Live music venues have been particularly hard hit during the ongoing pandemic. As previously reported by OffBeat.com, Gasa Gasa is up for sale and Tipitina’s is also facing an uncertain future. But those are not the only stages in jeopardy of being permanently shut down.
New Orleans musicians and industry professionals, members of The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), are urging the United States Congress to pass legislation which would provide support to music venues, concert halls and other small and medium-sized businesses. The RESTART Act would provide financial liquidity so these businesses can recoup some of the severe monetary losses brought on by the shutdown.
In fact, the RESTART Act would “authorize a new loan program which would provide funding to cover six months of payroll, benefits, and fixed operating expenses for businesses that have taken a substantial revenue,” says a press release. “A share of the loan will be forgiven based on the revenue losses suffered by the business in 2020 with the remainder to be repaid over seven years. No interest payments are due in the first year, and no principal payments are due for the first two years.”
In a video appeal, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio, Ben Jaffe, Chubby Carrier ,Sean Ardoin, Amanda Shaw, John Boutte and more argue on behalf of “the live ecosystem that is both the lifeblood of the state’s cultural economy and more than likely the last to fully recover.”
Preservation Hall’s Creative Director Ben Jaffe said in a statement directly to Senator John Kennedy, “On behalf of Preservation Hall and the thousands of musicians who count on a vibrant music economy and entertainment industry here in Louisiana and New Orleans (we ask) for your support and consideration in cosponsoring the RESTART Act. The RESTART Act will allow venues to access loans efficiently and flexibly… You know as well as I do the importance of music to our community and to our history and my family who have been operating Preservation Hall for 60 years.”
For more information on the RESTART Act and NITO, please visit https://www.nitolive.org/.
Elsewhere, the Save Our Stages movement is the National Independent Venue Association’s attempt to “preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live music venues and promoters throughout the United States.” Tipitina’s has been a vocal supporter of the movement, urging fans to visit the #SaveOurStages website:
Photo of Galactic by Melissa Stewart
