When the novel coronavirus pandemic became a real threat in early March, among the first things to be shut down were bars and live music venues. The closings came so fast and furious that owners are still figuring out what their new reality is.
Two weeks ago, independent venue owners across the country started looking for ways to pool their resources to lobby the federal government for more aid and the National Independent Venue Association was formed. Chris Cobb, owner of the Exit/In in Nashville, has been involved since the beginning and is now a Southern precinct captain for the group.
"It all happened so fast, which is awesome" he said of the formation of NIVA.
"Since we've launched, we have [about 450] members in 48 states. We have an interim board to ensure that we have the proper footing and structure."
Those members include venue owners who for many years have competed for acts and patrons within the same markets, but "now we have a common enemy and it's great seeing everyone set aside any differences."
NIVA was co-founded by Rev. Moose, managing partner of Marauder which runs Independent Venue Week, which like many musicians and venues, has turned to the internet to celebrate both in the United States.
"If the number of venues and promoters that signed up for NIVA membership in the first three days is an indicator – 450 venues in 43 states and Washington, D.C. – we can say the independent venues and promoters might be in dire straits, but they're motivated to fight for their survival," he said.
"In addition to going to Capitol Hill to seek funds, NIVA will also offer key survival tools to members by sharing resources, information, and providing guidance on the Small Business Administration's Payroll Protection Program."
Mike Dougher is the music programmer at Songbirds locally and said he believes the association could also have long-term benefits.
"I have a network of about a half dozen people that I talk to see what is going on and what everyone is doing," he said.
"This a whole new ballgame and we are basically going to have to rethink everything, so hopefully this will help."
Cobb's former business partner Josh Billue is the owner of Marathon Music Works in Nashville, The Truman in Kansas City and The Signal in Chattanooga. Like so many other business owners, he admits to having no knowledge of what the future holds for his businesses, but is sticking to his independent spirit and says he isn't looking to the government for relief.
"It's a wonderful thing that people are coming together, but I also think music is best when it is a unique experience which comes from venues being independent. Variety is the spice of life. That said, it's good to have somebody lobby on our behalf, but I'm not asking anything from anybody else," he said.
"My focus is what I have to do to survive. Nobody plans for this, but I think we'll be OK. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I just don't know how long the tunnel is."
Independent venues are defined as those not owned and solely booked by a larger corporation, which essentially means either Live Nation or AEG, the country's two largest. Among the early leaders of NIVA are owners/operators of the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., First Avenue in Minneapolis, Chicago Independent Venue League, World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, Pabst Theater Group in Milwaukee, Red River Cultural District in Austin and Nashville's Exit/In.
There is no cost to join and venue owners/operators simply need to go to the https://www.nivassoc.org website and register to start receiving information. One of the first acts the board has taken was to hire nationally recognized law firm of Akin Gump in Washington, D.C. to represent it.
He added that some money has been made available to independent venue owners, but it is enough to cover just some of his needs for two months. It only covers payroll and about 25% of his rent, for example. Many industry people are hopeful to be able to present lives shows around the first of September, but Cobb said that is uncertain.
He said the government mandated closer could last eight months and with overhead costs of $10,000 per month, that $80,000 hole could be too big to crawl out of.
NIVA is also asking that national standards regarding what constitutes a large gathering and the rules surrounding them be established for uniformity across the country. This protects touring artists and fans, as well, he said.
"There are a lot of entities and ecosystems out there," he said.
"Music venues were the first to close and will be the last to open," said Dayna Frank, NIVA board member and owner of First Avenue in Minneapolis. "It's just brutal right now, and the future is predictable to no one. We can't envision a world without these music venues, so we've created NIVA to fight for their ability to survive this shutdown, which we hear could go into 2021. Our first order of business is to push to secure federal funding to preserve the ecosystem of live music venues and touring artists."
Gary Witt, CEO of Pabst Theater Group and founding member of NIVA, said relief is essential for the concert and theater industry.
"Most of us have gone from our best year ever to a dead stop in revenues, but our expenses and overhead are still real, and many will not make it without help," he said. "Our employees, the artists, and the fans need us to act. But we are also an important income generator for those around us, bringing revenue to area restaurants, bars, hotels, and retail shops. Our contributions to the tax base far exceed our ticket sales."
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.