With a focus on safety and a goal of bringing music into homes around the world while supporting the Austin, Texas music scene, the Austin Love & Lightstream series will combine world-class production and live-streaming with incredible Austin, Texas music.
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – March 16, 2020) – Black Fret is proud to announce that they will live stream 6 hours of Austin music and announce their 2020 class of Nominees at the Austin Love & Lightstream event on March 17th, 2020, live from Scholz Garten in Austin, Texas. This multi-day event will celebrate the Austin music scene in a safe and responsible way to bring Austin music into living rooms all around the globe.
Planned for an initial five day run through Saturday, March 21st from Scholz Garten, Texas’ oldest live music venue, Austin Love & Lightstream is a local response to the cancellation of SXSW and the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. Closed to the public and taking place on a sterilized outdoor sound stage at Scholz Garten, Austin bands and personalities will be live streamed six hours a day starting at 4:00pm each day, beginning Tuesday, March 17th, 2020. This content is being delivered through a partnership and collaboration between Black Fret, Cadence Wealth Management, Tour Gigs, The Werd Company, Good Wolf Productions & Scholz Garten.
The live stream will begin at 4:00PM Central Daylight Time with performances from Austin, Texas artists Moving Panoramas (2019 KUTX Band of the Month) at 4:00PM, Henry Invisible at 5:00PM, Cari Hutson & Good Company (2019 Black Fret Artist) at 6:00, Sir Woman (2020 Austin Music Awards “Best New Band”) at 7:00, Corey Baum of Croy and the Boys (2017 Black Fret Artist) at 8:00, and Greyhounds (2017 and 2018 Black Fret Artis)t at 9:00PM. Viewers can access the Facebook Live stream from the Black Fret website at sonicguild.org.
“Black Fret’s mission to support our local musicians with direct financial support was critical before this pandemic started,” said Matt Ott, Co-founder of Black Fret. “In light of the cancellation of SXSW we are doing our part to mitigate some of the financial impact on our local artists in a safe and responsible way while giving those who love their cultural assets to come together and support them.”
Viewers will be able to make tax-deductible donations to Black Fret for disbursement to Austin musicians and other nonprofits who provide support for our local music scene. Black Fret is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt public charity headquartered in Austin, Texas that has provided over $1.7 million in grants and payments to local musicians. Black Fret is a member-driven organization, built on the simple idea that local music is art, worthy of community support just like the symphony and the opera have been supported for generations. With chapters in Austin and Seattle, Washington, Black Fret’s goal is to eventually support local music around the globe.
“We are part of a large community of people who love their city and its music,” said Colin Kendrick, Founder of Black Fret. “We will all need to come together to support each other and the things we value to make sure we get through this as quickly and safely as possible. We have worked hard to ensure the safety of the bands and crew that are making this event possible in the hopes we can support these artists while bringing this amazing music into people’s homes in a responsible way.”
With Black Fret’s support and ready supply of local Austin musicians, a production team has been assembled to get them back to work via live music streamed to your home all over the globe. It is the collective goal to bring live music to the world in a time of need safely and with every precaution possible. As a matter of protocol, production is running skeleton crews of 10 people or less at any given time, including the artists performing. Bands and crew are not allowed to physically interact. Bands self load from the street and enter a sanitized open-air stage with ample room to perform allowing for appropriate and safe social distancing. All artists are asked to strike set and load out so that the sound stage can be sanitized thoroughly before the next artists are allowed to enter the property.
“The advent of this crisis just as SXSW was about to launch threw this entire community into chaos,” said Daniel Northcutt, Operator of Scholz Garten. “This was the time of year our creative elite, venues, restaurants and so many others counted on to make ends meet. It is our hope we can provide an avenue for those who care about their community to enjoy this music and spirit of hope while we all chip in to help ease the burden this crisis is placing on all of us.”
This team that is bringing the Black Fret Nomination Celebration to you under the banner of “Austin Love and Lightstream” hopes to continue to produce content that is 100% pure Austin throughout this crisis. It is their hope that this broadcast will be a beacon of energy, strength and a real time look into true DIY Austin grit and how local musicians and producers cope with and ultimately rise above this pandemic. The future is unknown but Austin Love & Lightstream will endeavor to bring powerful perspective, art, entertainment and authentic live Austin music to the masses until we can all safely meet again in a live music venue near you.
About Black Fret:
Founded in 2013, Black Fret is a public charity headquartered in Austin whose mission is to empower musicians to create and perform new music. The organization is an innovative evolution of the age-old symphony patronage model that is focused on supporting popular local music. Together, Black Fret’s limited membership will build an endowed institution capable of sustaining more than $1 million dollars a year in grants to Austin’s artists. Annual Black Fret member dues are $1,500, breaking down to about $100 a month after taxes. Many members have access to a corporate charitable giving match program (such as offered by Dell, Apple and other major employers) that can reduce the monthly cost to less than $50 a month. In return for annual dues, members enjoy a broad range of private events including monthly shows in intimate venues and an incredible annual awards show named The Black Fret Ball. Grant recipients are selected annually through a yearlong process where members, advisors and prior grant recipients nominate, lobby for, see performances by and finally vote on their favorite artists. Those who wish to become a member of Black Fret in either Austin, Texas or Seattle, Washington can sign up at www.sonicguild.org/join. All memberships provide entry for the member and a guest to all upcoming 2020 Black Fret events, including the Black Fret Ball. For inquiries, please email sustain@sonicguild.org and for more info see www.sonicguild.org.
