To cut through the post-holiday, dark n’ bleak winter season, local nonprofit Music Portland dreamed up an incredible way to kick off the new year by celebrating and uplifting our local music scene: Portland Music Month. 

Throughout the month of January, this festival will be lighting up Portland by bringing live music to the Rose City’s favorite venues, while raising funds to empower local musicians all year long. The festival features an impressive list of artists from a variety of genres, all curated by local bookers – see the full list of shows here. 

A dollar from each ticket sold is put toward ​​Independent Musician Empowerment Grants, funds dedicated to helping local artists pay for the fundamentals: time in the studio, hiring producers, touring costs and more. 

Portland Music Month also seeks to light the fire of support for the independent music scene within our own community. Portland is an expensive city – with housing prices rising, it has become more and more unsustainable for small artists to create comfortably here. Through this festival, they’re encouraging all of us music-lovers to invest in local artists by attending shows, donating, spreading the word, buying merch, and giving back to the scene that has given so much to us. 

“Our brilliant, innovative, and diverse music industry makes a massive impact on our local economy, tourism, communities, and spirit. It’s time to think beyond just streaming, which pays artists just a drop in the bucket of what they need to sustain themselves here,” the organization writes. 

If you attend a Portland Music Month show, post a show recap, use the hashtag #PDXMM to amplify your favorite local band, or support the festival in other ways, you’ll be entered to win some awesome prizes including earplugs, gift certificates to Five Star Guitars, Amps, and more! 

Learn more about Portland Music Month, its mission, the shows, venues and more at Portlandmusicmonth.org. We’re excited to see you all out there! 

Brooke Carlson
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