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MUSIC Ariella St. Clair retiring from producing live music shows By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 20, 2016 @ 4:31 pm Updated at 4:32 PM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 20, 2016 @ 4:31 pm Updated at 4:32 PM » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> After 21 years of presenting folk music concerts, Ariella St. Clair is closing down her nonprofit St. Clair Productions and retiring at the end of April. St. Clair, 66, a goat farmer and house cleaner from Talent, started out by presenting Maria Muldaur in 1995, and she regularly had audiences of more than 300 people, but in the past four years attendance has dropped below 200, and last fall only 135 came for a show by Chris Williams, who is usually a good draw. “The audience has dwindled to almost nothing,” says St. Clair. “The passion I had for putting on concerts is not there any more. My theory is that I’m older and audiences are older, and it’s harder to get the word out, despite all the social networks. Newspapers have so few pages now, and they run it on the weekend of the event, when it’s too late.” St. Clair entered the folk-music world in the 1960s in New York City's Greenwich Village, busking for bucks in Washington Square. In Kansas City in the 1970s, she owned Fool Killer Theater and began producing musical acts, then she ran a coffee house with music acts. She produced New Age music for Unity Church in Santa Cruz, Calif., earned a degree in public relations at San Jose State, then joined the board of the Ashland Folk Music Club and began doing shows here. She produced the Ashland Blues Festival for the last 20 years. St. Clair says she has an email list of 1,900 people and an “open rate” of 25 percent, “but that doesn’t translate to tickets — and several events have lost money." She is on 15 online calendars but doesn’t do Instagram and Twitter. Instead of social media making life easier and more prosperous, St. Clair says, “it’s overloaded people with so much information that they don’t pay attention.” Asked if the decline is because folk-loving baby boomers are dying off, she said, “I don’t know if they’re dying, but they’re not coming out as much.” The millennials and Gen-Xers do like folk music, she notes, “but there are just so many musical groups out there. Some draw big somewhere else, but it doesn’t translate to Ashland. If they tour and have agents, they want more than I can offer.” In addition, she says, other agents here are producing shows, competing for the same audience. Several online crowdfunding drives have netted her some money, as have grants, but not enough to stay solvent. Her company is a nonprofit, so it can’t be sold. She has cleaned houses all her life and will continue that, and she sells goat milk and provides Airbnb. For fun, she hikes and joins in some song circles. “I just don’t have the energy to do this anymore,” she says. “I’m open to the next adventure.” On stclairevents.com , the last show is listed as "Liquid Gold," featuring William Coulter and Edwin Huizinga. The description reads, “Fire & Grace: Virtuoso Violin Meets Celtic Guitar," at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Unitarian Church, Fourth & C streets. The cost is $20 advance, $22 at door. Teens 12 to 17 get in for $10, children younger than 12 get in free with paying adult. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 20, 2016 @ 4:31 pm Updated at 4:32 PM » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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