Agent71857 wrote:

I’m from Pittsburgh, but I spend a lot of time in Delaware... I’ve always found it surprising that there are not some surf bands kicking it down there. Not exactly sure why that is, but I surely intend to bring Vertigo-Go down there. Back home in the burgh We’ve somehow managed to get ourselves in the position of actually being asked to do gigs more than we pursue them. And we’re not the only ones! The Turbosonics are an amazing surf band and play in town all the time! On top of all this we now have about half a dozen bands in town play either straight up surf or some variation thereof. This may seem off topic, but my point is... if we can pull this off in Pittsburgh, PA, you can do it ANYWHERE! We will definitely bring some surf to slower lower Delaware!

I am from Pittsburgh as well and have seen both Vertigo-go and The Turbosonics quite a few times. They never disappoint. I think it is an overall decline of new bands forming and older bands not gigging because featuring live music in your establishment is not a draw anymore. As someone who owned a music education business for many years, kids just don't want to commit to an instrument these days and the guitar as a composition tool has been replaced with the laptop.

I live in Delaware and also have a house at the beach. I've attempted to play surf with other musicians here, but most are pretty close-minded to doing anything other than what they specifically have in mind. I'd prefer to play non-trad surf or traditional surf in a non-trad style (Man Or Astroman, Mermen, etc.). I played in the Alvarados here years ago, and we mixed quite a few instrumental songs into our sets. There have been other good instro bands here, as well- the Elk Tones, etc. Check in with me if you're serious about wanting to play surf in Delaware, but if you do, be able to be open-minded. It also helps to have reliable transportation and decent gear. Cheers!

Boss_Daddy_Meltdown wrote:

vanemeth wrote:

I am from Pittsburgh as well and have seen both Vertigo-go and The Turbosonics quite a few times. They never disappoint. I think it is an overall decline of new bands forming and older bands not gigging because featuring live music in your establishment is not a draw anymore. As someone who owned a music education business for many years, kids just don't want to commit to an instrument these days and the guitar as a composition tool has been replaced with the laptop.

As a guitar teacher I can say this...I have 17 GTR students, only 2 of them are boys. The rest are girls...who are into either Taylor Swift, Country music or Billie Eilesh (some youtube flash-in-the-pan)….and the 2 boys?...One is really into Chet Atkins/Doc Watson, the other is just 7yo and isn't really into anything specific...NONE of these kids are into straight Rock music.

I’ve wondered about that. I was an active teacher in the ‘70s and ‘80s and it was a very different world then, when it came to music. Most of my students were young men and most of these wanted to play Rock. There were some Country fans in the mix and the girls tended to gravitate towards Folk.

Other than some fairly informal teaching, I haven’t done much since the ‘8s, but a good friend still teaches and his studio is very near the store where I taught, as in 1/2 block away. He told me that the ultra serious students are less common these days. He still keeps busy, but he’s not necessarily teaching them to the depth he would have 40 years ago.

It’s funny, because 40 years ago, he and I were young bucks lamenting the fact that everyone wanted to play rock, while we were into Chet and Johnny Smith. Nowadays, a lot of people wouldn’t recognize either of those names. The BeBop players we used to study are ancient history and I can’t think of any place where such music would sell as live entertainment.

Surf is a niche and will probably exist as such for some time to come. I sure hope so.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

It’s hard to believe, but I guess nothing stays the same.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

East Coast beaches are not big on surf; especially Delaware-Maryland and Virginia. They tend to cater to the tourist crowd and play covers, blues and classic rock. Same scene in Ocean City, MD. It's not for bands not trying, there is little interest by local clubs, and not a good music scene to begin with - they want to cater to the younger people who aren't interested in surf and the family vacationers who just want to hear what's on the radio. Delaware may have a lot of beach territory, but it's not really heavily populated when compared to Ocean City and Virginia Beach. It traditionally has a lot of weekend warrior/family vacationers and a heavy high school/college beach town crowd that want to drink and party. I've lived in the area and stopped going to the Maryland beaches due to overcrowding and just not a relaxing experience.

I think bands would be willing to play, but although surf is big still on the west coast, on the east coast pop and blues are considered more "beach" music than surf. Ugh!

Surfcat

MARCH OF THE DEAD SURFERS! (2024) - Agent Octopus
Wake up Jimmy! It's Christmastime! (2024) - Agent Octopus (Single)

YOUTUBE - Agent Octopus Surf

I don't even think George Washington even knew where Delaware was

There use to be a ancient whitewashed tree on route 52 that supposedly George Washington tied a horse up to during the Battle of Brandywine during the Revolution. But I think that was the only visit he made to Delaware.

Surf isn't dead, Delaware is. I use to live there for 55 years.

Like Arts was saying, surf never got much respect on the Tri-State shoreline.

Dick Dale did play at a place called Trader Lee's in West Ocean City Maryland from 1979 to 2012, it started out as a outdoor venue with lights and a fence and eventually a building was put up and renamed House of Rock etc. There were a few Beach Boys tributes from 1974 on to about 2010, but haven't seen or remember any since then. There was a Jimmy Buffet type tribute (Island Music) but they haven't been here for a while

I was trying to see if I could BS my way in here as a promoter and get some Surf Bands some opportunity here in Ocean City MD. If anybody thinks they could play here PM me some time. The place I had in mind just burned up a few weeks ago so that's out,

There is no Surf bands here that I know of so far this year. As a example there are two clubs nearby that each had about 40 bands over this summer scheduled (Mostly Classica Rock Tribute acts. I would say its pretty filled up band wise here, About 300 plus bands come through here in the summer and about 30 plus local solo, duo, bands as well.

There are definitely places from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware down through Ocean City, Maryland where a good instro band could play. I would love to put a band together and play throughout the first state and the beach areas. I responded to this post over a month ago and indicated that I might be interested. Surfing Sam, Art S, Bamboozer, there are at least four of us who show interest- I'm sure some combination of the 4 of us could put a band together...

Sam, we should arrange to meet up in OCMD sometime to noodle around on some instruments...

Still interested if any of you other Delawareans/OCMD peeps are. I also know a a couple of other musicians who could join to round things out- just respond if you're really interested... BTW, Sam, I tried to respond to your IM a while ago, but your inbox is full and wouldn't allow me to send it.

Last edited: Apr 27, 2020 21:34:50