These Women Are Leading the Charge to Brand Colorado as a Top Live-Music Destination

These Women Are Leading the Charge to Brand Colorado as a Top Live-Music Destination

For the first time ever, four of Denver's leading music organizations are run by women.

Left to right: Jami Duffy, Jessy Clark, Meghan McNamara and Karen Radman. Emily Ferguson

Aside from outdoor recreation, music is one of the biggest draws for Colorado tourism. The world-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre is Denver Arts & Venues' biggest artery for cash flow, and Denver itself is overflowing with talented local musicians. That's why the Colorado Tourism Office created its Music Shines Bright in Colorado campaign in 2023, which publishes concert schedules and listicles about live-music events for locals and visitors to the state.

But for all the opportunities, there are just as many challenges. And more often than not, these challenges — like so many challenges — are plastered with dollar signs. "There's not a lot of arts funding in Colorado," says Jami Duffy, co-manager of the Underground Music Showcase and executive director of Youth on Record. "I'll give you an example: For Youth on Record, of our $2.4 million-a-year budget, less than 10 percent is funded by the arts. So you really have to diversify."

That's why it's important for music organizations to work together rather than compete with one another, she says. And Karen Radman, executive director of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame; Jessy Clark, CEO of Swallow Hill Music;  and Meghan McNamara, executive producer of Levitt Pavilion, wholeheartedly agree. This is the first time the four Denver-based music organizations have all been run by women simultaneously, and these leaders are percolating with ideas on how to work together to bolster the status of Colorado's music industry.

Levitt Pavilion is known for its summer concerts. Joel Rekiel, @joelrekiel

"We're all in the same ecosystem," says Duffy. "There's a cross-section of artists that we're all working with. In terms of outreach and getting people to the table who maybe don't know about one of the organizations, if we all come together, we can essentially build a music summit that all Colorado musicians know about."

Having such a summit at the Underground Music Showcase would be a "call to action for funders," she continues, "because we have seen a decrease in direct funding for musicians and the music ecosystem from foundations, the City and County of Denver, over the past three to four years. So part of it is strategic on our end to say, 'We are here, this ecosystem is growing, and we need our funders to rise to the occasion.'

"Music is what pays for the arts in the city — the majority of the Arts & Venues budget comes from Red Rocks, so it comes from popular music," Duffy notes. "So, everything that we get to do around the arts is because of this ecosystem. We're just asking for a bigger piece of the pie."

In addition to music classes and hosting concerts, Swallow Hill Music produces the Botanic Gardens summer concert series. Brandon Marshall

Expenses have risen for producing concerts on both large and small scales, and as Billboard recently reported, many big-time artists are ditching festivals for stadium tours with major bookers. "Everything's more expensive," says Clark. "Our production costs at Denver Botanic Gardens are double what they were in 2019, and we're trying to keep things affordable, so you're strapped because everything costs more. But there's no leverage point for you to change your revenues to reflect what those expenses are, so your margins are lower.

"It's across the board: The artists are more expensive, the travel's more expensive, staffing is more expensive," she continues. "So the struggle that we're currently experiencing is trying to keep music accessible. To me, the accessibility of the music in Denver feels bad."

Duffy says that production costs for the Underground Music Showcase have increased by 350 percent since Youth on Record acquired part-ownership of the festival three years ago. "There is a reason why music festivals are going away, why venues are shutting down," she says."We need to be looking at all of the various avenues where we can potentially look for dollars to invest in these spaces."

She points to the public-art arm of Arts & Venues, through which 1 percent of any city-funded "capital improvement project" that costs $1 million o more is used to invest in the city's public art. "What I have been saying for the past eight years is we are going to be a city filled with murals and sculptures and no artists," Duffy says. "Is it possible for us to carve out a piece of that public art charter for performance art, festivals, live music, busking, art fairs? ... We need a pool at between $5 and $10 million a year to produce these sorts of things."

Radman notes that the city just opened a grant opportunity for artists with the Five Points Jazz Grants, "but the private foundations need to be supporting music and arts more. Frankly, it's a tough one."

According to McNamara, audiences also need to learn that supporting live music goes beyond just purchasing a ticket. "There's also this whole other world of supporting organizations that directly benefit and support artists and workforce development and youth music education and all of these things that are critical to a thriving music ecosystem, and I think that gets lost," she says. "Entertainment is beautiful and that's the first part of it — it's what draws people in. But how do we also share that there is so much more at play for this ecosystem to continue to thrive?"

Colorado attracts many tourists for its live-music offerings. Jordan Altergott (@jordanaltergott)

By pooling their resources, these leaders believe they can tune into each others' audiences to uplift one another, whether it be partnering for new networking events or advocating for causes. Last year, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame established its Music Task Force, which operates in six regions throughout the state; Radman, Clark, Duffy and Levitt Pavilion director of operations Andy Thomas are all part of the Denver chapter.

"It's leaders in all different aspects of the music industry and tourism industry here in the Denver area and across the state," Radman says. "So our work has been around trying to identify ways that we can better brand Colorado as a music destination, and how we can also work better together not just in our regions but statewide, because there is no statewide music association that convenes people. So there are a lot of opportunities for collaboration not just with us, but with folks in Durango and up in Steamboat to try to come together and do this on a statewide basis."

That would include banding together to "better provide opportunities for local artists, connect venues on the Eastern Plains with venues in southwest Colorado, that kind of thing," Radman says.

The Underground Music Showcase is one of Denver's premiere music festivals. Jordan Altergott (@jordanaltergott)

They are also looking at work culture as it impacts the future of the Colorado music scene. Radman, Duffy, Clark and McNamara have all noticed the music industry welcoming more women and BIPOC into the fold compared to when they first entered the field, but there's still a long way to go, they say. Much of that has to do with establishing a better experience for younger folks entering the workforce, who will be leaders themselves one day.

"All of us, in our own way, are working with the next generation of young creatives," Duffy says. "That's where culture change starts. ... You start a culture at your institution that is welcoming, affirming, belonging, diverse — that is the future of the workforce. And at some point, this new generation is going to demand a different music industry."

McNamara agrees. "When you have someone in their first professional placement, and if that first workplace is a toxic, unsafe, unsupportive environment, people are going to leave the sector," she says. "That's not to say that every single workplace is going to be the right fit for every single person, but I think it's important. And that's something Levitt has been focused on: We are a large-scale music venue, but we're also a nonprofit, values-driven organization that hires over seventy people every single summer."

The women plan to meet quarterly to continue discussing their mutual goal of establishing Colorado as a go to place for quality live music.

"For too long, we've been ignoring what it takes to actually create a music-destination state. We're going to need some money behind that, but there are some ways to do it without overly burdening taxpayers. And then we can start to work with businesses and foundations to maybe match what the city comes up with, because the city itself, they're gonna have to tighten the belt too, right? But I think there are creative solutions, and I will say the city is absolutely willing to start entering those conversations."