Be a music locaphile!

Unless you've been on Mars for the last decade, not only have you heard the term "locavore" but it's probably become a well-worn term in your vocabulary. Eating locally grown, locally prepared food makes a ton of sense. You'll keep more money circulating in your local community, chew up less fossil fuel in the process and make life better for those in your immediate vicinity. Since food is an essential ingredient of life, it's easy to see how making changes in how you obtain it could have a big environmental impact. But I'm a music guy, why am I going on an on about eating local food?

Over the last three years, I've developed the opinion that it's not just food that should be local. The concept applies in general: just about anything you can acquire locally has greater positive impact on the community where you live than the same thing imported from elsewhere in world. I've reached the conclusion that entertainment is another excellent opportunity to channel money and good will into your local community. If you go to a local movie theater and pay to see a movie, much of that money makes it's way out of your town, out of your state and into the coffers of big entertainment companies many miles away. The candy, soda and snacks you buy during the show also feed big business ventures around the country. Sure, some of your ticket purchase supports the local movie theater and its employees but perhaps we can do better.

Admittedly, movies are a challenging example. It takes a lot of money and time to make the high quality movies that we've gotten used to watching. There hasn't yet been an easy way for a local filmmaker to generate a movie and make a living solely based on local distribution. But music is different...

Despite trends in the last 50-75 years, music can be performed and experienced on the spot. Sure, it's great to have 1000s of songs in the palm of your hand but, honestly, that's no substitute for seeing a great performer in person. And what's even more satisfying is being an avid fan for local bands, watching them mature from a first-line opening act to a guaranteed headliner. As a fan, your emotional investment in local performers will pay back in spades. Unlike the rest of the country, you can typically count on seeing your favorite band often, in a more intimate setting, and you can share those experiences with good friends and family.

If you become a loyal fan for local acts, the money you spend for tickets will at least partially make its way into the pockets of your favorite performers. Even the money you spend on snacks and drinks will help support the local venues, keeping them in business so they can continue to bring you great shows. If you make a habit of buying music directly from your local bands, they have a much better chance of making a living and putting out more music to share with you. And because we're talking about local artists, if they stay in business, you will keep having the opportunity to see them.

That's not the whole scoop either. If you support local acts, they will improve over time, polishing their musical and performance skills. They will move up the rungs to eventually become headliners at the local level, opening the door for another generation of local supporting acts. And eventually, some of them will gain fame outside your local community, drawing attention from outside. Once that happens, they are very likely to start bringing money into your community from the outside. When they play in your town, folks from nearby communities will travel to see them and spend money in your town. When they play elsewhere, the word will spread to other communities, helping to make your town a more attractive stopping point for major touring acts.

So, I'm asking every one of you to think hard about how you spend your entertainment time and dollars. An audiophile is someone that loves high quality audio, a connoisseur of the audio experience. With that in mind, I'm suggesting that you become a "music locaphile", someone that not only loves music but is devoted to supporting music that's written, practiced, performed and distributed locally. By putting more of your entertainment time and money into your local music scene you'll improve the community financially, emotionally and creatively.

So, what's stopping you? Get out there and discover the musicians and bands in your own town and contribute to their success. In the process, you'll contribute to your own success.