Spread the Music Virtual Festival expands to Five Days!
Wednesday, March 24 - Sunday, March 28
Facebook Fundraiser for the Michigan Artist Relief Fund
Grand Rapids, MI: Just as spring is breaking across Michigan later this month, the sweet sounds of live music will be streaming constantly, from studios, basements, concert venues, living rooms, and the occasional back porch. It’s all part of the second annual Spread the Music Virtual Festival Wednesday March 24 - Sunday, March 28, to celebrate our exceptional Michigan music culture, and raise funds that will be dispersed as micro-grants later this spring and summer, for musicians who are in need after losing their primary source of income through the pandemic. The Spread the Music Virtual Festival is being produced by the non-profit Michigan Music Alliance.
More than 200 artists and bands from every corner of our state submitted applications to volunteer their time and energy to the fundraiser, leading to the expansion of the festival to five days, from the four days originally planned. “When we planned the first fundraising stream in March of 2020, it was in immediate response to the unfolding crisis at hand, with little time to organize or get the word out in advance”, says Elle Lively, MMA Executive Director, “We were able to begin much earlier this year, and the tremendous response from partners, performers, sponsors and volunteers has been truly heart-warming. The momentum already feels huge, and we are still a few weeks out from the event. We are really hitting every genre and corner of the state,” said Lively. “We have folk singer-songwriters, rappers, rock, instrumentalists, jazz, blues, country, world music and more, from Marquette to Detroit…. Michigan will truly be rocking during this week in March.The indie music scene is clearly alive and well all across Michigan.”
The festival will host virtual livestream concerts on Facebook typically kicking off each day with singer-songwriters and progressively building to a collective of bands performing live from various popular venues all across the state.
Wednesday’s festival opener will offer a slate of Grand Rapids area artists with national profiles including Mark Lavengood, Emilee Petersmark, and Political Lizard, plus others. Thursday will have the virtual audience journeying north to Petoskey for a night filled with music from the likes of Charlie Millard, Sean Miller, Caroline Barlow and more all hosted by the Blissfest Music Organization at the Crooked Tree Arts Center.
Other highlights of the festival include The Accidentals performing in a headlining slot on Friday. The band — just prior to their performance — will be putting out a brand new single and music video of a song off their upcoming album.
Friday night will also offer livestreams of singer-songwriters performing in-the-round live from 20 Front Street in Lake Orion and Saturday will host performers such as Max Lockwood, Sandra Effort and recent American Idol contestant Nathan Walton live from 7 Steps Up in Spring Lake. Sunday’s closing performances will bounce from the Gasoline Gypsies from the Foundry on the east coast, Port Huron, to an All-Star west side gathering, streaming live from the Listening Room in Grand Rapids, and capped by a special solo performance by Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe.
The Michigan Music Alliance is also grateful for the support of partners Third Coast Recording, La Luna Recording & Sound, Guitar Haven, Plymouth Rock Recording, The Detroit Music Awards Foundation, and Littlite Task Lighting. Limited STM festival sponsorship packages are still available, information can be found on the web site at www.MichiganMusicAlliance.org
A complete line up and detailed performance schedule is currently available on our website, and a downloadable event program will be available on March 17 for Spread the Music Virtual Festival.
Donations for the Michigan Artist Relief Fund are also being accepted through the website, in addition to the Facebook fundraising portal. All Michigan Music Alliance merchandise purchases also support the festival and fund.
For additional information, interviews, or high-res images, please contact info@michiganmusicalliance.org.
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Spread the Music 2020 Recap Video