Music venue booking agent Skylar Kyu has declared Tuesday's Batemans Bay all-age live music meeting organised by Music NSW a winner.
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More than 30 people attended the meeting at Captains@Mariners, but it wasn’t just the numbers that impressed Ms Kyu.
“The people were so passionate; they really wanted to have the discussion," she said.
“I would rather have had them there than 100 people who would say nothing.
“The youngest was 13 years old and the oldest was aged between 60 and 70.”
Music NSW is the peak body for contemporary music in NSW, funded by Arts NSW and and its website is www.musicnsw.com.
A discussion panel convened by Music NSW included Jake Stone (who was largely responsible for putting the meeting together), Scarlett Di Maio and Greg Clennar of Muic NSW, Ms Kyu, who books venues in Sydney, Newcastle, Katoomba and Batemans Bay, former Eden-Monaro federal MP Dr Mike Kelly, Eurobodalla Shire Council youth development officer Josh Waterson, Leland Foster of South Coast band Latham’s Grip and Musician and St Peter’s Anglican College musical director and director of the Nelli Jam/Black Sheep festival Danny Forster, and three Music NSW representatives.
"We are actually running an all ages tour in Batemans in October, so we came up and organised this panel discussion so we could find out what issues people were facing youth in the community," Ms Di Maio said.
Miss Kyu said that there was a perception that authoritative bodies in Batemans Bay were “dampening” the live music scene.
“The belief is that the licensing police and council have no interest in supporting live music events, because they don’t want to deal with what may or may not happen at them,” she said.
However, much of the vibe at the meeting was positive.
“One lady had a brilliant proposal of getting a buskers market going on the Batemans Bay waterfront,” Ms Kyu said.
“We had this at the Gold Coast, where I am from, and it was very successful.”
Mr Kelly said he wanted a music culture in Batemans Bay.
“It could enhance the tourism potential of Batemans Bay,” he said.
“In the winter months, when things are quiet in Batemans Bay, a music scene could help drag people down from Canberra and Queanbeyan.”
