What’s on the city’s music horizon for 2017?

I’m normally not one to wish away time, but like a lot of people I won’t be sad to see 2016 in the rear-view mirror. It hasn’t been a particularly terrible year on a personal level, but it was one with seemingly more death, tragedy, wacky weather and just weird stuff than usual.

Over the last several years around this time, I’ve tried to take stock of the local entertainment world, review the past year and attempt to look ahead to what might be in store.

Heading into 2016, several important things were either just getting their legs under them or were about to come online.

AC Entertainment was beginning year two of booking shows at the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium. Revelry Room at the Chattanooga Choo Choo had opened in September, and the Chattanooga Convention & Visitors Bureau had committed a full-time staff member to promote the local music scene to potential tourists.

The energy and vibe regarding local music was high, and most were excited to see where it would go. And go it did. There were more great shows and announcements of more to come. My Morning Jacket and Bob Dylan at the Tivoli were both sold out and both great, and Brian Wilson is scheduled there in May. The MMJ show was unlike any show I’ve seen there in regards to the crowd and the vibe, and from all reports, the band loved playing there Barry Courter as well.

So what’s on the horizon? That is the question I’m hearing a lot from people, especially the mover-and-shaker types. There seems to be a sense that something big needs to happen, and soon. No one seems to have a specific idea, but some ideas floated have included a new music festival or organization.

And, of course, people are wondering what, if anything, the sale of AC Entertainment to Live Nation will mean locally. Most agree there will be some changes, but no one seems sure what those might be, nor is there much agreement on whether they will be positive or negative. We could see even more bigname acts because of LiveNation’s enormous reach, or we could get overlooked because of our relative size in that giant empire. Or we could lose some of the local decision-making.

The point in all of this, I think, is that it is still too early to tell. There is still way more positive than negative energy on the local music front. Big changes sometimes take time.