Lexington, KY - Every city in America that has become a center for live music has one. Nashville and Memphis have one- so do New York, LA and Chicago, as well as Austin and Seattle. "When we did the research," said Wil Freebody, owner of Lexington's Long Island Recording Studio, "we found that all of the cities that are known for music had a group that supported the music community and got the ball rolling."
Now, Lexington, at the crossroads of two of America's heavily travelled interstate highways, and at the crossroads of its future as a city known for its live music, has founded one too- an organization in support of musicians, live music venues and retailers, songwriters, booking agents, sound and lighting technicians and music educators. "We've just started the ball rolling," said Freebody. "Our goals will be fully realized far into the future."
Formed earlier this summer, LAMA, the Lexington Area Musician's Association, has hit the ground running. With 11 board members representing all facets of the live music community, the non-profit organization, which had its first board meeting on July 15th, has announced a general membership meeting for August 12th on the soundstage of the Long Island Recording Studio (LIRCO), 2566 Palumbo Drive. Freebody, President of LAMA, invites anyone connected to the music industry to attend the meeting and become a member of the support organization.
Freebody said the group understands live music is an attraction that benefits all of Lexington, including hotels, restaurants and retail stores. So LAMA is focused on creating a climate for live music that emphasizes job creation, "the commerce side of the live music industry. We love show business, but we realize that show business is 5 percent show, and 95 percent business. Without solid business practices and a lot of support, there's no show."
LAMA's complete agenda for the near future will be coalescing as members begin meeting to discuss common concerns and issues that need to be addressed. "The live music industry," Freebody said, "will be a key element in the future growth of Lexington. We want to be contributors, and to do our part."
As an example of the contributions that can be made, Brian Powers, local attorney and musician, and secretary/treasurer for the LAMA board, said the organization has already been collaborating with local government, "to fine tune the new sound ordinance which is scheduled to take effect sometime later this year."
"This has been a thoughtful, intelligent process by people who know what they're doing," Powers said. The task force, under the direction of Councilmembers Tom Blues and Linda Gorton, has been working on the new sound ordinance for two years. "In the past," according to Powers, "we have had guidelines, but not standards. Now we are hopeful of establishing standards that will clearly define the expectations of the new ordinance."
Early on, another important issue on the agenda for LAMA, according to Tom Martin, LAMA's VP and editor-in-chief of Business Lexington, is audience development. "We have thousands of college students who are not 21, and can't access live music," Martin said. "It's counter-productive, that's for sure."
"Our organization doesn't want to do anything to encourage under-aged drinking," Martin said, "but what we want to try to do is to work with venue owners, civic leaders and city officials, as well as police and other experts, to see what we can do to make live music more available and accessible to people who happen to be under 21 years old. Those who would want to enjoy it, and those who would want to play music, and are under 21."
"We're going to be talking to people with expertise," Martin added, "like UK's Gatton College of Business and Economics, and EKU's College of Business and Technology, to understand what you have to have, what has to be in place, to make the success of the live music scene a reality."
"We're taking a cuefrom the Austin's, the Memphis's, the Seattle's- even Gainesville, Florida, to see what we can do in Lexington to organize a segment of the economy around the presentation of live music, to get all those people who are involved and have a stake in the success of live music," Martin said. "Music venues, event producers, music retailers, music instructors, music studios, promoters and record labels and the artists themselves - (need to be) connected and communicating."
LAMA can be found online, at http://www.LexMusic.org.