Stimulus Money Finally Rolls Into Indie, Louisville Music Venues, But Some Still Wait

Seven months after the U.S. Congress passed the Save Our Stages Act — which put more than $16 billion into a grant fund for independent venues — Headliners Music Hall has finally received stimulus money. The venue’s owners Billy Hardison and Joe Argabrite said they received their portion shortly after July 4 weekend, and while they’re extremely happy that the funds came through, they are also worried about the other small stages that are still waiting.

Hardison, who is also Kentucky’s precinct captain for the National Independent Venue Association, the organization that lobbied the federal government for the Save Our Stages Act, said that some people are still having problems with the application and approval system set up by the Small Business Administration, who are responsible for distributing the grant money.

“Every couple of days, it’s someone reaching out, and we are able connect them with someone at NIVA that can escalate them to the SBA, or I can give them some advice myself on how to fix it,” Hardison said. “We’re going to keep on pushing.”

Argabrite said that it’s important that the venues continue to look out for one another, because they all form an ecosystem that needs to remain healthy, in order for each of them to individually thrive.

“The independent venues across the country are a network, or a hive, if you will, and all of our individual survivals are somewhat tied to the overall survival of the independent venues across the entire country, so even though we are in a better position, there’s still a guard up for the rest of these people to get funded and survive,” Argabrite said. “Even though we have a huge sign of relief right now for this grant money, it’s not over. We are still an easy target when it comes to this thing, because we are in the business of mass gatherings.”

Caught In The System

At this point, many of the venues that applied for the grant money have received it, some were declined, but others remain in limbo with technical problems. Poorcastle — a small, multi-day music festival featuring all local bands — falls under under the latter. Co-founder Shaina Wagner said that Poorcastle, which is 501(c3) nonprofit, applied for the grant right when the application portal opened up earlier this year, but, after months of trying, they’ve only gotten through about half of the process. The system still isn’t recognizing the organization’s tax identification number, so Wagner said they’ve been sent back and forth between the SBA and the IRS, without clear answers or a path forward from either.

“Our biggest concern is that we know that there is an amount, that basically the cap is going to be reached and dispersed, before our problem can be worked out,” Wagner said.

To add to Poorcastle’s struggle, a lot of their equipment in storage was stolen at the end of last year, so they not only need money to move forward, but also to replace a lot of costly items.

“It’s not a huge festival like Forecastle or anything like that, but the expenses are still there, and we know that every other business is struggling just as much, if not more, as we are, so asking for sponsorship, we know we can’t rely on it as much as we have in the past,” Wagner said.

Finding The Way Forward

The SBA’s original deadline to distribute the grant money was June 9, but only 90 venues across the country received money by that date. Shortly thereafter the SBA received a letter from Congress asking for answers. Since, hundreds of venues have seen grants roll in, although on a bit of an unpredictable time table.

The nonprofit Art Sanctuary received its portion on Friday, July 23. Lisa Frye, the nonprofit’s president, said that the company is currently being very careful with the money and making sure to follow the rules after recently watching an hour and a half webinar on how to properly spend the grant.

“We’ve never had a grant like this before, so we’re getting it into a new business account so we can keep track of it really well, because it’s extremely scary all of the rules and stipulations that they have,” Frye said.

Art Sanctuary, like many of the venues LEO has spoken with, will use the money to cover all of the expenses that built up during the last year and a half, and then to also plan for the future. They will use the funds to cover expenses, buy a new projector and then save the rest. With the Delta variant making everyone a bit nervous, Frye said that this provides some security.

“This is a little bit of a safety net,” Frye said. “So, I’m just taking a little bit of a breath right now and taking a moment and being as grateful as I can.”

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