, three university level schools with music departments, plus all the local jazz, rock, and pop bands that frequent the local club scene. The Music Academy of the West also calls Santa Barbara home, bringing the highest caliber of young classical musicians and professors from around the globe for two months every summer. There are several series for live music performance: Camerata Pacifica brings classical chamber music to town; the Song Tree Series has a classical and a folk music performance every month; the Cambridge Drive Series, Trinity Backstage, the Santa Barbara Jazz Society, the Santa Barbara Blues Society, the Santa Barbara Music Club, and the Santa Barbara New Music Series all have monthly performances that showcase a wide variety of musicians. Of course, UCSB Arts and Lectures and CAMA bring the top performers from all over the world. We have multiple performance venues, among them three large indoor theaters (the Lobero, the Arlington, and the Granada), as well as an outdoor amphitheater (the Santa Barbara Bowl) that local and touring musicians perform in all year round.
Santa Barbara is also heavily invested in making sure there are music programs available to school age kids. There are great programs in the elementary, middle and high school curricula, and there are after school organizations like BRAVO, The Suzuki School, the Granada Music and Arts Conservatory, the Notes for Notes program, Dancing Drum, The Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, Junior Orchestra and Workshops, as well as several Kindermusic programs and private studios. In addition to all the wonderful musical resources here, I think one thing that makes us really different, and I've heard this said by many local and famous musicians who have come through, is that performers love to play for the Santa Barbara audiences. They are an intimate, personal, educated, and inviting audience. They are avid music lovers, and they are always very appreciative of the artists who perform. The Santa Barbara community at large is very interested in and proud of what our music scene has to offer, and they are thrilled to be a part of its growth.
Q: Would you describe the music scene there as competitive or collaborative?
A: I would describe the Santa Barbara music scene as extremely collaborative. The longer I stay here, the more people I play with, the more I see that musicians of all genres are branching out in different directions to learn from their colleagues and try new things—all with great support from their peers as well as that of the audiences. More musicians are taking chances with their work, and that only encourages and inspires others to do the same. Just last week, the Santa Barbara Symphony had a brilliant first ever and highly regarded collaboration with the State St. Ballet in a new production of Aaron Copland's “Appalachian Spring," and a wonderful new band debuted featuring some of the most talented musicians in town (jazz vocalist Kimberly Ford, Latin bassist Randy Tico, pianist George Friedenthal, and guitarist Alberto Negroni). The individual creative skills they brought together that evening gave birth to a whole new entity that brought down the house.
Q: How many issues are published a year?
A: Music! The Sounds of Santa Barbara is published once a month; we are currently distributing our eighteenth edition, Volume II, Issue 6.
Q: How many are printed?
A: We are currently printing 4,200 copies every month that are distributed all over the greater Santa Barbara area.
Q: How many readers does it have?
A: We usually only have around 50-100 copies left at the end of every month, and the website and Facebook page receive over 20,000 visits every month.
Q: Many national publications are struggling right now because of their online competition. Is it easier to publish a magazine that focuses on a certain region?
A: We are online as well as in print, and I think both serve Santa Barbara quite well. M!SoSB has had such a great response from the audiences, the music community, and from our colleagues in the press. People keep saying “Thank you, we have needed this for so long!" and “You know, I and many other editors in town have always wanted to do this—thanks for taking on the task!"
I think M!SoSB works because both the audience and the musicians themselves truly want this community to succeed and be recognized for all that is here. The music lovers are excited to know that there is one place they can go that will cover many different types of music without a necessarily critical view, and the music makers are delighted and proud to see the community we've worked so hard to build grow to its full potential. We have so much to offer and we're ready to share our music with the world.
Just ask Sally Barr, the editor/publisher of Music! The Sounds of Santa Barbara, a monthly magazine focusing on the region's diverse music scene, especially its jazz players. And Barr certainly has enough credentials to pull off such a locally-focused publication, having been an integral part of Santa Barbara's music scene since 1992 and leader of the group, the Sally Cats. As the Sally Cats promote their new album, Wonderful Day, Barr took some time to talk about her magazine.
Q: Whose idea was it to start a magazine focusing on the music in the Santa Barbara scene?
A: I had the idea to start Music! The Sounds of Santa Barbara in August of 2009. I had been traveling quite a bit at the time and noticed that many cities had periodicals designated specifically for music and the arts in the area. There are so many different musical organizations in Santa Barbara with a wide variety of genres; I thought it could be useful to have the performances noted all in one place. I have been a performer (on violin, piano, mandolin, and voice) here in Santa Barbara since 1992 with all of the classical organizations as well as with many pop, folk, jazz-fusion (Headless Household), jazz (The Sally Cats), and Americana groups (Gove County String Quartet). Over time, I noticed that audiences were starting to decline. I believe this was partially due to the economy, but also I think the community at large wasn't necessarily aware of the vast array of music to be experienced. I put some feelers out to my colleagues in the community, and within a week, I had the first issue completed with a listing of musicians, teachers, schools, and organizations in the area; an interview with the Music and Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, Maestro Nir Kabaretti, an article written by Sally Greenbaum on how to cope with injuries sustained by musicians, as well as a “Live Music Calendar," and we've grown exponentially from there.
Q: When did the first issue come out?
A: The first issue came out in the last week of August 2009.
Q: What is the music scene like over there and what distinguishes it from others in California such as Los Angeles and San Francisco?
A: Santa Barbara has a much smaller population than these cities, with approximately 100,000 in the city proper, and only 200,000 when you include the surrounding areas. The music scene is overflowing for such a tightly-knit city: we have the Santa Barbara Symphony, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Opera Santa Barbara, multiple choirs, three university level schools with music departments, plus all the local jazz, rock, and pop bands that frequent the local club scene. The Music Academy of the West also calls Santa Barbara home, bringing the highest caliber of young classical musicians and professors from around the globe for two months every summer. There are several series for live music performance: Camerata Pacifica brings classical chamber music to town; the Song Tree Series has a classical and a folk music performance every month; the Cambridge Drive Series, Trinity Backstage, the Santa Barbara Jazz Society, the Santa Barbara Blues Society, the Santa Barbara Music Club, and the Santa Barbara New Music Series all have monthly performances that showcase a wide variety of musicians. Of course, UCSB Arts and Lectures and CAMA bring the top performers from all over the world. We have multiple performance venues, among them three large indoor theaters (the Lobero, the Arlington, and the Granada), as well as an outdoor amphitheater (the Santa Barbara Bowl) that local and touring musicians perform in all year round.
Santa Barbara is also heavily invested in making sure there are music programs available to school age kids. There are great programs in the elementary, middle and high school curricula, and there are after school organizations like BRAVO, The Suzuki School, the Granada Music and Arts Conservatory, the Notes for Notes program, Dancing Drum, The Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, Junior Orchestra and Workshops, as well as several Kindermusic programs and private studios. In addition to all the wonderful musical resources here, I think one thing that makes us really different, and I've heard this said by many local and famous musicians who have come through, is that performers love to play for the Santa Barbara audiences. They are an intimate, personal, educated, and inviting audience. They are avid music lovers, and they are always very appreciative of the artists who perform. The Santa Barbara community at large is very interested in and proud of what our music scene has to offer, and they are thrilled to be a part of its growth.
Q: Would you describe the music scene there as competitive or collaborative?
A: I would describe the Santa Barbara music scene as extremely collaborative. The longer I stay here, the more people I play with, the more I see that musicians of all genres are branching out in different directions to learn from their colleagues and try new things—all with great support from their peers as well as that of the audiences. More musicians are taking chances with their work, and that only encourages and inspires others to do the same. Just last week, the Santa Barbara Symphony had a brilliant first ever and highly regarded collaboration with the State St. Ballet in a new production of Aaron Copland's “Appalachian Spring," and a wonderful new band debuted featuring some of the most talented musicians in town (jazz vocalist Kimberly Ford, Latin bassist Randy Tico, pianist George Friedenthal, and guitarist Alberto Negroni). The individual creative skills they brought together that evening gave birth to a whole new entity that brought down the house.
Q: How many issues are published a year?
A: Music! The Sounds of Santa Barbara is published once a month; we are currently distributing our eighteenth edition, Volume II, Issue 6.
Q: How many are printed?
A: We are currently printing 4,200 copies every month that are distributed all over the greater Santa Barbara area.
Q: How many readers does it have?
A: We usually only have around 50-100 copies left at the end of every month, and the website and Facebook page receive over 20,000 visits every month.
Q: Many national publications are struggling right now because of their online competition. Is it easier to publish a magazine that focuses on a certain region?
A: We are online as well as in print, and I think both serve Santa Barbara quite well. M!SoSB has had such a great response from the audiences, the music community, and from our colleagues in the press. People keep saying “Thank you, we have needed this for so long!" and “You know, I and many other editors in town have always wanted to do this—thanks for taking on the task!"
I think M!SoSB works because both the audience and the musicians themselves truly want this community to succeed and be recognized for all that is here. The music lovers are excited to know that there is one place they can go that will cover many different types of music without a necessarily critical view, and the music makers are delighted and proud to see the community we've worked so hard to build grow to its full potential. We have so much to offer and we're ready to share our music with the world.
