{"id":37644,"date":"2017-01-26T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=37644"},"modified":"2017-01-25T16:55:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T22:55:42","slug":"secret-shows-and-house-hunter-talking-with-ben-ricketts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/secret-shows-and-house-hunter-talking-with-ben-ricketts\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Shows and House Hunter: Talking with Ben Ricketts"},"content":{"rendered":"

With how quickly Ben Ricketts<\/strong> became a name everyone in the music community knew, it is easy to forget that he has been here just barely a year. Prior to that he lived in his hometown of Corinth<\/strong>, Mississippi<\/strong>. Ricketts sat down with us for a cup of coffee to discuss his experiences in Oxford and how his career has developed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy first show in Oxford was actually when I was 17,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cIt was at the R.C. [Residential College at Ole Miss] back when they had bands there. I was sitting in with Holy Ghost Electric Show and playing a washboard and a tambourine, with my foot. This girl was eating her lunch and turns around to say, \u2018Hey can you stop? We\u2019re trying to eat. Also I hope nobody comes to your show.\u2019 Every experience I had after that was positive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ricketts hit the ground running in Oxford playing two to three times a month. One of his most memorable shows was at The Blind Pig<\/strong>. It consisted of synthesizer performances from Sean O\u2019Hara<\/strong>\u2019s Nadir Bliss<\/strong> and Capel Howorth<\/strong>\u2019s Scapes<\/strong>, with Ricketts headlining.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a fun show, it was one of Landon [Boyte]\u2019s last show that he booked,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cI remember the owner came up afterwards and was like, \u2018this is awesome we gotta do more stuff in this vein.\u2019 A lot of people came out and I never heard back from them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t soon after that The Blind Pig began focusing on operating exclusively as a bar and restaurant. Prior to The Shelter<\/strong>\u2019s opening this meant that if you were new and wanted a show you had to try Ajax<\/strong> or luck into a slot at Proud Larrys\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery show I\u2019ve done at Proud Larrys\u2019 has fallen into my lap,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cI\u2019ve never reached out and heard back on my own. It\u2019s just a really popular venue, people are always coming through and trying to book there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While venues are drying up and new bands do feel the impact, Ricketts still considers Oxford a great home base for an artist to develop.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t weird adapting, I grew up in a town without music and this has been a really good home base. There\u2019s always something going on. There\u2019s film festivals, artists, even though there aren\u2019t as many venues there are still musicians making really cool and interesting things in town.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As somewhat of a response to Oxford\u2019s venue deficiency, house shows are beginning to rise again in popularity. Second Home<\/strong>, as it is being called, has earned itself a reputation among musicians and fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a little slow on booking, they\u2019re only doing about a show a month,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cIt\u2019s a guy named Peyton Dixon. He was mainly doing Metal and Hardcore shows. He hosted one of Pinebox\u2019s firsts as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ricketts had a chance to play at Second Home after The Wall\u2019s closure left he and Drew Danburry without a venue for their tour stop in Oxford.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to see a house show scene get started in Oxford,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cYou\u2019ve got places like Hattiesburg or Cleveland that has just one venue that does really well, but because of that they have thriving house show scenes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While there are house parties throughout the year, nothing so far has stuck as the house show venue. This problem is partly due to the difficulty in finding a property that can support a party\u2019s worth of people that also won\u2019t disturb neighbors to the point of calling authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got Second Home but everything else are just one off shows. Highland Square lasted longer than I thought it would, it was a really nice town house. They did the Title Fight show then Pinebox did a show there that I know got shut down. The cops came right before the last act then somebody pulled a cabinet down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Crowd control is seemingly the largest hurdle in maintaining house venues. Ricketts suggestion to that is to shrink the crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you open your house to the public, things like that can happen,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cBut you can do stuff like this place out in Water Valley that can hold maybe 15 or 20 at most. The shows are small, but they\u2019re really cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With Oxford leaning more and more towards smaller housing, musicians will have to get creative with where they can play. Ricketts has been toying with a solution to the lack of starter venues.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been toying with the idea of doing like a secret show at a different location every time,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cSomething like two days before the show you designate a few people to text 10 people that they know would be interested in it. Each time you have different people get the word out. That\u2019s been on my massive to do list for a while now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Going forward Ricketts plans to work more in building up Oxford\u2019s house show circuit. His next album release will be hosted at an intimate acoustic showing in Water Valley for, at most, 20 people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn album release is an intimate thing I think,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cSo what better way to release it than with a small acoustic show.\u201d\u00a0\"The<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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