Manifesto for a South Brooklyn Scene
We're building a music scene in South Brooklyn. Won't you join us?
Happy Friday. What’s your manifesto for 2024? Today I want to share our big idea for this year. But before that: in my first podcast episode of 2024, I interviewed my band, aka No Love Songs, aka the namesake of this newsletter. (And by the way, you can now see all the episodes of the podcast right here on Substack.)
NLS has had something of a rotating cast of characters — er, musicians — no, definitely characters! — since 2019. But we now have a stable trio! Gus played his first gig with us in December, 2022. Lui joined a bit later, last fall. Meet the band:
South Brooklyn Showcase
We believe in the concept that a rising tide lifts all boats. That’s why, since last summer, we have been hosting “South Brooklyn Showcase” concerts at our most favorite bar, Young Ethel’s. These shows not only give us the opportunity to perform live on a regular basis, but they also give us the chance to meet and work with other great performers. Here’s a poster with three upcoming shows. The first one is one week from today!
And now, the manifesto
New York is a weird place. It’s got a million bands, but there are stronger music scenes in comparatively tiny places like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond, VA. We want to change that.
Are you in a band? This message is for you. Do you know a band? Share this with them!
Here goes:
Do you feel like your growth potential is limited? Do you feel like it’s a struggle to get people to shows? Do you want to grow your audience beyond your friends and family? Do you want to be part of a real music scene? Do you want to play shows with touring bands? Do you want to play to good crowds in other cities? Do you want to grow your audience outside of New York?
So do we! Let’s get together and do something about it.
We can:
Support each other at shows and build a local audience
Create a welcome place for out-of-town bands, who can then reciprocate by inviting us to their cities
Curate shows with similar artists to find our niche
Share strategy in planning sessions to manage ourselves better
And surely other things that we haven’t thought of. That’s where you come in. Click below to fill out the form and let us know you want to work together. Let’s build the scene we all need to achieve our dreams in 2024.
So there it is. Our big idea for 2024. Whatever YOUR big idea is for this year, I hope you write it down, tell other people about it, and try your darnedest to make it happen. We’ll be rooting for you, and I know you’ll be rooting for us. Let’s all sail together.