Courtesy Cargo Coffee
A wall of music posters.
Dana Perry looks at a wall of gig posters at Cargo Coffee East.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, live music venues had to stop holding shows and work dried up for musicians. Gone was the connection that performers and audiences feel at small stages.
Dana Perry, music coordinator for Cargo Coffee East, says she “did what most folks did and cried into a pile of laundry for about a month.” Then, to continue hosting live music during the pandemic, Perry turned to livestreaming concerts from musicians’ homes.
After being allowed to open at 25% capacity, Perry invited bands to livestream from the venue’s stage. As restrictions eased, she welcomed more and more audience members into the room.
“Emotions were high for both the artists and the few who attended the streams,” Perry says of that time. “The artists would thank me with tears in their eyes, saying ‘seriously, thank you so much. I really needed to play, and that felt so good.’ The listeners would thank me with even more tears, saying ‘oh my god, you have no idea how much I needed this, thank you so much!’”
Now venue owners and musicians report the scene is beginning to revive. “Although it took a little while, and although it's still an ongoing process, we're slowly starting to see our pre-pandemic audience again,” Perry says.
For Pam Barrett, frontwoman of local band BingBong and one of the new owners of The Harmony Bar & Grill, getting customers, especially older patrons, to come back remains a challenge. “Part of it is there's still COVID out there,” she says. Yet she remains optimistic. “I think this town is pretty resilient in terms of its music culture. It’s almost like an amoeba. You squish it down in one place, and it reaches out in another.”
Madison’s independent live music venues have capitalized on their smaller footprints, carving out niches in the music scene.
Cargo Coffee, for instance, has developed a reputation as a listening room.
“One of the many things I love about Cargo is a level of intimacy,” Perry says. “I’d say for about 90% of our shows, the room is dead quiet, each person captivated by the artists’ music. At the end, when I flip the lights back on, you can feel the energy shift, like everyone is waking up from some kind of trance.”
Barrett describes the Harmony as “more of a community center,” noting that before she and her husband bought the bar they used to joke that “it was our den.” The Harmony books “the whole spectrum [of performers], from people just starting out to people you're going to feel lucky you saw when you did, because they're amazing, and it's a one-off event.”
Barrett curates The Harmony’s lineup to ensure high-quality performances and invests in superior sound equipment. “We want to be the place where people can come and actually hear the music and hear all of the music, the instruments, and the vocals. The idea is if you play here, you're going to sound good.”
Linda Falkenstein
Man seated on stage with piano and blue curtain behind him.
Toffer Christensen on the stage of The Bur Oak.
Toffer Christensen, co-owner of The Bur Oak, also wants to provide a rich experience for customers. “We’re in this business because we love music and art,” he says. “The best feeling in the world is seeing someone leave a concert with a smile on their face or — even better — a kid leaving a concert with their mind blown from the unique experience they just took part in.”
Moreover, Christensen notes, “When you buy a beer or a ticket at The Bur Oak, your money goes into the local economy. Your dollar is not a statistic on a spreadsheet to us. We will do our best to create a place where you want to come to experience art.”
Other industry veterans also value small venues. Jim Barnard, 2022 Madison Area Music Association photographer of the year, describes independent venues as “places that create community” and “bring together kindred singer-songwriters, some old friends, and many whom you’ve never met.”
Folk musician Evan Murdock speaks of developing mutually beneficial relationships with venue owners and staff. “They know you and your audience; you know them and their venue,” he says.
Angela Puerta, a six-time MAMA Award-winning Latin artist (and city of Madison planner) says these smaller venues provide a place for local musicians at different levels “to share their art, make connections and build awareness about the importance of music. “Music as an artistic expression provides culture to our city and helps include the voices of those who don’t feel listened to in other settings.”
Independent live music venues also play an important role in developing the careers of local musicians. Karin Wolf, arts program administrator for the city of Madison, characterizes Madison’s independent live music spaces as “business incubators where artists have the opportunity to build their audiences.”
Barrett, like other musicians, appreciates the more intimate vibe: “It’s a lot less fun playing for a crowd that's standing 50 feet back, as opposed to [a place like] Mickey's [Tavern], where the crowds are right on top of you.”
