Another element that makes the Philadelphia music scene so strong is its connection to community. I've said before that there's a strong history of activism in Philadelphia; grassroots, community-based, and non-profit organizations citywide help connect neighborhoods and individuals with causes. Many musicians here recognize this and are making serious efforts to integrate their art with these community causes and organizations.

There are some great examples of community-driven music organizations across the city. In West Philadelphia, a group called Intercultural Family Services recognized they wanted to provide access to music instruction for all low-income children in their after-school program. With the backing of renowned jazz saxophonist Odian Pope, the group started a program called Music and Mentorship, in which local musicians and songwriters taught music lessons. The classes were very affordable because they were taught in a large group format, and the program really started to flourish when local musician Shannon Pelcher took over. Because of her connections in the music community, Shannon was able to gain access to instruments, song rights and even studio recording time. As a result, the program has become a model for music education at a time when arts are disappearing from most school budgets.

Another example of a community-driven music organization is The Philadelphia Folk Song Society. This is the group behind The Philadelphia Folk Fest, an annual folk concert attended by thousands of people. What most people don't realize is that there's actually a non-profit at the core of this organization. The society recently decided to hire a young executive director named Levi Landis in hopes that he would revitalize both the concert and the organization--and he has not disappointed. As a former community center director, Landis recognized there was great potential for partnership and an opportunity to bring music out into the community; he immediately set out to find non-profit partners and non-traditional venues.

In putting together the strategic plan for The Philadelphia Sessions, I had to identify possible partners and stakeholders. I started looking at businesses I wanted to partner with and as I filled out the list I was surprised to see that many businesses on my list had nothing to do with music. I knew, however, that these organizations were connected with mine through the larger brand of the city of Philadelphia and ultimately that's what I'm promoting. These are the relationships and synergies that are central to creating that "creative" climate ripe for attracting top talent to any region.

Location is important. When you think back to your favorite experiences, they often have as much to do with the location as with the events. Sometimes the location itself makes the memory. Philadelphia has more than a few memorable music venues. I could literally write a book about all the great spaces here and what makes them unique, but instead I'll tell a few stories about some of my favorites.  

Stevenson's
I see a lot of live music on a weekly basis. I've always liked live music because of the personal connection with the artists, and what better place to make that connection than in small venues. One of those venues is a little bar in the Northeast called Stevenson's. This place is quintessential Northeast Philly, a neighborhood bar with pictures along the wall that go back 60 years, telling the family history of the owners. There's a glass display with political buttons and paraphernalia going back to the Eisenhower administration. The owner's name is Rob; his father owned the bar before him and seemed to pass down a love of bartending and live music to his son

 Normally, a place like Stevenson's isn't somewhere you tread lightly. Philly is a working class town and many city neighborhoods have their own provincial dress codes and customs, but this is a place where they go out of their way to bring in talented and diverse musical acts. In fact, it's fair to say that it's one of those places that transcend demographics. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, if you love music you are instantly a regular at Stevenson's. If you're really good, you can even coax Rob to come out from behind the bar and play a pretty mean trombone.

TLA
 When I first moved to Philadelphia I lived about two blocks from South Street--a great place to be for a young man in his early 20's. Of all the places that I frequented on that street, the Theatre of the Living Arts, or TLA, was one of my favorites. This is a venue that hosts national touring acts almost seven nights a week in a space that holds a few hundred people comfortably.

One Friday night--Halloween, actually--I went to see a great band from L.A. called Grant Lee Buffalo, and the energy of the crowd and the performers was electric. Most of the people in the room were wearing some bizarre costume and I still remember the opening band that night. The lead singer had a very distinct look; he was albino with white hair and features, and he had a really striking white suit on with a red carnation in the lapel. He closed his set that night with a solo song he played on accordion that told a sinister tale of murder--perfect for Halloween. As he sang, I looked around the room and everyone there was captivated and I knew you could only see a show like this at the TLA. It was one of those moments where the space lent authenticity to the performance.

Avenue of the Arts
In the heart of downtown Philadelphia there's a stretch of Broad Street called the Avenue of the Arts. Some of the best large venues in the city are included here. It's home to the Academy of the Arts, where the Philadelphia Symphony and Opera Company perform. This beautiful antique theatre has acoustics that just can't seem to be replicated--no matter how good architectural technology gets. In fact, I recently got to see Feist play at the Academy and she gushed that it was one her favorite places to play in the U.S. and that they had offered her a larger concert venue but that she much referred the character and intimacy of that room.

There are several theaters on this stretch that are also great to see a show, but the crown jewel of the Avenue has to be The Kimmel Center. This is a state-of-the-art building. A French magazine once remarked that in the Kimmel Center, "Philadelphians have a building that Parisians will envy." With an incredible lineup every season, the center attracts a wide range of the most talented performers in the world. That being said, my favorite performance there was on the venue's opening weekend. The Kimmel Center invited every performer in Philadelphia to take part in a 24 hour "open mic," where anyone in the city could come down, sign up and say they "played the Kimmel." I went to give a friend some moral support, and to see so many people show up spoke volumes to me about the importance ordinary Philadelphians place on the arts. It also sent a message that the premiere venue in the city would be a place where all Philadelphians would be welcome.

In yesterday's post, I talked about the connection between the new economy and the "creative" class--workers whose main export is ideas. For these people, creative environment and lifestyle are important, and becoming more of a consideration for businesses that are looking to attract this new kind of worker.

The music coming out of Philadelphia right now is a strong attraction for new economy workers that are looking to do business in a climate that inspires them. Philadelphia has already garnered a reputation for music through the commercial success of acts like The Roots, Jill Scott and others. In fact, when my sister graduated from the University of the Arts with a Jazz Performance degree and left Philadelphia to play music internationally, she was pleasantly surprised at how many performers were already familiar with the city and the music it was producing. Philly is especially known for its "neo-soul" scene but that's really only scratching the surface.

Diversity is the key to any cultural movement and music is no exception. On any given day in Philly you can see anything from opera to hip hop to bluegrass and beyond. If your musical tastes are more traditional, we have world-class opera, classical music and jazz in Philadelphia. Three renowned music programs keep an influx of talented musicians and vocalists coming to the city every year: Curtis institute is an internationally respected music conservatory where some of the country's most talented young performers come every year to hone their skills in classical genres. The city is a direct beneficiary of this, as the Curtis students host free recitals that are open to the public. I have taken groups of children from my community center there to help expose them to culture they normally wouldn't have access to.

Temple University and The University of the Arts also attract a large number of talented young performers, but both schools have a more diverse musical approach and incorporate jazz and modern music into their curriculum. I remember going to my sister's Brazilian jazz recital while she was a UArts student and getting to see the world-famous Brazilian percussionist Nana Vascancelos sit in with the students because he was friends with the teacher. UArts and Temple students are making more and more of an impact, like recent Temple grad Maxfield Gast, who is garnering reputation as a jazz saxophonist to watch. Another local favorite is guitarist Ross Bellenoit, a UArts Alum that started out by touring with Amos Lee and ended up touring with Bob Dylan.

Beyond the schools are the organic music scenes that exist in the city and that have produced some of its largest commercial successes. There is a huge singer-songwriter community that has produced extraordinarily talented performers like Blue Note recording artists Amos Lee and Mutlu. Experimental alternative rock bands like Man Man have achieved critical acclaim and commercial success when they were featured in a series of Nike commercials and the Showtime series "Weeds." Of course, there is always the staple of neo soul and hip-hop performers like The Roots, Jill Scott, Eve and a host of up-and-coming performers from that scene like pianist Anam Owili-Eger and trip-hop performers Quintero.

At my very first fundraiser for The Philadelphia Sessions, I decided to host a concert at downtown bar called Fergies. Fergie is an Irish immigrant who came to the city in the 80's and bartended his way into owning a few successful downtown pubs. At 5-feet 9-inches tall, with a full white beard, he's one of those types that you can't miss and basically comes across Santa with an Irish brogue. I'll talk about him and his venues more in tomorrow's blog; all you need to know about him for today is that he's a huge supporter of local music. My event was successful, in that the room was packed and we raised the amount of money that we needed to. What made the event really special was a surprise appearance by Amos Lee. Amos not only came out to support the cause and cheer on the local performers, he got up and sang a few songs at the end of the night to help re-pack the room and send us over the top in terms of our fundraising goals.

I bring up this story to underline the point of my blog. This is what makes Philadelphia music so attractive to the creative class; the music is accessible on every level. On any given night, you can find a world-class performance going on somewhere in the city and those performers that achieve commercial success constantly come back and pop in at venues across the city. Whether it's someone like Amos Lee popping up at an open mic night in Manayunk, or ?uestlove (the drummer for The Roots) DJing a recurring party at a popular South Street night club, the scene is filled with performers that are ready to entertain and inspire. This is what creates and sustains a creative atmosphere--and makes Philadelphia a great place to do business.

In his groundbreaking book, "The Rise of the Creative Class," author Richard Florida lays out an argument that the driving force for new business and revitalization is a certain type of "creative" worker. Architects, software engineers, web designers, urban planners, policy wonks, and even baristas fit this new designation. Right now there is a push to draw the most talented of the creative class, and businesses are trying to figure out what kind of place appeals to this new breed of worker.

Here in the Philadelphia region, there is a consensus recognition that arts and culture are not only enriching, but they are also good for business. Recently, Mayor Michael Nutter reopened the office of Arts and Culture while adding the term "Creative Economy" to its title. Time will tell what influence this new office has on the city's cultured sub-scene, but if recent events are any indicator, it's been timed perfectly to meet the rising tide of the Philadelphia music scene.

Keystone Edge has asked me to blog about the Philadelphia music scene, and what role it has to play in the new economy. Music is a topic near and dear to my heart; not only have I played and promoted music for the last 10 years in this city, but recently I started a nonprofit organization called The Philadelphia Sessions, aimed at expanding the city's reputation through its music. We help send Philadelphia musicians abroad and also help host international musicians here. I always like to say that we are helping to move Philadelphia from metropolitan to cosmopolitan.

Over the next four blog posts, I'm going to take you on an inside tour of the Philadelphia music scene and explain why it merits being called "hot" by Rolling Stone and "revitalized" and "trendier" by USA Today.

Tomorrow, we'll start by looking at the sheer volume and diversity of great music coming out of this city right now, including several acts that have been signed to large label deals that still play music regularly in the city.

Next, we'll examine the wealth of music venues in Philadelphia, from small bars that are all heart, to modern concert halls that are the envy of Paris. I'll also discuss the community-based musical movement where musicians are coming together to support communities and nonprofits.

Lastly, I'll talk a little bit about the strategic plan for The Philadelphia Sessions and how we are partnering with other organizations and local businesses to help improve the Philadelphia brand under the banner of music and arts.

My hope is that after reading all five posts, you'll not only have a greater appreciation of both Philadelphia and it's music, but you'll also see the connection between good music and good business.