It’s Friday and with the weekend here, you might be looking for live music. Actually there’s live music in Michiana throughout the week, and a group has won a state grant to help create more of it and help you find it.
Indiana economic development officials this week announced this year’s round of READI grants. They awarded one of the grants, for $350,000, to Juke Music Town to expand their online live music platform.
They already post an interactive live music calendar for South Bend, Elkhart and Goshen at Juke.live. Jack McMackin, a partner in the effort, says there are typically at least 30 live music events a week locally.
”The ecosystem I think is healthier than people realize but there is just this kind of awareness gap that I hope we can address,” McMackin says.
McMackin says they’ll also use the grant money, along with that raised from businesses and organizations, to sponsor shows, creating more live music at area venues.
“You know, your venue hasn’t put on much live music, what’s the reason for that? Are there any roadblocks? Would you be willing to try and put on live music maybe another night of the week, or try a different genre. And then for that new or novel show that the community wouldn’t have had otherwise, we’ll act as a sponsor and pay basically for the artist’s fee.”
