Helping musicians help themselves--that, in a nutshell is Chris Falk's mission in life. The concert promoter, music agent, publicity man and musician's rights activist hasn't lived in Southwest Michigan for long, but in his three years as a resident of Kalamazoo, he has without a doubt made his presence felt.
"Unlike the other promoters that have been here for a while, Chris is a breath of fresh air and I'm glad he's put in the time to help build the Kalamazoo music scene for us artists that don't always get noticed," says Steve Pesch, local singer/songwriter and co-founder of the group The Avenues.
Since arriving in 2010, Falk has worn many hats in the Kalamazoo arts community. He's been booking agent at Louie’s Trophy House, helped Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. book acts for its weekly Mixer on the Mall, advised the arts council on how to embrace local musicians, and battled against a proposed change to the Kalamazoo noise ordinance.
Recognized as the founder of the
Kzoo Music Scene, a well-read online source for local music, art, and culture, Falk also is now becoming known as the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Special Events Coordinator.
Though the past three years have been a non-stop rollercoaster of music, writing, board meetings, and basically a full-immersion lesson in Kalamazoo's arts and political structure, the story of Chris Falk, the Kzoo Music Scene, and his desire to help musicians begins not near the shore of Lake Michigan, but on the white sand beaches of Sarasota, Florida, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
It was in 2004 after arriving in Sarasota from his hometown of New Orleans that Falk began to notice something slipping through the cracks of mainstream celebrity--talented local musicians.
While working in Florida as a technical assistant at a performing arts hall, then later as the director of a small art gallery, Falk, without thought of how it might impact his career or future, started a small fan zine titled The Sarasota Music Scene. In it he profiled local bands, wrote concert reviews, and published pictures taken at club and bar shows.
After the art gallery closed Falk was left wondering what to do and where to go.
"I moved to Kalamazoo on a whim. I have family here," Falk, 34, says of a city he had not visited in decades.
"Sarasota Music Scene was so difficult to start up, but after going to a ton of shows in (Kalamazoo) I realized I could not, not do this," Falk says of his idea to begin the Kzoo Music Scene.
"I started up a website, a Facebook page, and it launched April 27, 2011."
For Falk, launching Kzoo Music Scene had its difficulties. He was new in town, lacked contacts, and wasn't making any money with the venture, which by design was created as a free service to the music community and not as a way to get rich.
"He has been working hard to get a niche built up and has been doing a fantastic job little by little, building friendships and trust from musicians," Pesch says.
Part of that trust comes from artists realizing the primary goal of Falk and his new business partner, Steve Scott, is to make certain that local musician’s can stand on their own two feet by giving them information, and an outlet for their creativity, often for free.
"In our third year we will make big improvements on how we can help musicians and bands," Falk says. "We are looking into buying a space where we can host clinics and do open mics, or rent it out to bands for studio space."
"And not only hosting clinics, but teaching(musicians) how to build a press pack, and how to talk to booking agents," Scott says.
Talking to booking agents and show promoters is one thing Falk knows well, as he fills both of those roles when he’s not working on the website.
His primary source of income is his work with the
Kalamazoo Valley Museum where he has worked for just over a year. He books the Friday night Highlight Series and promotes the museum’s many events and gatherings including the annual
Fretboard Festival.
The festival, held every year since 2006 brings together folk, Americana and blues musicians for a weekend of concerts, classes and socializing. This year, the first Falk programmed, was bigger than ever.
"We had three stages, thirteen bands and thirty-four vendors," Falk says. "I booked it all myself. I didn’t have help from anyone." It drew more than 2,500 people, a record crowd for the event.
Falk jokingly called the heavy workload "good job security" but he also considers it one more life experience he can pull from when helping local musicians succeed.
"The more I do, the more it gives me the arsenal to help out bands and musicians," Falk says.
Currently, one big thing on Falk’s agenda is making sure the Kalamazoo noise ordinance stays as written.
"The noise ordinance, the way it stands is great, except for the decibel reading," Falk says. "From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. the levels downtown cannot be more than 50 decibels, which is basically the same as a loud office area. It could easily be bumped up to 80 and not be a problem. This (the ordinance) does not include public entertainment events, which is everything that happens at Arcadia."
Falk’s passion to support the current noise ordinance began when a downtown resident complained that the Arcadia Creek Festival site created too much noise and encouraged people to be rowdy late at night.
Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell has a task force in place to study the issue, a force that Falk is a proud member of.
"It’s important that the music industry doesn’t get completely steamrolled by not having representation on that force," Falk says. "The festivals bring money into the city and the reason I am so passionate about it is, musicians already have enough hurdles to go through. They don’t need to have venues regulated or going away. You don’t want to limit the already limited.
"I also started an online petition with change.org, it shows the city council that there are ton of people behind not having this change," Falk says.
Beyond decibel levels at the Festival Site, Falk also wants to create some noise at District Square soon as Kzoo Music Scene will be celebrating its second birthday on April 26 at the downtown nightclub. Falk will be presenting the ‘2 year anniversary, music extravaganza' featuring five area bands and one venue-wide glowstick party.
"The party falls one day shy of the official anniversary date," Falk says.
The party is a departure for the Kzoo Music Scene, which has gotten away from booking shows recently in order to move to a more "behind the scenes role" when it comes to area music.
"We used to do shows three or four times per month, but it just got to the point where we were doing all the work, from booking the show to promoting the show," Falk says.
Now with the addition of Scott, a drummer in the local group Beyond Sight, and the owner of Something For All Seasons, a small engine repair and sales service located in Portage, Kzoo Music Scene has its sights set on helping the local music community become a full on industry.
"Our long term goals include becoming non-profit, finding a store front for the Kzoo Music Scene headquarters and creating a musicians fund so people can utilize money to be able to do their projects," Falk says.
Falk wants to make Kalamazoo his longtime home and to help out not only this current crop of local musicians but also the next generation as well.
Jeremy Martin is a freelance writer. A graduate of Western Michigan University, he lives in Portage with his wife. Follow him @secondwavebeer on
Twitter.
Photos by
Erik Holladay.