As you may or may not have heard, the Puerto Rican independent music scene has been thriving for some time now. There have always been good artists, but there are some who have recently come out of the woodwork to show us the diverse range of popular music that’s coming out of the scene. From Fantasmes to Young Ragga and everything in between, this island has been rocking it hard.
The bad part is that, while there are a few independent venues in the metropolitan area, there is a dire need for more spaces where these artists can play and have their music heard. There’s also need for a venue where touring bands from other parts of the world can set up their shows while making money from merchandise. No scene is created in a vacuum, and exposure to other great bands from around the U.S. and Latin America is a must.
That’s where Club 77 comes in. It’s a new space on Avenida Ponce de León in Santurce conceived by Jhoni Jackson, José Rodríguez from Las Ardillas, and Kristen Fink. Not only are they setting up the venue, their main goal is to try to make it easier for touring bands to come out and play in the San Juan area by helping them with flight costs and accommodations.
Awesomely, they’ve been making this happen with their own money (no banks have “helped out”), but they really need your help to fund sound engineers, flights, lighting, draft beer, décor, and the most painful part…wait for it…permits and licenses (!!). That’s why they’ve set up a crowd-funding campaign that ends July 11th.
Every contribution has its perks, including a mix CD featuring unreleased music from a lot of stellar bands from the Puerto Rican scene. Rodríguez announced last Saturday on the public radio show Frecuencias Alternas that he’s curating the compilation. So, for those who’ve heard Las Ardillas before, you know it’ll be killer.
If you want to know more about the project or help make it a reality, visit the IndieGoGo page. You will make a lot of us music fans in Puerto Rico very, very happy.
