When COVID-19 swept the country, music venues were among the first to shutter, throwing tens of thousands of live entertainment professionals out of work and sidelining artists who depend on touring income. The National Independent Venue Association formed in April 2020 and currently represents more than 3,000 performance halls, promoters, and festivals; it’s done much […]
Tag: National Independent Venue Association
Posted inMusic
Chicago music venues lean on grassroots fundraisers as they wait for federal aid
COVID relief grants are taking their time arriving, but the compilation Situation Chicago 2 benefits CIVL’s SAVE Emergency Relief Fund right now.
Posted inMusic
Music workers’ jobs disappeared, but their bills didn’t
With federal aid to venues only now arriving, how are tour managers, stagehands, bookers, and their colleagues in the concert business making ends meet?
Posted inMusic
If enough of us celebrate Independent Venue Week, we might have one next year too
For Independent Venue Week, the Reader has rounded up some favorite stories about Chicago music venues past and present.
Posted inMusic
Maura Walsh, creator of Tiny Guide to Chicago Arts
“Our city is just exploding with creativity and music and art, and all of these truly irreplaceable spaces are in danger of closing.”
Posted inMusic
Want live music back? Wear a mask and call Congress.
Staff from 22 Chicago music venues talk about how far they still are from normal—and what it’ll take to keep them around till we all get there.
Posted inCity Life
The Reader’s stay-at-home chronicles: days 71 and 72
What we’re reading, watching, listening to, etc., to pass the time.
Posted inMusic
Billy Helmkamp, co-owner of the Whistler and Sleeping Village
“This is gonna devastate our industry. We were the first to close; we’re gonna be the last to reopen. A lot of venues aren’t gonna make it.”
Posted inMusic
Huntsmen bassist Marc Stranger-Najjar on a spoken-word poet with a beautiful brain
Current musical obsessions of Huntsmen bassist Marc Stranger-Najjar, musician and producer Sanford Parker, and Reader associate editor Jamie Ludwig