You’ve probably heard people talk about how if you’re “serious about your music career” you should move to Nashville or LA.

I’ve been thinking lately, however, about what makes my hometown of Seattle such a great incubator for talented musicians.

It’s not just the recent blockbuster success of (multi-category) Grammy winners Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. A lot of really great music and music production has come out of Seattle over the years. From the Kingsmen and Bing Crosby to Jimi Hendrix, the Sonics, Quincy Jones, Heart, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Queensryche, Mudhoney, Tingstad and Rumble, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Danny O’Keefe, Alice Stuart, and Kenny G all the way to current success stories like The Head and The Heart, Brandi Carlile, Blue Scholars, Shabbaz Palaces, Allen Stone, Kris Orlowski and Shelby Earl. (I’m not even counting Dave Matthews, although he does live here.)

Here are some of the special things about the Emerald City which make it a better environment than Nashville or LA in which to nurture a music career:

1. The Dreary Weather and Spectacular Scenery. Let’s start with the obvious. It is often cloudy here. Maybe, oh, 9 months of the year. It doesn’t rain as much as you’d think, but it drizzles a lot. And it’s chilly. This has two effects: first, many of us suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (AKA seasonal depression). The resulting angst often drives us to express ourselves musically. Secondly, we spend a lot of time indoors. We have a lot of time to write songs with each other. Then, when the sun comes out in March (or July), we Seattleites get irrationally happy, motivating us to write different songs. Nature is spectacular here, too. The mountains and forests are incredibly, inspiringly beautiful.

   

2. Community, Not Frantic Competition. I’ve heard friends of mine in the music industry speak about both LA and Nashville as being really difficult places to rise above the noise – crowded with the musicians who have moved there to try and make it. Seattle has plenty of musicians, but we are a close-knit and supportive community. There are a lot of hobbyist musicians, too. This part of the world is perhaps it’s bit more laid back and creative. After all, we are only the second state in the US to legalize recreational marijuana.

On a side note, my friend Robin has shared with me the term “beard and weird,” one which concisely describes the male Seattle musician/visual artist/filmmaker wardrobe. It generally includes facial hair, a flannel shirt and dark-colored knit hat. There is no age limit for this “look.”

1. Museums, Music Schools, Parks and Other Venues. Seattle is home to several iconic musical institutions. The Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum is the only museum in a major city I know of dedicated to showcase exhibits on music, science, and pop culture. The EMP also has two beautiful performance spaces with great sound systems that host regular private and public music events. The Seattle Art Museum hosts an after-hours event several times a year called Remix, which invites the public to mingle, view art, and listen to DJs and local musicians. Seattle is also home to the Cornish College of the Arts, the Art Institute of Seattle (where I guest lecture on Social Media for Musicians), and a surprisingly great music program at Edmonds Community College. There are also scores of suburban “music in the park” and farmers markets that offer paid gigs to musicians all over the region during the summer months. I’m not even mentioning the numerous clubs, restaurants, wineries and casinos that offer opportunities for paying gigs for cover musicians as well as those playing original music.

   

2. Zillions of Open Mics. Remember this is the home of Starbucks and thus ground zero for the recent popularization of the coffeehouse as a social meeting place in the United States. In addition to a Starbucks or drive-through coffee stand on almost every corner, there are also many independent coffeehouses, bars, and even bookstores that host open mics. Songwriters in Seattle is a local 501c3 that organizes hundreds of open mics and showcases in the Seattle area every month to hone your live show.
3. Festivals. There are a lot of world-class music festivals here in the Seattle area: Northwest Folklife, Bumbershoot, Decibel Festival, The Gorge Amphitheater, Sasquatch, Capitol Hill Block Party, Wintergrass Bluegrass Festival, Bite of Seattle, Jazz Port Townsend – just to mention a few. There are opportunities for local musicians to both play at these festivals and also hear cutting edge music from all over the world.
4. Musical Diversity. Other than country music, every other musical genre is heavily represented in the Seattle area: folk, hard rock, pop, classical, Americana, grunge, heavy metal, hip hop, rap, blues, jazz… you name it, we’ve got stars and fans to support it. A little-known secret about the Seattle music scene is that hip hop is big here (not just because of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis). Although Seattle is the 11th largest city in the US, it is the fifth whitest, but… it also has neighborhoods that are considered very diverse. I wrote an article on this blog about a songwriter’s panel at our local PNW Academy conference, where a variety of races and genres of music were represented.

   

5. Local Government Support. At the Seattle City of Music website, the city boasts that it “brings musicians, audiences, business leaders, and politicians together in enthusiastic support of the creative, economic, and community value of music.” The city of Seattle has a whole department devoted to nurturing local musicians and filmmakers called the Seattle Office of Film, Music and Interactive (FMI). FMI holds monthly happy hours at a bar downtown where music and film people can mingle, and they even have free educational events. The office sponsored a ground-breaking study of how three Seattle musicians make a living. The State of Washington and the City of Seattle also fund The Vera Project, a non-profit which provides concert space and sound engineering instruction for young people. Not only that, the Seattle airport plays only local musicians on the overhead speakers, and they have nifty short bio videos at baggage claims that feature local musicians and bands. (More about the Seattle airport below, under “Busking.”) In April 2014, iconic Seattle label Sub Pop Records is scheduled to open a retail store in the airport as well. To top it off, just last week, the City of Seattle just approved new priority parking zones for musicians to load and unload gear!

   

6. Tech. Seattle is a well-known center for tech. There are a lot of programmer-musicians here. These two things seem to go together well, and tech both fuels and stabilizes the local economy. Seattle is home to Rhapsody (which purchased Napster), a long-time player in the streaming music services business, as well as PlayNetwork. Heard any music lately in a clothing store, restuarant, or gym? That’s probably a PlayNetwork channel. Not to mention homegrown tech behemoths Amazon and Microsoft offer their own music services. There are several other music startups here as well, like Lively and Ziibra. Programming and web development are lucrative and often flexible day jobs for musicians. Seattle is also home to two popular music marketing blogs, Indie-MusicCom and HowToRunABand.
7. Busking. Even though it’s often cloudy and rainy here, Seattle is one of the best cities to busk in. We have outdoor tourist-trafficked locales like Pike Street Market (400 busking permits sold in 2012 for $30 each), as well as numerous other neighborhood and suburban Farmer’s Markets in the summer months. Seattle is also only city I know which has indoor busking for indie musicians at the airport, courtesy of the Port of Seattle and brainchild of my friend, Ed Beeson.

   

8. House Parties and Secret Shows. I have written about how great Seattle Secret and Living Room Shows are. These are truly intimate events with great lineups, and they are becoming known for breaking new Seattle artists. We also have a very active private house party scene, from fokie, singer-songwriters to full band experiences.

I admit I’m prejudiced about Seattle because I live here. Don’t think I want to you to move here, either, although its easy and affordable and we have the cheapest furniture mover prices. But do come visit, and look me up. Also make sure to check out the local music scene from the minute you step off the airplane until the moment you cross the state line.

PS – If you want to hear what Seattle indie musicians sound like, tune in to Seattle Wave Radio, a streaming internet radio station run by my good friends Mark and Linda Gordon which features only local, unsigned artists from the Seattle area.

Please leave your comments below on what makes your city the best place for indie musicians! I’m sure there are many other great cities for musicians to live in besides LA and Nashville (although if you live there, please leave your impressions below as well – I’m always interested in alternative opinions!)