It’s now cool to be Hamilton

THE SPECTATOR’S VIEW

It’s easy for longtime Hamiltonians to be cynical about the city’s strategy to rebrand itself as a “music city.” We’ve been Steel Town or Tabby Town for so long, that it’s hard to reimagine ourselves as a cultural hub.

But things are rapidly changing in Hamilton and it’s time we recognized that. Sure, we’re not Nashville or Austin, Tex., cities that have long been established as centres of the American music industry. And, we don’t have the big label clout of Toronto where many of the head offices of Canada’s entertainment companies reside.

But we have a rich tradition of making great music — classical, rock, blues, country, folk and jazz — as well as a burgeoning scene currently thriving in the city’s core.

Longtime Hamiltonians may take their music for granted, but it’s the newcomers and outsiders who have glommed on to it. They’ve become some of our biggest boosters. We should be listening to them.

Migrants are pouring into this city from places like Toronto, many of them musicians, but also artist managers, as well as record label owners, venue operators and recording studio technicians.

They come here because our housing is affordable. But they also come here because word has spread about Hamilton’s welcoming and vibrant music community. It’s now cool to be Hamilton.

So let’s take advantage of this new attitude. That’s the goal of the city’s music strategy, which is being developed by a committee of a dozen community volunteers with the help of city staff. They’ve been working on it for three years and we’re starting to see results. Local club operators, for example, have formed a venue alliance to work together on common issues.

Recently, more than 200 people attended a Hamilton Chamber of Commerce “ambitious city” meeting to hear Music Canada president Graham Henderson tell them about the benefits of a strong music scene, not just cultural benefits but economic ones. The 2015 Juno week brought Hamilton some $12 million in benefits.

Rebranding Hamilton a music city will involve a marketing strategy, but there are many other practical things that it can involve. The city could encourage a private-public partnership to create a badly needed mid-level concert venue, with capacity of between 600 and 1,200 people. We have plenty of small venues and larger ones like Hamilton Place and First Ontario Centre, but nothing in between.

As well, the city needs to reach out to venue operators and concert promoters, for example, to find out how it can help cut red tape with bylaw, parking, curfew and zoning issues, perhaps provide some load-in zones for clubs. Running a live music venue isn’t usually a path to riches. Margins tend to be low. So every little bit helps.

Music makes a city a better place to live and we encourage city council to do everything it can to help it flourish.