Last year, right around this time, we wrote this …
So, check this out. Right now, as we speak, the Downtown Frederick Partnership is engaged in a battle. It’s not a battle to the death, but it’s probably the second-most intense thing. Now, what is the organization looking to do? Well, it’s looking to earn a grant aimed at helping “small to mid-sized cities” bring music to town … for free. As in, free to the public. As in, set up a stage somewhere downtown and boom: Taylor Swift pops up with a guitar and the dude from Bleachers.
Kind of.
No, but seriously: The last we heard, Frederick is in fourth place and the voting ends on Sunday. And because we’re all going to have a healthy heaping of downtime over the next few days, why don’t each of us max out our five votes on this fine city?!? That was rhetorical (i.e. DO IT).
… And now, we’re rallying up the troops once again! This fine city of Frederick has another shot at winning some money to bring a summer concert series to town. First, the details.
Go here to register to vote: https://grant.levittamp.org/voter-registration-page/
If you are already registered from last year (well, thank you so much!) just head here: https://grant.levittamp.org/single/event_id/11718/?action=vote
Things are only a tad bit different from where we were last year, so here are the brand new parameters via the Levitt Amp website:
- Grants will be awarded to 15 U.S.-based nonprofit organizations, or municipalities partnering with a nonprofit, serving towns and cities with populations of up to 400,000.
- Each grantee will receive up to $25K in matching funds to present the Levitt AMP [Your City] Music Series, a minimum of 10 free outdoor concerts presented over 10 consecutive weeks during 2016.
- Each Levitt AMP Music Series will feature a musically diverse lineup of high caliber entertainment, in keeping with the signature Levitt program.
- To ensure each grantee is positioned for success, grantees will receive a Levitt AMP [Your City] Toolkit containing valuable resources, such as: sample artist contract; sample press release; hosted page on the Levitt AMP website; eblast and social media templates; list of talent managers and music agents from across the country; and consultation with national program staff at Levitt Pavilions.
When the bat signal first went out a week or two ago, we sat at 21st place. As of Thursday, though, we have now cracked the top 15 (Frederick is in 14th place). To refresh your memory, let’s take a look at the artists we were able to bring to town over the summer thanks to our win last year:
- The Nighthawks
- Hard Swimmin’ Fish
- Dale & The Z-Dubs
- The Hello Strangers
- Mary Ann Redmond
- Todd Marcus
- Danny Weinkauf & His Red Pants Band
- Walker’s Run
- Elikeh
- The Crawdaddies
The deadline for voting is November 30, so we still have about a week and a half to get this city in the top 10 (or, even better yet, the top 5). As Donald Trump would say, “Your vote counts, stupid,” so don’t hesitate to head on over to the website and make a difference. Remember, you can vote up to five times. We need you. Frederick needs you!
