The Greasy Blog

Hey, im a teenager from Whittier. I would like to talk about the Los Angeles music scene. Honestly, i believe Los Angeles is the music capital of the world. No other city has the diversity or amount of music we have. Everything from Emo to Rockabilly to Metal(all the different kinds), to just some good ol' RocknRoll. I believe it all started in the 1950's. When Los Angeles had few large record companies. But artists still seemed to flurish. Artists such as Eddie Cochran (summertime Blues), and Gene Vincent (Be-bop-a-lu-la) really helped to get LA into music. After that Los Angeles really diversified. Eventually Capitol Records came, and RCA, Columbia, ect ect, now its the center of the whole industry. And you can tell by just walking into a school. Personally at my school, theres so many different "scenes" its getting hard to know what is what. I mean, theres the metal heads, the hardcore kids, the emo kids, the gangsters, the writers, the greasers, the psychos, the rudies, the scremos, the bros, the punks, the goths, and im sure im forgeting someone. Thats the effect music has on youth, i know, im one of them, no matter what i will be doing, ill have my music on, ill be playing my rockabilly or psychobilly, maybe some elvis. But then again, hasnt it always been like that? Ever since the 30's? I have a cousin in Dallas, Texas. I have talked with him about the dallas music scene. And from what i heard, its all mainstream stuff, Green Day, Fall out Boy, Less the Jake, Blink 182, all the stuff you hear on the radio over and over and over. But what LA has and what Dallas is missing is the Underground, "Kustom Kulture" music scene. I regularly go to "Backyard gigs", which are concerts held in someones backyard, most get shut down by the police, but this is where LAs music scene really flurishes. But along with the backyard gigs comes the Krews and gangs, i know several Punk gangs/krews one being Uptown Drunk Punks, then theres Rockabilly Gangs who wear there names on the jackets, one being the Moonlight Drifters. As well as psychobilly krews, it just goes on and on and on. Music is a very important part of LA social culture, its something unique no other city has, well is as important has ours. The only real music los Angeles lacks in what the rest of the country listens to, Country! Is it because we're not "rednecks"? Or, not white? I dont get why people hate country so much! Johnny Cash is one of my favorite artists, but most hate everything of his, exept for his "walk the line songs", like Folsom Prison Blues, Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, Hurt. Ect Ect. But I believe i have rambled on long enough. Please Reply on what you think about the LA Music scene, where its going, where its been, whos it put out, whos coming out of it currently, or maybe your experiences as a musician in Los Angeles. Thanks