Sara Bareilles And More Rally To Rescue Rockwood Music Hall

Prolific producer of popular music, Sara Bareilles, has been spearheading a campaign to rescue one of New York City's most treasured and most important small venue music clubs from disappearing forever.  For eighteen years Rockwood Music Hall has been a home for musicians looking to showcase their artistry in intimate, edgy, and comfortable rooms where small audiences can relax with friends over a drink and lean into the music.   On three different stages, Rockwood Music Hall keeps it cool, keeps it real, and keeps it about the music and the musicians.  Some of the city's and the industry's most popular artists got their start at Rockwood, including Bareilles, who wrote on her social media that,

"In 2007, I played one of the first shows of my career at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side, a venue that then and now represents the grit and determination of New York’s aspiring musical community. At that point, I had only ever played ONE show in New York. I was green and scared. I knew I loved playing music for people, but New York was the Big Leagues and I wanted to prove myself, even if I didn’t know who that was yet. So I pretended, and of course panicked that no one would come. Thankfully people came. Not hundreds of people, but enough people came for me to get to play there again. And a few more people came. And I got to play again. And again. And that is the whole precious gift of a place like this. Nurturing a relationship with the community, and more importantly with myself. I genuinely believe that for emerging and developing artists, sacred places like this are the heartbeat and lifeline of the New York music scene.”  

The Grammy winner doubled-down on her efforts to rescue the club by performing two benefit concerts on June 30th as part of a series titled PRESERVE ROCKWOOD BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES.  That series is ongoing and will continue to present artists who, like Bareilles, believe that the arts venue must remain a vital part of the NYC music scene, at all costs.

To that end, a gofundme page has been created to assist in saving Rockwood Music Hall and, to date, the effort has raised nearly ninety thousand of the two hundred fifty thousand dollar goal, which is impressive but not nearly enough.  During the dark days of the pandemic, gofundme campaigns helped to keep alive small venues of cabaret and concert like Pangea, Don't Tell Mama, and Brandy's, and there were beneift concerts and gofundme campaigns that (quite literally) saved The West Bank Cafe/Laurie Beechman Theatre and the legendary jazz club Birdland from extinction.  And while it is true that the pandemic is over and life in New York City has returned to a kind of normal, it is also true that members of the arts community continue to feel the after-effects of those terrible times.  Rockwood Music Hall deserves the same tender loving attention and dedicated attempts at rescue as any of the city's valued small venues.  Rockwood Music Hall has been a home and a safe haven for new artists starting out, like singer-songwriter Dan Tracy, for film and television stars who do double duty as singer-songwriters, like Alicia Witt, for breakout Manhattan artists like Sondheim aficionado Eleri Ward,  for indie folk bands with a following, like The Heartstrings Project, as well as the famous award winners like Sara Bareilles.  Even as this article is being written, Broadway World Cabaret favorite Marissa Licata is preparing to take the stage tonight at 6 pm with The Ragtag Collection for another electrifying night of musical mastery (ticket link HERE).

Rockwood Music Hall is a treasured venue for the music industry of Manhattan, but also for the fans of the eclectic artists who play there.  Open seven days a week, this venue even boasts a stage (Stage One) that has never, ever, had a cover charge - the band shows up, the fans show up, the drinks and the music flow, and everybody goes home sated, elated, and feeling like a thread in the ever-powerful tapestry of the arts scene of New York City.  It is places like Rockwood Music Hall that have made, and that continue to make the live music scene of Manhattan what it is.  Let us not risk losing that now, at a time when we have learned just how important that scene is, and a time when we need live entertainment and community the most.

To contribute to the PRESERVE ROCKWOOD gofundme campaign visit THIS website.

To find great music acts to see on one of the three Rockwood stages, visit the Rockwood Music Hall website HERE.

The PRESERVE ROCKWOOD BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES has upcoming shows featuring

Isabel Hagen (July 10)
The Altogether (July 12)
Tony Lucca & Keaton Simons (July 13)
Madhavi Devi(July 14)
Savannah Jaine (July 15)
Songbird ft. Calista Garcia, Emiy Jeanne Brown, & Joy and the Wildfire (July 16)
Mike Hubbard of Pagoda (July 18)
Ingrid Michaelson (July 20)
John Gallagher Jr. (July 21)
Blu Eye Extinction & Friends (July 24)
Vincent Azure & Friends (July 30)
Ernesto Hex & The Sun Magnetic (July 30)
The Lone Bellow (August 10)

 

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