Independent Venue Week Announces Bartees Strange As Artist Ambassador

Independent Venue Week, running from July 12-18, 2021, has announced that Bartees Strange will be joining this year's celebration as its official artist ambassador. Strange has emerged as one of the most electrifying and exciting acts to break out onto the national scene in recent memory, with Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The FADER, Stereogum, NME, NPR Music, The New Yorker, and more finding themselves enraptured by Strange's one-of-a-kind sonic tapestry of alt-soul, post-punk, midwest emo, indie folk, and abstract hip-hop.

Strange's experiences as both a performer and patron of independent venues over the years have allowed him to drive home just how critical these spaces are to the enrichment of arts and culture, communities, and scenes nationwide. "The important thing about independent venues is the way they can eliminate the barrier between a fan and an artist," says Strange. "As bands get bigger, it becomes more and more unbelievable to see that they're human. That they face the same challenges as everyone. And that anyone can use music to tell their stories as well. It was at small independent venues that I found my first idols, eventually grabbed drinks with them, and learned that we were the exact same. That was powerful for me - and I think that the more we make music accessible to everyone, the more people and experiences we'll see reflected across it."

In addition to the reveal of its artist ambassador for the 2021 edition of the event, Independent Venue Week announced another milestone this week, declaring that for the first time ever, stages and rooms from ALL 50 US STATES, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico, will be participating in Independent Venue Week. With over 300 VENUES already signed on from across the country, this year's Independent Venue Week will not only be the largest event of its kind to occur in the United States but worldwide, as well.

"Since we brought Independent Venue Week to the States, it's been crucial to us that the event is nationally, geographically balanced; that everyone has the opportunity to participate locally," says Cecilie Nielsen, Director of Special Projects at Marauder, the firm that runs the American iteration of Independent Venue Week. "We're excited to have such strong participation. It is an affirmation of how essential independent venues are to communities all over the country, not just in cities that are traditionally thought of as major music markets."

Though this year's Independent Venue Week is already slated to be the largest yet, venues and promoters interested in participating can still register to be part of the annual event. The venue-curated programming will be joined with the return of #IVWTalks, a virtual conference series that discusses current live music industry issues and includes Get Schooled, a full day dedicated to student participants interested in a career in live music to take place on Thursday, July 15.