The Dirty White recently published the above picture of an email they received from Art Bar on their twitter account. We found the email in poor taste and decided to post the original email from The Dirty White and the reply here on Scene SC.
This is the email that started it. From The Dirty White, to Art Bar.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to follow up with you. We had a great time when we played there the 23rd, and were looking to hopefully come back and rock with you guys again sometime soon. We’re taking off Nov and Dec to write/record, but maybe we could set something up for January.
Thanks,
Wes Gilliam
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www.thedirtywhite.com
www.myspace.com/thedirtywhite
www.loudspeakerpr.tumblr.com/thedirtywhite
Response from Art Bar
On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 5:06 PM, Art Bar Booking-Marty Fort wrote:
No one came to that show.
I am not interested in having you back.
Please contact newbrooklandtavern.com and stop telling Columbia bands you will draw in this market, as you do not.
You are from Florence so my advice is to STAY in Florence.
Marty
And a Response.
On Oct 31, 2010, at 5:49 PM, The Dirty White wrote:Thanks for the advice, we will make note. However, we were asked to play the show by other local bands b/c they liked our music, not b/c we made false promises of packing out the club. We appreciate your bluntness, however we found your remarks in bad taste and very unprofessional. There are ways of telling bands you are not interested in having them back without feeling the need to go for blood. We will not be contacting your establishment again.Best Regards,The Dirty White
And Reply
From: Art Bar Booking-Marty Fort
Date: Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 5:56 PM
Subject: Re: The Dirty White/Follow Up
To: The Dirty WhiteYou may have found my remarks in bad taste, but the club lost out on money on the dates you played.
As far as going for the blood, this is a business.You should take note that I’ve booked this bar for 6 years by running off bands like yours that do not draw anyone in our market.Before you contact Newbrookland I suggest you be prepared to bring 50 people to their club.If you cannot, than as I stated before STAY IN FLORENCE!
Marty
For the past two years our main focus at Scene SC has been to help promote a healthy music community. At times things have gotten a little bit dirty, but they never really strayed from the purpose of pushing the bands and people in the community that work hard to make this a better music scene.
Above is an example of The Dirty White being classy guys. Everyone in Columbia that has met them will attest to that.
This response was completely unprofessional, unnecessary and reflects poorly on the establishment that Marty Fort books for and the overall Columbia music scene. We all know booking bands is a business, but I’m not sure how someone has booked bands for 6 years with this type of attitude.
Here are two reasons I was hesitant about posting these emails.
1) My cousin Bentz Kirby sets up a lot of great shows at Art Bar. He is one of the best supporters of the Columbia music scene out there and truly cares about creating a positive music environment. I don’t want his shows to suffer.
2) I’m not about hurting Art Bar’s business. I’m not about pulling business from any local establishments, much less one that supports music.
But here is the bottom line. They have lost my business and they have lost the business of a lot of my friends. I’ve already talked to bands that draw there, that don’t plan on playing there anymore and I’ve talked to a lot of people that are regulars that don’t plan on going there anymore.
Booking shows is a business, but running off talented bands with a strong fan base in Columbia is not good business. Running off a band that just played Music Crawl a couple of weeks before is bad business. Sending completely unprofessional emails to out of town, well connected talented bands is BAD business.
If you follow The Dirty White, they referenced that Art Bar show as one of the best they’ve ever had. We’ve always told them that Art Bar would be a perfect fit for their band, but now we see how wrong we were. We won’t be telling any other bands to play at Art Bar.
Music in this town will always find a venue. Whether it be us booking free shows at Bey’s, New Brookland being a stand up establishment, it happening behind El Burrito, outside in 5 Points or in someone’s house, good music will find a home. The Dirty White will always be welcome in Columbia, the last thing that we need is for the unique to South Carolina, good music they play to STAY IN FLORENCE.