Columbus: Manup refocuses into Nice Life

Just saw this on Columbus music site Donewaiting.com:

From Robert Duffy: I don’t think it’s the world’s biggest secret that local Columbus record label Manup Music, co-owned by David Lynch and Carabar Ron, has come to an end. After releasing several excellent albums by bands such as Church of the Red Museum, The Lindsay, and Rosehips, the label is no more.
I spoke to Ron yesterday and he told me he’s launching a new label, “Nice Life.” The first release will be by The Slide Machine. The release show is Friday, and will also serve as Ron’s birthday party. After that, there is the Church of the Red Museum seven inch later this month.
Ron said while he might put a few Columbus albums out at first, the plan is to release bands from all over the country, and not make the label locals only. There’s no website or Myspace page for the label yet, which seems to fall in line with how Ron does things.
My take:
I always thought it was too bad that The Lindsay never did shows. People in Columbus LOVE that band. But I think they couldn't because I think they have members in both Cleveland and Columbus. I wonder if that band is gonna stick it out. Apparently, Fat Girls by the Snack Table are doing a reunion show in Columbus on Nov. 8.
Is that a sign?
Manup also got some criticism for the way it merged with Carabar shows. I just heard many times from at least a dozen different musicians that their bands got dropped from Carabar bills, in favor of bands who were on Manup. Hope that is not going on anymore. It's not really a slam on the Carabar folks, because most musicians I know think they and the bar are great.
But it's kind of the old trick bookers do. If you want to be good at it, just get yourself a bar. Then you will always be able to offer gigs to any bands that need it. Then you can swap shows whenever you like. If you have a label involved, then you will always have the ability to book your own bands this way.
The downside is that if you start dropping bands off bills in favor of your own, it can get messy. I even heard of some CD release shows at Carabar that suffered because they found other bands were suddenly added to their bill, which is kind of lame.
It's all a part of what I think has ruined countless music scenes in different cities. This stuff starts and then only the bands who are best buddies with the bookers and bars get the good gigs. It happens A LOT in Athens, Columbus and Cleveland. It kind of happens in Cincinnati to a certain extent, but it's not as hard core.
A good way to tell if your music scene is already screwed is to ask any musician: "If such and such national band comes to town for a show, what local band will open?"
I bet they will already know.