Pittsburgh, music city
Some good advice on nurturing a healthy scene
How did Nashville become the home of country music? Not because city leaders developed a plan and implemented it. As described on visitmusiccity.com, the process unfolded organically, beginning with the “fiddle tunes and buck dancing” of early residents and evolving into the songwriting, recording, music TV and live performance mecca of today.
Similarly, the growth of Pittsburgh’s music industry should unfold naturally, led by those who make the music.
The Pittsburgh Music Ecosystem Study, a new report commissioned by civic groups and funded by foundations, shows how Pittsburgh can nurture parts of the music scene. Showing restaurants how to incorporate live music into their business plans, organizing an annual music festival, exempting small venues from the city’s 5 percent amusement tax and commemorating the city’s musical heritage in some way would help to boost the city’s music profile.
The arts already generate a heavier economic impact here than they do in other cities; adding to that, giving tourists and other visitors more to do here, makes perfect sense.
Other parts of the study by the consulting firm Sound Music Cities of Austin, Texas, seem painfully bureaucratic. Create a “music education pipeline” to help musicmakers hone their business skills? Develop a “shared vision” for the music community? One wonders what self-made rapper Wiz Khalifa, a Pittsburgh Alderdice High School graduate, would think of such things.
Building an economic sector is not necessarily the same as nurturing musicians, singers and songwriters themselves. That’s why an internet search for “best U.S. cities for music fans” produces lists that are different than a “best U.S. cities for musicians” query.
Some music-makers want nothing more than to be left alone. Others might benefit from cut-rate living space or grants that enable them to spend more time pursuing their craft. The city should provide some opportunities and get out of the way, realizing that small things can make a big difference to artists.
In a survey two years ago, livability.com rated Omaha, Neb., the best city for singer-songwriters followed by Portland, Ore., and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. Nashville came in at No. 5. Provo, Utah, was a surprise at No. 7.
The nine have what the survey called a “reasonable cost of living” and individual attributes ranging from special performing opportunities like a Rooftop Concert Series (Provo), to businesses catering to independent artists (Omaha and Portland) to 16 universities with enough music lovers to ensure that acts never play to an empty house (North Carolina). To be sure, an engaged audience is what drives a healthy music scene. While the future claims to be digital, nothing replaces the analog experience of a live music performance.
Pittsburgh doesn’t have to look to Nashville to see what can happen when events are allowed to run their course. In the 1920s, the Hill District became a jazz hot spot, with the Crawford Grill serving as a magnet for performers and admirers alike. The Hill attracted big names and exported homegrown talent. It’s impossible to script that.
In growing its music scene, the city must resist a temptation to beat the drum. First, it should try tickling the ivories.