Colorado has a thriving music scene with thousands of artists and hundreds of music venues, along with artist development firms and recording studios to support the industry. Now a new music nonprofit has officially launched here to help up-and-coming musicians with mentorship and financial support. Black Fret began in Austin in 2013, opened a chapter in Seattle a few years later, and is now coming to Colorado.
Black Fret Colorado’s launch director Dani Grant and touring musician Kyle James Hauser, also a member of the launch committee, joined us to talk about how the organization got started, why Colorado was selected as the site of its third chapter, and the potential impact on Colorado’s music community.
Interview Highlights
These interview highlights have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Erin O’Toole: Let’s start with the backstory of Black Fret. How did it get started and why was it created?
Dani Grant: The guys who started the Austin Music Foundation in Austin, they began this organization because when they passed off the Music Foundation, what they realized was that they had done all this great work, educating and training artists on what to do. But once they got to that point, without capital, they were really kind of stuck. And so, they felt like their next moves were to create an organization that would help them bridge that gap and get them to the next place in their career. And that’s where Black Fret began in Austin.
And how does it work?
Grant: Black Fret is an evolution of the age-old symphony patronage model. You know, it’s taking fans of popular music and creating an opportunity for them to see very intimate shows, become fans of local musicians, be able to provide assistance to those musicians and create a culture of people that are engaged and connected, and making an impact on local musicians.
How did you become involved, Kyle?
Kyle James Hauser: I was asked to join the national expansion…