The Lies We Tell About Local Music

The lies we tell about local music.

“If they were really good, I’d hear them on the radio”

This is just one of the lies we believe about local, independent artists. Since I entered the scene in earnest in 2015, I’ve discovered how false and insidious this lie really is. 

Once I paid attention to our local music scene in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, I discovered a deep mine of incredible songwriters and performers. I continue to encounter them week after week.

This is true where you live, too.

It’s easy to assume that what we hear on the radio or even hear shared and talked about online is the definitive music of our time, but those songs are such a small sliver of the music made. Every city – every town – is full of rich musical discoveries.

Every time I attend Harry Gregg’s Big Dreamer Jam I’m reminded that there are dozens of talented musicians right in my backyard that many of us have never heard of. And their shows are FAR more affordable than a Coldplay tour. 

I’d like to dedicate some space on this blog to introductions. 

I’d like you to meet some of the artists I’ve got to meet, or at least hear, in my times at venues and scouring Spotify playlists.

I’ll share an artist with you tomorrow, but in the meantime put this playlist on and surprise yourself.