Benefits of Supporting Local Music in Fort Collins
The Fort Collins Music Scene is a unique beast that couldn't exist anywhere else. Local acts flood out of seemingly thin air to bestow their music upon droves of bar-goers every night of the week.
Whether you like going out on a chill Tuesday night after you listened to your boss complain all day, or like to party it up with your friends on Friday nights in Old Town, there is always a band playing somewhere in town. It doesn’t even matter if you like Rock, Hip-Hop, Jazz, or Country. Every genre has a following in Fort Collins.
Behind every act is a person, or even a whole band of people, who are looking forward to sharing their newest piece of tunage with you and putting a smile on your face. There is nothing more satisfying to a musician than seeing people enjoying that new g-lick that the guitarist had been working on for weeks, or the lyrics that the backup singer had hastily memorized 20 minutes before going on stage.
Supporting your local musicians is so much more than just making them happy to pull off some daring musical feats. It could also mean that you are helping to put the spaghetti on the broke students plate for the next week.
Being an audience member at a live show means that you are allowing somebody to make money doing something that they had dreamed of doing since the first time they picked up a scratched up box with rusty strings across the top. Seeing live music means that you are giving somebody the opportunity to flip a big ole bird to all the people who said that they could never make money doing the thing they love.
Giving your support does more than just help the talent though. Every time you go out to the bar to see a musician you are also helping the bar owner who was friendly enough to offer his space to the musicians for the night. Every drink you buy helps support local business owners to keep their lights on and continue pursuing their dream.
The local gig system works in a cyclical manner. The more people they get to come to the venue, the more profitable the venue is. The more profit the venue makes, the more likely they are to hire more bands to come play music for the live-entertainment-starved customers.
Another important reason for going to see local bands is all of the new music you can experience. If you are a jazz fan you might find that the local bluegrass band has music that fits your taste. Or maybe you get to hear Ska music for the first time and now you can’t stop saying that Ska has always been the best genre and people just need to give it a try.
On top of this, there is always a chance that the band you are hearing locally might have somebody that goes on to be a big performer. I remember seeing Brent Cowles perform with You Me & Apollo at Equinox brewing before he got signed and became an NPR slingshot artist.
Fort Collins has a track record of being prolific with producing talent. The talent comes from people of all walks of life. Some musicians are kids who grew up going to local jam sessions at different bars in town. And some musicians are students coming from other countries to study music at CSU.
So, if you are looking for a way to maximize your dollar and help the most people possible, go to places that feature local bands next time you go out! Who knows, you might just be feeding the next Mumford and Sons.
