Live Music Society Announces New Round Of Grant Recipients For Small Music Venues Today

Non-Profit Philanthropic Organization Offers Financial Support to 16 Independent U.S. Music Venues Live Music Society (LMS) is committed to giving $2 million in grants in its first two years of operation to support the live music ecosystem around the United States.

In 2020 the LMS provided a lifeline to small, independent music venues forced to close their doors due to the COVID pandemic with over $800,000 in grants. LMS continues this support in 2021 as independent venues struggle to reopen in a challenging post-pandemic landscape.

LMS announces the recipients of the second round of relief grants today, with 16 venues receiving individual grants between $10,000 - $50,000. With the first two rounds LMS will have dispersed over $1.5 million, with a third round of grants coming in Fall 2021. This round's grant recipients represent a broad spectrum of independent venues from the coasts to the heartland; all boast strong connections to their communities and run the gamut of genre orientations. On the West Coast, recipients include Berkeley, CA's multicultural bastion the Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center, Santa Cruz CA's intimate and innovative Kumbwaa Jazz, Seattle's multidisciplinary Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Los Angeles' The Mint - still rocking after 84 years - and more.

In the Midwest, grant-winning venues include Chicago's historic, prohibition-era watering hole The Hideout, Milwaukee's legendary rock room the Cactus Club, and St. Louis' indispensable Jazz St. Louis organization. In the South, NOLA's legendary Oak Street jazz, R&B, blues and rock mainstay Maple Leaf Bar, and Galveston, TX's singer/songwriter's haven Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, both won grants this round.

While on the East Coast, grantees include legacy venues like New Haven, CT's favorite, historic "corner bar" Cafe Nine. For a complete list of this round's grant winners, see below: Spring 2021 Live Music Society Grant Recipients: Ivy Room (Albany, CA) Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center (Berkeley, CA) The Mint (Los Angeles, CA) The Casbah (San Diego, CA) Kuumbwa Jazz (Santa Cruz, CA) Cafe Nine (New Haven, CT) The Hideout (Chicago, IL) Subterranean (Chicago, IL) Maple Leaf Bar (New Orleans, LA) The Parlor Room (Northampton, MA) Jazz St. Louis (St. Louis, MO) Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (Galveston, TX) Zenbarn (Waterbury Center, VT) Fremont Abbey Arts Center (Seattle, WA) The Sunset Tavern (Seattle, WA) Cactus Club (Milwaukee, WI) Past LMS grantees included such noted music stages as Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), the famed 85-seat folk club founded as Club 47 in 1958; the Jazz Showcase (Chicago, IL.), the 170-seat Windy City landmark opened in 1947 by the late Joe Segal; Hotel Café (Los Angeles, CA.) the intimate performance space featuring acoustic-based songwriters; and Caffé Lena (Saratoga Springs, NY), the 110-seat coffeehouse where Bob Dylan performed in his folk-singing days.

See full list of all twenty 2020 LMS grantees here: https://www.livemusicsociety.org/grantees LMS grants supply philanthropic aid to music venues that have been in operation for three years or more with a sellable capacity of 250 occupants or less. Applications for the next round of Live Music Society grants open in August 2021. Look for updated information on grant criteria and applications at the LMS website: https://www.livemusicsociety.org/grantinfo The Live Music Society also supports "Empty Spaces", a video series highlighting small U.S. venues, and the stories of their experiences during different stages of the pandemic. Tune in on June 5th for the premiere of Empty Spaces: Hi-Dive, which focuses on Denver, Colorado's beloved the Hi-Dive, an institution in the city's historic Baker neighborhood, an incubator for local talent, and a vital stop for touring bands.

Learn more about Empty Spaces and watch previous episodes here: https://www.livemusicsociety.org/emptyspaces About Live Music Society LMS believes that music is at the center of what it means to be alive. Live Music Society seeks to support initiatives that promote and preserve the performance and experience of live music in our society. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's grants will prioritize small music venues - to help them survive through this crisis and to thrive once again when they can re-open their doors.

Small music venues play a vital role in the music industry. They offer an intimate experience between an artist and their audience that remains unrivaled by any other platform. These spaces are also where musicians develop their craft and connect with their fans. Yet, these invaluable venues are threatened by large corporations, economic challenges, dwindling audiences who are consuming music digitally, and now extended closures due to a global pandemic. Live Music Society will be awarding grants to small music venues to assist them through these challenging times of closure, and to support their creative ideas in re-opening, so that they can once again do what they do best - connect musicians and their community.

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