Live Music Society grants to small venues top $1M in 2024
The Live Music Society, a non-profit that helps small U.S. music venues, has awarded 34 new Toolbox grants. This year’s Live Music Society grants are the largest in the organizations history.
Live Music Society grants to small venues top $1M in 2024
Live Music Society Toolbox grants help small venues address short-term issues that can have long-term impact. Projects funded in this round include accessibility improvements, sound and lighting upgrades, and equipment that enables training opportunities in live music production and stage lighting.
Since the organization was founded by musician and philanthropist Pete Muller in 2020, Live Music Society, has provided $4.1 million in grants with $1M in 2024 alone.
“These grants ensure that small music venues remain vital spaces for creativity, learning, and connection,” says Live Music Society board president Gavin Berger. “By reaching our $1,000,000 goal this year, we’re reinforcing our commitment to the small venues that foster local and emerging talent and provide access to live music in communities of all sizes.”
Among the grantees just awarded $290,000 are several all-ages venues focused on training programs that provide opportunities for underserved young adults, including Make.Shift Arts Space in Bellingham, WA, who plan to expand their current programs by offering training in lighting design. Their Toolbox grant allows them to upgrade their audio system and install LED lights, control system, and wireless receiver.
The Holland Project in Reno, NV, the area’s only all-ages independent space, will now be able to offer expanded production support to attract top-tier artists and utilize their new gear to offer more advanced tools for training in sound and lighting.
Groundworks, a volunteer-run venue in Tucson, AZ, will provide their volunteer crew with skills training to operate in the space while Tucson’s thriving music scene will benefit from their upgraded equipment.
Full list of Live Music Society 2024 Toolbox grantees
- Churchill School (Baker City, OR)
- Make.Shift Art Space (Bellingham, WA)
- ISSUE Project Room (Brooklyn, NY)
- Snug Harbor (Charlotte, NC)
- Rosa’s Lounge (Chicago, IL)
- X-Ray Arcade (Cudahy, WI)
- Lager House (Detroit, MI)
- Red Clay Music Foundry (Duluth, GA)
- Jamey’s House of Music (Lansdowne, PA)
- Lucia (Lawrence, KS)
- The Loading Dock (Littleton, NH)
- Siberia (New Orleans, LA)
- The Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
- Silvana (New York, NY)
- The 5 Spot (Nashville, TN)
- The East Room (Nashville, TN)
- Ojai Underground Exchange (Ojai, CA)
- The Sound Room (Oakland, CA)
- The Apohadion Theater (Portland, ME)
- SPACE (Portland, ME)
- The Holland Project (Reno, NV)
- The Focal Point (St. Louis, MO)
- Jazz St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
- Black Cat (San Francisco, CA)
- Brick & Mortar Music Hall (San Francisco, CA)
- El Rio, Your Dive (San Francisco, CA)
- Kilowatt (San Francisco, CA)
- Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club (San Francisco, CA)
- Kuumbwa Jazz (Santa Cruz, CA)
- Conor Byrne (Seattle, WA)
- Fremont Abbey (Seattle, WA)
- Groundworks (Tucson, AZ)
- The Pocket (Washington, DC)
- Rhizome DC (Washington, DC)
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
