JW Entertainments promotes Owensboro music scene

Matt Weafer
Messenger-Inquirer

It's all about the music. That's the motto for JW Entertainments, a local group dedicated to establishing a thriving music scene in Owensboro. Using MySpace.com, an online profile blogging web site, JW Entertainments is trying to overcome the physical and cultural obstacles that Owensboro presents.

Sixteen-year-old Jared Wright founded JW Entertainments about nine months ago with the help of about 30 friends who now work on his Street Team, spreading the music scene message.

"I've been passionate about music since the sixth grade," Wright said. "And I'm tired of growing up in a town without a music scene. So, I have set myself on a mission — start the scene."

The key to promoting the scene, Wright said, is by spreading the word among friends. One of his media of advertising is the Internet, primarily MySpace.com, a free cyber profile website. “MySpace is one of the best promotional tools that's been invented,” Logan Howard, a member of the JW Entertainments Street Team said. “This is a MySpace generation.”

Recently JW Entertainments helped plan Shamrock Fest at Kentucky Wesleyan College on March 18.

The scene that Wright envisions would provide a place in town that any teenager can go on the weekends for a show. He's targeting teenagers not just because he is one himself, but because Owensboro offers little for people under the age of 21. "We have bars, the movies, and the mall," he said, "but for kids under age, all there is is the movies and the mall."

The mall closes at 9:00 p.m. and the movies are expensive, Wright said, so what’s a kid to do?

If there was a venue in Owensboro that focused specifically on sponsoring concerts, Wright said, "it would give kids somewhere to go to keep out of trouble."

To establish the scene, Wright is doing everything he can to promote bands, plan concerts, and spread the word that teenagers don't have to travel to Evansville, Nashville or Louisville to catch a concert; they can stay right here.

"We have the Wildcat Saloon and The Brother's Pizza," Wright said, "but you have to be 21 to get into the Wildcat, and the Brothers don't have steady shows all the time."

According to Wright, not only are music fans forced to travel out of town to attend concerts, but Owensboro bands have to do the same.

According to Logan Howard, a KWC student, and drummer for The Cleansing Fire, A lot of friends and bands are moving to towns where there are music scenes, because Owensboro doesn’t have much to offer.

"Jared knows where he's going with this and I'm just trying to do what I can to help,” Howard said. “I'm working with him to help him wherever he needs it."

Howard was a key figure in planning this year's Shamrock Fest. Several bands drew a large, enthusiastic crowd. Howard doesn't have the number of attendants yet, but he's sure they were higher than last year’s.

According to Howard, the reception to an Owensboro music scene is large. "A lot of people want a bigger scene," he said. But, he also said, there are obstacles: "The scene is not happening because of the culture in Owensboro."

AnDrew Edwards, one of the brothers from The Brother’s Pizza said, "It seems like there's problems with the support of the community. There is some negative stigma associated to rock concerts."

According to Matt Edwards, The Brother’s Pizza has been accused of promoting satanic rock bands and corrupting the youth of Owensboro with rock and roll.

"I don't think kids and parents really appreciate the venue we have here," AnDrew Edwards said. The Brother's Pizza is an alcohol-free establishment that welcomes all ages. "It's not a bar atmosphere here," he said. "It's gonna be a safe environment that we're not going to let anything happen."

Only a Junior at Owensboro Catholic High School, Wright said the biggest obstacle isn’t just the Owensboro culture, but his age. “It’s hard to set up venues and have bands take you seriously when you’re only 16,” Wright said. Wright also struggles with other legal aspects of being a minor; he isn’t able to sign contracts to rent venues, and finding someone trustworthy enough to sign for him is difficult on its own.

According to Wright, he will be happy with the music scene in Owensboro when there is a place for teenagers to go every weekend and enjoy live music. In the future he plans to open his own record store where he will host live shows all weekend long. Until that is possible, Wright said, he and his Street Team will continue to pound the pavement and spread the word about the underground Owensboro music scene that simply refuses to fade into black.