Recently #WomenCrush Music announced a nationwide virtual tour to support and connect local music communities across 15 cities. Beginning in August, the organization will be partnering with local venues and sponsors at each tour stop, donating proceeds to participating venues and artists. You can find a full list of cities and a link to RSVP here.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, #WCM, like many other organizations, have had to navigate how to best support their communities and come together, while staying apart. This has meant shifting their showcase programming to virtual, hosting weekly Instagram Live sessions featuring artists from their nationwide community while partnering with larger brands to engage new audiences. They’ve continued to bring valuable and timely information to their community through webinars with CDBaby, Songtrust & more, as well as increasing their output of artist releases and think pieces on their blog, #TheCrush. They’ve also recently launched Song Sessions, a chance for the #WCM community to submit songs for critiquing by established songwriters and industry members.
“When COVID-19 hit, I knew that as a community-focused organization we had to continue supporting our community in any way we possibly could,” Founder/CEO Ashley K. Stoyanov states. “While the weekly Instagram Lives and webinars were reaching an international audience and were a valuable resource, we wanted a way to help further connect the rising womxn songwriter community on a local level, as well as help support local music venues who truly make the local music scenes in these communities special. We have always wanted our events to be a place where womxn songwriters can find their next collaborators for shows and to share resources, and we hope that we can continue doing that even if it is virtually through this pandemic.”
The tour kicks off on August 3rd in the San Francisco Bay Area and will continue through mid-December, spotlighting a new city or area every two weeks. In addition to songwriter showcases, they will also team up with local industry professionals to host panel discussions and webinars. #WCM’s goal is to partner with local womxn/BIPOC owned music venues to support them with 100% of the proceeds from showcase ticket sales. They will be partnering with sponsors and launching a Facebook Fundraiser on Monday, July 20th to help pay the artists and support tour costs (10% of all donations will go to Public Functionary - #CreativesAfterCurfew).
The tour will run through mid-December and will hit the following cities/areas:
San Francisco Bay Area - 8/3 to 8/14
South Florida & Atlanta - 8/17 to 8/28
Portland & Seattle - 8/31 to 9/11
Austin - 9/14 to 9/25
NY & Boston - 9/28 to 10/9
Washington DC & Philadelphia - 10/12 to 10/23
Denver - 10/26 to 11/06
Chicago & Mineappolis - 11/09 to 11/20
Nashville - 11/23 to 12/04
Los Angeles - 12/07 to 12/18
RSVP to receive details for each city as they are announced.
About #WomenCrushMusic:
#WomenCrush Music is a 100% volunteer-run, fiscally sponsored project of Independent Arts & Media, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, dedicated to creating opportunities for rising womxn songwriters through community.
Over the last 2 and a half years, they have hosted over 400 showcases, educational workshops, and networking events across 16 North American cities and created a community of over 6K who want to see more rising womxn songwriters topping the charts and headlining at their favorite festivals.
For more information head to www.womencrushmusic.com or follow them on Instagram at @womencrushmusic.
