What do Sens. Cornyn and Klobuchar agree on? Saving music venues
Take signs of hope where you can find them: Last week two U.S. senators who would appear to have little in common politically introduced a bill to provide relief for live music venues. Not surprisingly, both hail from places —Texas and Minnesota — with storied live music scenes.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota presented the Save Our Stages Act, which “would provide Small Business Administration grants for independent live music venue operators affected by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.”
And after four months of being shut down, live-music venues could use the relief. While some musicians have been able to fall back on streamed performances for a fee or with a virtual tip jar, venues have confronted the same shutdown struggle with full staffs of bookers, bartenders, bouncers, sound engineers, wait staff and other people who are part of an ecosystem that allows live music to be presented.
“These senators understand how important to our culture music history is, and how important music scenes are,” says Edwin Cabaniss, who owns the Heights Theater in Houston and the Kessler Theater in Dallas. “And these venues are on the verge of collapse.”
The Music Venue Alliance Texas formed to try to assist these venues whose revenue streams dried up in March. The organization includes roughly 800 small and midsize venues across the state.
Cabaniss stressed that the venues aren’t seeking a handout.
“We were mandated to be closed by the government for the greater good of the public,” he says. “And that’s what we want to do. We want fans and artists to be safe. But there should be just compensation.”
He cited a study by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs, which forecast the closure of 90 percent of live-music venues in Austin by October.
The Save Our Stages Act would help venues by offering six months of financial support in hope that these venues can ride out a period of unprecedented closure.
Texans with any affinity for music know the state has a long storied history of live music largely rooted in its old — and increasingly disappearing — dance halls.
“Texas is home to a number of historic and world-class small entertainment venues, many of which remain shuttered after being the first businesses to close,” Cornyn said in a statement. “The culture around Texas dance halls and live music has shaped generations, and this legislation would give them the resources to reopen their doors and continue educating and inspiring Texans beyond the coronavirus pandemic.”
Like other cities, Houston has a mix of venues old and new. Anderson Fair this year was supposed to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a venue dedicated to providing a platform to young rising talent. The venue’s stage was frequented by established songwriters including Guy Clark while also providing a space for rising artists such as Lucinda Williams and Lyle Lovett.
Even newer venues offer connections to the city’s past. Warehouse Live turns 15 next year but is based in a warehouse built east of downtown in the 1920s. The Heights Theater on 19th Street turned a historical theater from the 1920s into a live-music venue three years ago.
Each venue has its own community. Each community has been hurting since event-based entertainment shut down in March.
Klobuchar joined Cornyn because of a state musical tradition that includes storied history in Minneapolis, where Prince got his start and always maintained a residence, recording studio and musical presence.
Cabaniss pointed out some 2,600 artists who have joined the cause, supporting smaller venues that have supported them over the years. That list includes Leon Bridges, a successful R&B performer from
Fort Worth.
“One day he was washing dishes at Del Frisco’s,” Cabaniss says of Bridges’ old day job in the Fort Worth area, “and the next he’s on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ He’s a great example of how you need these small stages, artists need them to learn their craft.
“And there’s something magical that happens between an artist and the audience, an energy transfer in that backand-forth. We’re just trying to make sure there’s an industry left to restart when this is all over.”