How 10 Music Concerts Made a Town Better

Middlesboro has reached the end of an amazing journey, that started when we were one of only 10 cities nationally selected by Levitt Pavilions in their AMP Your City contest. In truth, the origins of this accomplishment reached back much further, at least to the Better Block Middlesborough event held in October 2013. For it was then that over one hundred citizens rallied for the first time over a weekend to make their town better. They demonstrated through picking up something as simple as a hammer or broom, they had the power to bring change about. Just in case you weren't there we strongly recommend that you view this video.

Better Block Middlesborough, 2013.

Over the course of that weekend nearly two-dozen tactical interventions were carried out. By their very nature these were low-cost citizen-led interventions to demonstrate the possibility for long-term change. A vacant storefront became a pop-up shop, a parklet created a welcoming place for people to sit on the street, and a pop-up park was built in a vacant gravel lot. The timing of this event was fortuitous for it also marked the culmination of a year-long planning process that engaged hundreds of residents in determining the future that they wanted for their town. This led to a strategic plan, a preservation plan, and a philanthropic fundraising plan. After taking the time to listen and hear what people really wanted, Better Block allowed us to transform these many plans in to action.

Of all the documents that were produced, the Vision Statement for the downtown was probably most significant and predictive of what was about to happen:

Beautifully restored historic buildings and clean and attractive public spaces have made Downtown Middlesborough a leading regional and statewide attraction. A world class hiking, biking, and horse trail system draws people downtown and connects with Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. A wide variety of shops and restaurants provide everything from daily necessities and a quick and inexpensive meal, to higher-end goods, services, and fine dining all at locally-owned businesses. People travel from miles around to be part of the fun and excitement downtown has to provide.

During that first Better Block event a 16x16 foot open air stage was built on a vacant gravel lot facing our main street. Formerly a Woolworth's department store and soda fountain had been located here. This building and business was long gone by now. The vacant gravel lot had hosted a farmers' market shortly after DDM was founded in 2006. This too fell by the wayside, leaving behind market sheds slowly allowed to rot. The paint was peeling and cars were parked between them, giving the perfect symbol for everything that wasn't quite right in the heart of the downtown.

First concert on our open air stage during the Better Block event, October 2013.

While a stage was built on this site, the hoped for concerts never took off. It's probably because the gravel surface was unappealing, especially in the Kentucky summertime heat. And, then there was the fact that given the constrained resources in the area there simply was not the money to pay for big name talent.

Fast forward to Summer 2014. While signs of progress were beginning to pop-up all over town in the form of new businesses opening, over 100 new jobs created in a two year period, and a generally improving overall look and feel of town - the old farmers' market lot and the newly built stage there still languished. Around this time the Levitt Pavilions organization in Los Angeles - that also happens to be the largest producer of free concerts in the United States - launched their groundbreaking AMP Your City contest. The idea was simple. It asked for proposals from communities with 400,000 people or less for how they might transform a neglected public space with "creative placemaking" and then hold 10 free concerts on consecutive weeks. After entries were submitted there was a month long voting period where registered users could vote for up to 5 of the 26 entries submitted. Once voting closed the top 20 vote-getters went to the Levitt Pavilions organization and the winners selected. This combination of popular online voting and then having professionals in the industry review applications from contestants and select a winner ensured artistic quality and that only high-potential, high-achieving applicants were selected. After doing their review 10 winners were awarded $25,000 each.

When we set about to make our submission it was an idea held by a few people. One was our Director of DDM who recognized the shortcomings of the effort to build a stage in 2013, and the undesirable message the vacant and unused farmers' market sent. He also saw how this particular grant was a perfect fit to address these clear shortcomings. Another was a lover of music who genuinely wanted to see good things happen to her town. Then there were the partners who offered to join in, not fully comprehending what the future might hold. When Middlesboro was selected as a winner it was a vindication for all of those people who believed that it was long overdue for something better to happen on this site and in Middlesboro.

Immediately upon winning work shifted in to making these plans for concerts a reality. Many spirited discussions were had about whether such a transformation of the selected lot was desirable or even realistic. Maybe we should use another space instead? There were questions about whether we could attract the premier acts that Levitt requested given our remote Appalachian Kentucky location. One of the criteria of the grant was creating a grass-like setting. Given the fact the lot was covered in gravel, there were questions about whether we could afford grass, and, even if we could, whether it would take root? Needless to say the obstacles as they appeared before us in January 2015 were seemingly insurmountable. The one thing we had going for us was being one of only 10 winners nationally and the $25,000 of secured funding from Levitt Pavilions. Taking those important facts to heart, from this point we proceeded to make magic happen.

OUR 10 STEPS TO SUCCESS

We've distilled our experience down to 10 steps to make the whole process easier to understand. Granted, this process might vary significantly from community to community and should only be taken as a general guide. These might also be helpful guidelines for other communities seeking to participate in this exciting program.

Step #1: Begin at the Beginning

After the giddiness of being one of only 10 communities to win the contest wore off, the hard work began. First and foremost was persuading our Board and partners that this project was SMART. For those familiar with this concept, this stands for S - specific, M - measurable, A - achievable, R - realistic, and T - timely. This required several meetings of key stakeholders and the willingness to have a respectful while sometimes critical conversation about what we had set out to do met all of these criteria. 

Eventually we were able to do this and a core group of volunteers coalesced. We were also encouraged by some early votes of confidence in the form of a $5,000 anonymous contribution, and the potential to raise another $8,000 through a funding opportunity from the Kentucky Arts Council. This funding together brought us to our cash match requirement of $12,500. With the volunteers mobilized and the resource picture beginning to take shape, this allowed us to move on to the text two steps that were done more or less simultaneously - selecting the acts and building the venue. The motivation for pursuing these together is that we had a reporting deadline for Levitt no fewer than 10 weeks before the concerts occurred. By that time they required an act list and photograph of the completed venue. As that date rapidly approached (around Memorial Day) the pressure ratcheted up day by day.

One of our earliest committee meetings popped-up following our Annual Meeting in March. 

Step #2: Select the Acts

Getting the right acts is critical to the success of any series. The expectations of the Levitt AMP contest were acts that could perform on one of the permanent Levitt stages in major metropolitan areas. This put a high demand on the budget that most AMP communities were dealing with of $50,000 or less. 

We were greatly assisted by a volunteer who can only be described as a true lover of all kinds of music. In her spare minutes on any given day she was reaching out to acts from all over the country asking them if they'd consider traveling to Middlesboro to perform. Ever gradually as the deadline approached we began to lock folks in. Those who most wanted to perform told us right away and these were the easiest dates to fill. Several who had some reservations to join in required some additional work - maybe offering a higher level of compensation or some other perks they were looking for.

Even after we had everyone in place we became aware of the reality that everything has the possibility to change. One of our earlier acts cancelled on us due to complications with travel. They cancelled within the one month window required by the contract document that Levitt provided us. So, even if we wanted to somehow require them to appear, there was little we could do. What we did instead was reach out to the band leader and talk through how we might be able to get them. This approach was successful and crisis was averted. Several weeks after the series was underway we learned that our final act retired and would not do any more performances. This did require a scramble to find someone that could fill his place. Ultimately we were successful on this front too recruiting some excellent musicians.

One of the frequent comments we heard was "why didn't you include more local acts?" To meet the qualifications of Levitt we needed acts suitable for presenting on one of their permanent stages. And, while the quality of many local acts was strong, they did not meet the standard that Levitt set. Something we missed early on that might help other people is that nothing restricted us from having local/regional performers as opening acts. We discovered this halfway through the series after so many local acts approached us asking if they could perform. From the moment we began adding local acts to our shows, we saw a marked increase in our attendance. After all, there is no better promoter of live music than other musicians. Right?

Step #3: Build the Venue

While we were selecting acts the pressure to build the venue was great. What we had to work with was basically a vacant gravel lot with some rapidly decaying farmers' market sheds on it. We organized our first Community Build for Saturday, April 18, 2015. The work we were able to accomplish with around 20 volunteers was significant. A concession stand on the shed was scraped and painted. The existing 16x16 foot stage was doubled to 16x32 with an extension to the front. Extensive effort went in to promoting this first work day. Lunch was provided for all participants. That was likely part of the draw. There was no denying the fact, however, that this was hard work and was going to require everything that everyone had to give.

From this point forward we learned to get help wherever we can. A Fulbright Scholar from Ukraine joined us a few days after our first build. Community groups and church groups also stepped up. One of these that helped to "deconstruct" the farmers' market sheds just happened to be with the same organization that built the sheds several years prior. We instituted a Wednesday Workday to give an element of regularity to when we'd be working on the lot. Between that and nearly every Saturday for several months - eventually we made the headway that was needed. 

One day a rainbow with no beginning or end appeared just before we had a major breakthrough on developing the lot.

As we rapidly approached our deadline one critical piece missing was the grass. Unlike other venues that were located in a city park that was already covered in grass, we had selected a gravel lot (partly because of the potential for a dramatic transformation). This brought with it obvious challenges from the perspective of how do we get a significant amount of grass to take root? With about a week until our reporting deadline we got desperate and sent a message to a few sod companies. With the days ticking away we gave it our best shot...

On 2015.05.12 19:30, Isaac Kremer wrote:

Dear Mr. Shingleton,

We're a non-profit organization seeking to plant a lawn in a gravel
lot in downtown Middlesboro. We were one of ten communities in the US
and the only one in Kentucky to win the Levitt AMP Your City contest.
This will allow us to hold ten free concerts downtown this summer
starting August 1. We've already made great progress building a stage
and finding acts. Getting good sod to cover the lot has been
challenging.

I visited your website and noticed you have some state-of-the-art
equipment. Something I wanted to ask is if you'd consider helping us
bring a 40x100 foot lawn to our downtown? This is a high-profile
project with the potential to win national exposure for you and your
company.

If you're interested in working with us, perhaps we could arrange a
time to talk at your first convenience.

Thank you,

Isaac

You can only imagine the relief when we received this message:

On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 1:18 PM, wrote:

Dear Mr. Kremer,

We would be willing to donate the sod to your project but due to a very busy schedule, we would be unable to deliver & install the sod.

If you are still interested, please let us know.

Agri-Sod Sod Farms

Of course, this presented some obvious challenges. Most significantly was the volume and weight of 4,000 sqft of sod, and how we'd get this from Lexington to Middlesboro given our time constraints. Then an idea came to our Director just like a lightning bolt. A local company had donated their flatbed truck to use as a stage before. What is the chance they'd make available the same truck to haul the sod? After reaching out, sure enough, they did. Only problem is that given the routing and availability of the truck we only had about 15 hours from the time the truck was available to be picked up until the time it needed to be installed.

The city laid 7 truckloads of dirt. A volunteer with a bobcat helped us spread the dirt as evenly as possible. Minutes later the semi-truck pulled up with seven pallets of sod. After unloading these, we set to work immediately with just a handful of volunteers to begin rolling out the sod. In a few short hours we managed to cover nearly the entire extent of the lot that we had hoped to cover. A decision was made to keep portions to either side of the sod and towards the rear of the lot uncovered and keeping the original gravel.

Step #4: Share Your Results With Levitt 10 Weeks Before the Show

With some major help from businesses in Lexington and Middlesboro were were on track to meet our reporting requirements. Some final effort went in to finalizing the act list, getting signed contracts, and forwarding a picture of the lot by the deadline. With this completed and behind us, we were ready to start getting ready to bring some music downtown.

Step #5: Market and Promote the Series

We were fortunate to encounter an extremely talented graphic designer a few months after work on the Levitt series began. Of all things we met her while she was live streaming a tour of our downtown using the new video streaming app Meerkat. After giving a nearly hour-long tour of the downtown before a live online audience that at times numbered over a thousand, the professional relationship was secured. After reviewing her portfolio we followed up several days later to ask her to design our poster, a rack card, and a postcard to promote the series. With very little input we were quite simply blown away by the quality of product she put out. Middlesboro now had an iconic graphical image and identity to promote our concerts.

This was only one piece of the marketing. Another was getting the series before major media in our area. We tried everything from press releases, to calendar postings, and even calling a few publishers directly asking for coverage. What we found took us by surprise. No one else seemed quite as excited as we were or recognized the significance of the fact that Middlesboro was among an elite group of ten communities nationally to put these concerts on. Instead, all that most media outlets saw was another concert series and they gave it little recognition. This caused us to bite the bullet and to purchase paid advertising. We were especially pleased by the animated banner that the Middlesboro Daily News made for us. 

Probably one area we could have done better was getting in to more of the restaurants, social service agencies, health department and other places where people gather. We printed over 20,000 rack cards that were placed just about everywhere we could imagine putting them. One of the unexpected surprises we found was to put them in the official tourist brochure racks required spending several thousand dollars to have a professional marketing firm distribute them for you.

Which brings us to our last point on this issue, marketing is probably best left to the professionals. In retrospect our series would have greatly benefited from the hand of an experienced marketer. Dedicating a significant portion of the budget to making that happen probably would have been well worth it in the long-run.

Step #6: Hold the Concerts

Before we knew it the first concert was upon us. We had a special convergence of events that day. Not only was it our first Levitt show. We had some volunteers who approached us a few months prior asking to do a Wing Fling. Basically we invited contestants to cook wings and let the audience judge their favorites. There was also a panel of judges that tasted all the wings and picked their top contestant who received a sizable cash prize. This first of its kind event for Middlesboro was a huge success attracting hundreds of people. All of the 480 pounds of wings and tickets to taste them were sold out in a 3-4 hour period. That left an unexpected gap of several hours between the Wing Fling and other events going on. We also had a repeat of our Ducky Dash race just before our first concert. Several hundred rubber ducks were dropped in our canal and the first three to cross the finish line won prizes. From the Canal we walked to the Levitt stage a block over to announce the winners. Already were assembled several hundred people for our first concert. We announced the winners of the Wing Fling and Ducky Dash, then we were off to the races with our Levitt series.

We could very easily recount each and every act that filled our stage. This is probably not the time or the place to do so. There were some similarities across all of the acts worth noting. 1) All were of a high level of talent and accomplishment in their respective genres, 2) They were all incredibly positive and professional and happy to be performing in our town, 3) Whether there was a hundred people or several hundred, they played as if Middlesboro was Madison Square Garden. The quality of shows that we brought to our Levitt AMP stage was quite simply phenomenal. Larger cities would be hard pressed to put on as fine a series of concerts as we were able to.

Step #7: Build Your Audience

Gradually as we provided high-quality shows week-after-week the word got out. We began attracting more people and a real sense of excitement emerged about what was happening. There were the regulars who showed up week after week unfailingly. Then there were one-timers who we were lucky to get only once. Maybe they knew someone in the band, or their schedules were so prohibitive it did not allow attending multiple shows.

For the regulars it was important to provide a consistently high level of performers, and also starting at the designated time without delay. The few times we had late starts we noticed how it hurt our numbers the following weeks. Most people don't want to sit around indefinitely. 

A big part of success is getting the message out that the concerts are free and that anyone is welcome to attend. In all honesty, more door-to-door and in-person outreach probably could have been done to increase participation. We were unprepared for how to go about doing that.

Step #8: Ask for Donations

This is something else that came to us late in the game. Mid-way through the series one of our volunteers had the idea to pass the hat. At first something like this did not seem necessary because our series was already paid for. Upon further reflection, however, it's not just this series, but also any further programming that we hope to do that needs fundraising for. An important piece when passing the hat, or box, or whatever you use - is to make a stage announcement to be clear what the intended use of the donation is for. Hint: this is a great way to raise anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand dollars or more. 

Step #9: Site Visit 

Perhaps the most exhilarating and also most stressful moment of the whole Levitt experience is preparing for the site visit. At some point staff from Levitt Pavilions comes to each Levitt AMP town to see how things are going. For our visit we had none other than Sharon Yazowski, Executive Director of Levitt Pavilions. During her two-day stay she sought to get an understanding of our team, our experience working with Levitt, and of our town and surrounding area. We had a wonderful time visiting with Sharon and learning about the Levitt program. We also had the good fortune of having the convergence of several coincidences unrelated to the visit, that actually enhanced the visit. One was the band from Louisville that was performing that night. This help to highlight some of the finest talent in our Commonwealth of Kentucky. Another was a community college Honors class visiting that wanted to interact with those performers because it fit in with what they are were studying. So we arranged to have a dinner with the band, college students, and some other special VIPs.

A balance between structured time and slightly less structured time afforded Sharon the opportunity to get to know our area better. Between meetings with local leaders, she was able to take a trip up to the Pinnacle in the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park that afforded a great view of the Tri-State Area.

Our volunteer Dana with Sharon just before heading up to the Pinnacle (just over the shoulders in the background).

Earlier in the day checking out our stage.

Sharon speaking to the crowd from the stage as the band prepares to start playing.

At the venue with our volunteers and the National Endowment for the Arts logo in the background.

Sharon as she prepares to drive off on her way back to Los Angeles.

Step #10: Repeat With All the Invaluable Lessons You Have Learned

As inspiring as this whole Levitt experience has been, it would be a terribly shame if we went through all of this effort and did all of this work to not build on it as we move towards something even greater. The seeds have been planted to present music of the highest quality in Middlesboro. How they sprout and grow in the coming years is a test of how much people in our area want to see this important work continue. You've seen the impact that Levitt has had so far. Now the future is up to you. The next application deadline is October 15. Voting starts in November. You've been given fair notice!

CONCLUSION
So how did all of this terribly hard work make Middlesboro better one bit? There are a number of ways, some more or less subtle than others.

1. We took on something bigger than most folks thought we'd be able to accomplish and got it done. This will contribute to our future success taking on similarly sized and even larger projects.
2. Volunteers mobilized in a sustained way over a period of several months. This is a base we will utilize in upcoming weeks and months especially when we need help.
3. The public relations and positive press and recognition we've gotten from hosting this series is significant. We could never pay for all of the good press that we've gotten.
4. Now that a venue has been established and proven, this will help us make live music an important element of community life. We have the potential to enhance this existing venue as well as to create new venues downtown.
5. We took unfinished projects from years ago and managed a way to build on these, while also being positive, and achieving results for the downtown that everyone wants though that were seldom achieved on any significant scale before receiving Levitt support.
6. Along the way we made many new friends and partnerships that will surely help not just with live music but also with other facets of our work.
7. Live music and performances are an important element in making our community a Trail Town. Trail users tend to like outdoor activities during the day and more artsy activities at night. We now have the potential to provide both.
8. Winning this exclusive competition will help raise the profile of Middlesboro as we go about securing additional funding for all of our projects across the board.
9. The lives of people of all ages and backgrounds have been enhanced through being able to experience the finest free live music in the heart of our town.
10. Small incremental changes when added up can have a large transformation on a town. It took the more than two dozen interventions from our first Better Block to get us started. Then the Levitt support helped to transform a lot for live music. Their support as well as that of the Kentucky Arts Council allowed us to pursue a strategy of small incremental change and garner national attention for our incremental approach. The key to future success will definitely be in continuing to pursue small scale incremental change.