Today I woke up and realized that we are only a few months away from our 5 year anniversary at The Habitat in Kelowna. I also woke up to the largest amount of negative comments about the practice and policies of our business. My intentions of writing this blog is really about how amazed I am that so many people are affected positively and negatively by how this venue is operating.

I spent most of the day really analyzing these comments. I looked into my notes and reviewed show files and emails. I even reached out to several of our critics to seek their insight. Why is everyone so passionate to vocalize his or her feedback? It makes me wonder what role we are really playing. Thank you to the folks who have emailed me back with their honest feedback as it has been hard to get to the truth on where we are at in our community, as a touring stop on the West coast and as we are in the middle of planning the biggest music event Kelowna has ever hosted. Break Out West will be landing in Kelowna Oct 21-24 later this year.

Recently, I have been thinking about the local and national music industry. I wanted to really research where things are heading and why, in Kelowna, have we been so blessed to have some of Canada's top bands play our market. Yet, in the same respect we also have a serious lack of industry professionals that are committing to our local cultural fabric. In fact, until recently it was almost impossible to buy any independent music in the city of Kelowna (Thanks to Mosaic Books for stepping up!). It seems like locally there is more live music happening then ever, yet we really struggle to connect with our local bands as we do with national ones, even though we are partners with Music BC which helps us reach out to new projects and offer career development workshops. It feels like we have had a mass exodus of local bands that have been lucky to get on the road and tour our great country.

There are so many different reasons that a live show can be booked. We book all of our shows because we are passionate about the music. In the last 4 years we have hosted over 500 bands. That's a lot of musicians, tech riders, genres and egos. As a venue operator, I really get to see how a band can embrace our city, just to leave the next day or that night and do the same thing in another city. It is rare that we see the power of a great stage show meeting the audience head on, leaving everyone wanting more. At Habitat we have been lucky to have this happen more than most venues in our area.

We have been unlucky to be in a city that has been struggling for a new cultural identity. Our city has just supported us on our rezoning to be a real Venue! It took over 5 years to get through this process and the last year has been really tough on our team. We have had many set backs and we have had to operate with less capacity and resources to market our events. Increased enforcement from the Liquor Board has also forced our team to take on fewer events and to book more events of safer genres. We've experienced increased cost for bands and for our venue to operate — from gas, accommodation, food, taxes, fee's... you name it. As the economic recession spreads to our city, we have seen a drop in attendance in general. What will fill this void in our community?

At Habitat, we pride ourselves on being a small market but with a big heart. We have done our best to treat bands with respect and to accommodate their needs as crazy as they are sometimes. It feels as if working with a large established band is almost easier than working with bands that we have never heard about. Mostly, this has to do with the fact the bands and management understands the process. Yet, some of our best shows have been the bands we never heard about only to take the risk to have them and now have developed a great audience and connection to our community.

As I end this blog, I feel it necessary to put into the universe a sincere apology to all, any bands, agents, booking managers and friends who may have felt unappreciated or under-valued as Habitat has grown. I sometimes think about how much I have stressed out, contemplated why I am in this industry (what industry?) and almost given up. Then I think of the 1000’s of people who have come to our shows at the Habitat and left with a sense of community, an appreciation for like minded people in a single space, or who were inspired to pick up an instrument.

I want to say that this is just the beginning of something amazing… but sometimes I truly wonder if our days are numbered. Oh Habitat, you continue to surprise many of us! Today I am thankful to those who read this and to those who may find themselves called to do something, contribute or just go for coffee and talk about it.

- Quinn