Lexmusic.com?
Lexmusic.com appears to have been granted a reprieve, a stay of execution.
For those of you who were unaware that it was in danger, the site went offline briefly last week, and there was some doubt as to whether or not it would return.
Always wanting to do our part to support the local music scene, ACE sent out a flurry of emails asking for information.
Matt Renfroe, who founded the site in 1997 and maintained it until turning the reins over to Matt Noell, provided the basics — which is that the site is in need of financial support.
Matt Noell, who currently maintains the site, said he’d get back to us. A couple times.
Finally, we sent back a snarky email that while ACE is indeed committed to supporting the local music scene — we’re not so committed that we can afford to stop a press run, and we had a story to write. On a deadline.
We presumptuously offered the advice that a site which is experiencing difficulties due to a lack of support and attention perhaps ought to answer the door when the press comes knocking.
But, of course, that’s not entirely fair.
Lexmusic.com does a hard and ambitious job of keeping Lexingtonians informed about what’s going on in the local music scene, with little manpower, and apparently almost no resources.
A quick visit to the site yields ample evidence that it is getting this job done. From the home page, visitors can link to Bands; Bulletin Boards; Clubs; Events; Features; Flyer Gallery; Guestbook; Links; News; Resources; Search; and This Week.
A quick trip to the band page offers links to over 100 Lexington bands or musicians (and most of the links work, most of the time). Some of the band links offer full scale sites, some just basic information.
One nice local touch is at the top of the home page— a click which allows visitors to sign a petition to support all-ages shows in Lexington. You can also read the responses of people who’ve signed the petition. For example, Chris Slatten (“father and musician”) writes, “It’s time for parents to stop blaming their kids’ behavior on the music they listen to and realize that it is THEY, the PARENTS, who ultimately influence a child’s inner and interpersonal development. Wake up Lexington!”
Lexmusic.com gets an A for effort and function. If it’s happening in Lexington music, you can probably find out about it on this site.
Just don’t let the design throw you. The front page is admittedly a little cluttered. There are extraneous banners from ebay and the like — and a giant icon for WRFL which didn’t link to anything the three times we tried it. The Lynagh’s banner is actually useful, and probably helps get the bills paid, so some slack is warranted there.
One inexplicable piece of clutter is a link to Reuters news syndicate, which — on the day we checked—featured a big ole picture of Jenny Jones, and the news teaser, “A Michigan jury deliberated all day Thursday in the $71 million suit against the Jenny Jones Show…” It appears to exist for no other reason than to serve as filler — which the site emphatically does not need. Visitors to lexmusic are surely there for local music news, not talk show fluff that they can get over at msnbc.
But again, an A for effort and C for design still adds up to a site that’s worth your time.
It would be a shame if everyone with a vested interest in local music didn’t chip in (financially) to cover the overhead on lexmusic.com — and this includes the clubs, the bands, the record stores, and the radio stations, on down the line.
Intercepting an email to a local band, we have ascertained that some sort of benefit may be held on a Wednesday in June, and a good turnout just might help keep this valuable site afloat. If you can find out about it, we think you should go.
For info about how you can get involved with lexmusic.com, email Matt Noell, lexmusic@excite.com.
