Music Friendly Communities Gather at Texas Sounds & Cities Conference
On Friday, April 26, the Texas Music Office (TMO) and Visit Fort Worth co-sponsored the debut Texas Sounds and Cities conference, featuring panel disucssions about music scene development around the state. Fort Worth proved to be a perfect host, as they were the first TMO-certified Music Friendly Communmity and have aggressively worked to promote and develop their music community. The conference led directly into the city's second annual Fortress Fest, featuring a headlining homecoming set by soul artist Leon Bridges (pictured below), as well as Texas artists from across the state including Houston's tropical fusion duo Gio Chamba, Austin punk band Sailor Poon, and Houston-based Thai-influenced instrumental funk trio Khruangbin.
"(Musicians) become ambassadors for the city and share the Fort Worth story with the world," said Tom Martens, Creative Director for Visit Fort Worth.
Highlighted at the conference were programs that various Texas cities have instituted to help grow their music economy, including Fort Worth's grant program paying for artists to go on tour, as well as Denton and Austin's musician healthcare programs.
NBC Dallas attended the conference, and provided a report about the growing Fort Worth music economy here.