Arts Commission music event offers something for everyone
Written by Caitlin McGlade | | news@toledofreepress.comIf you like music festivals, but not camping or the hot sun or even the walking, SoundTrek might be for you.
The Friday night music event is back for a second year with more than 30 live bands scattered around 11 locations. The Arts Commission began SoundTrek last year as a fundraiser and collected about $4,000. But this year, the point is just to stir up fun, engage the community and offer area musicians paid gigs.
“We heard from the music community that they are playing a lot of events for free,” said Ryan Bunch, performing and literary arts coordinator at The Arts Commission. “And these are people who are practicing a few times a week and lugging their equipment around everywhere.”
Chavar Dontae at SoundTrek 2011.
Starting at 8:30 p.m. on July 20, music fans can hop along the Adams Street corridor to catch musical acts that encompass everything from rock to pop, hip-hop to country, blues and jazz, to folk, ethnic or R&B.
Wristbands will admit you into all venues and cost $10 in advance or $15 the night of the event. This also covers buses, rented from the University of Toledo, that will take guests from one venue to the next. Visiting a single venue costs $5.
To buy tickets, call (419) 254-2787 or visit www.theartscommission.org.
About 1,000 people attended last year’s SoundTrek, which hosted 41 bands at 13 venues. The idea for SoundTrek is rooted in a now-defunct “Jazz Loop” that kicked off Toledo’s Blues & Jazz Festival in the mid-2000s, Bunch said.
SoundTrek allows the commission to spotlight a range of music, rather than limiting the shows to jazz musicians. To choose bands, a handful of people formed a committee and looked at who played last year, researched which bands around town are up and coming and which ones are the most popular. They also sought to include a variety of music, Bunch said.
The result offers SoundTrek guests the option to check out world music with live belly dancing at The Attic on Adams, jazz at Manhattan’s, electronic and indie/hip-hop at The Ottawa Tavern, folk at the Glass City Cafe or drag shows and high-energy DJ tunes at Bretz Nightclub. For a complete list of bands and venue schedules, visit www.theartscommission.org and click on the SoundTrek icon at the top of the page.
Tags: Arts Commission, SoundTrek
