`The Boise Revival Project has taken the lead in helping not only Downtown Boise’s return to it’s treasured place in the community’s lives, but aiding the restauranteurs, their employees and local musicians who have suffered for their livelihoods during the recent pandemic. They are doing this by means of a concert series, being held at Firenza Pizza in the heart of Downtown Boise. This series of Thursday evening concerts, scheduled from spring through fall, will not only serve to bring back live entertainment to the city’s core, but is intended to foster a sense of community as people begin to come out again to enjoy each other’s company.
Coming up next on the event schedule, on May 20 is the Quirky Quarantine Quorum, a group of local blues and rock musicians who were profiled recently here. Their mix of blues, r&b and rock has been entertaining local fans in outdoor performances, enabled by their use of portable, battery-powered amplifiers and sound equipment. Ken Harris, who plays accordion and melodica in the group and also provides some vocals, said, “This is all about community…. these business owners realize what it’s like to benefit musicians and business owners AND the community. WE musicians really appreciate the opportunity to play and to be allied with these downtown venues that get the big picture”.
Melissa Brodt, who spent over ten years helping to build the Idaho songwriter’s Association, has spearheaded the formation of the Boise Revival Project. Having worked booking acts both local and national with local venues such as the Sapphire Room and the Village at Meridian, she saw firsthand as music venues shut down, restaurants that used live musicians shut down and local restaurants closed their doors, some forever. Melissa, who works at flexible workspace provider Office Evolution in Downtown Boise, said, “My desk overlooks Main Street; and so its been heartbreaking to watch Main Street go from a bustling town to having no one in town. All of the workforce had left downtown and so the restaurants especially are having a really hard time holding on because 45% of their business has gone away”.
After her many years of working with booking musicians into every kind of venue in the Treasure Valley, Melissa was inundated with calls from local musicians asking “Hey, Lis, what have you got. Surely somebody’s got to do something—its got to be you. What are we going to do, how are we going to get music going in Boise again?”. As the pandemic has wound down, Melissa looked at the calls and the restaurants downtown struggling to re-open or stay open and realized that both the musicians and the restaurants needed help coming back. After conversations with many local performers and several of the local restauranteurs, she said, “I know what I’m going to do. We’re going to collaborate. We’re going to figure this out—it’s going to be a revival of sorts, kind of like the Roaring 20’s after the Great Depression, when Jazz was coming out and people were out living again”. After perusing the idea for several days, she came up with the name Boise Revival Project.
Searching for a way to fund the events, Melissa came up with modest ticket prices. General admission is $10-20, including a complimentary fountain drink or draft beverage; and $20-35 for a Family Admission, covering 2 adults and 2 children and including 2 complimentary fountain or draft beverages. Pricing varies with the performer each week and details are available on the Boise Revival Project’s website. All ticket sales are through Eventbrite and accessible from the calendar on the Boise Revival Project’s site. The admission ensures that the musicians, many of whom have had almost zero opportunities to perform for live audiences in over a year, to get paid.
As the Boise Revival Project took hold and Melissa did the website creation, logo and social media setups, local sponsors have come forward and said “This is exactly what we need; and we want to help”. She worked on the website in collaboration with Turn Table Media to design a website that would showcase what the Boise Revival Project was about. Local businesses have also jumped on the bandwagon (pun intended) and the Boise Revival Project has planned to help the other venues and restauranteurs in Downtown Boise, even those that opened less than a year ago. Local companies, as diverse as a local optometrist and a local law firm have pledged to collaborate also with the Boise Revival Project. Many sponsors have now come on board, including Country Financial, Kirton McConkie, Wayvze and The Outpost. Office Evolution, a supporter from the beginning, has now become a primary sponsor for the Boise Revival Project.
The program has started with Firenza Pizza as the primary venue. Firenza Pizza, located in CenturyLink building at 10thand Main, is a logical place to enjoy the series of concerts. With large rollup glass doors on two sides, Firenza virtually becomes an outdoor venue. They also have a sizable outdoor patio area. “We started with Firenza because they’re our friends and they’d already been doing music. I want to help their business; they were open a year before the pandemic hit and musicians love playing there!”, she said. They’re putting up a shade covering on the breezeway for the bands which enables plenty of seating for all the guests. With a great menu of pizzas, pastas and salads, wings, beer on tap and even pizza desserts, everyone who attends the shows will be able to enjoy both a nice meal and some nice music.
Melissa continues to be contacted by many local musicians as well as several other local restaurants and music venues, so while Firenza Pizza will be the primary venue for the currently booked performers, she is tackling pairing them up to provide more opportunities for entertainment in Downtown Boise as part of the Boise Revival Project. Once they reach budget for the musician’s compensation in sponsorships the events will likely be free–with tipping encouraged! At this point, they are well underway to that goal.
Performers currently slated to play include local singer/songwriter guitarist Dan Costello, who told the Boise Beat, “I feel like I have a monumental investment in the music scene here, and the downtown Boise venues are an essential part of that scene. When those businesses thrive, we as musicians thrive. The pandemic was probably equally painful for musicians and venues. It makes sense that we work together to rejuvenate both of these things we all love about Boise”. Others on the current slate include High Pine Whiskey Yell, Bloom and Brother of Bread and Circus, keyboardist Justin Nielson with a featured guitarist, Blaze and Kelly, the Moody Jews and the Emma Young Quartet as well as many other excellent local musicians. Taggart Lewis, of the Moody Jews, said, “The Boise Revival Project helps get people to the shows. Once they are there, the food and the music will take care of the rest! Getting people out is paramount and BRP’s work is so important to the lifeblood and identity of Boise.”
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Eaton, who has penned songs for Art Garfunkel, The Carpenters, Glen Campbell and Anne Murray; and performed with Ray Charles, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Carole King and Blood, Sweat and Tears, will play on September 2. Closing out the series is Phil Roy, who besides writing songs for Joe Cocker, Aaron Neville, Ray Charles and others, has had his songs featured in two Academy-Award winning films, Leaving Las Vegas and As Good As It Gets. Jazz saxophonist Brent Jensen will perform as well as hold the CD Release Party of his new album Dry Martini June 24.
The Boise Revival Project is a way for all in the Treasure Valley to reconnect with their friends and fellow music lovers, help the revitalization of Downtown Boise and aid local musicians and restauranteurs as they try to climb back from the last year’s tragic events. The Project is a way for us all to help those who provide us our music and our food. It’s also a wonderful way to bring life to a neighborhood that needs a little love and in turn can provide all of us with a sense of community.
Boise Revival Project Facebook Page
Boise Revival Project Instagram Page
Boise Revival Project Concerts
Held at Firenza Pizza
999 W. Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
May 6 Naomi Psalm
May 13 the trees the trees
May 20 Quirky Quarantine Quorum
May 27 High Pine Whiskey Yell
June 3 Dan Costello
June 10 Matt Phipps Band
June 17 Bloom & Brother from Bread & Circus
June 24 Brent Jensen “More Sounds of a Dry Martini” CD Release
July 1 Lee Penn Sky
July 8 Justin Nielsen w Featured Guitarist
July 15 David Gluck’s Canyon County Connection
July 22 Blaze and Kelly
July 29 Farayi Malek
August 5 Moody Jews
August 12 Gretch N Rodgers & Dustin Morris
August 19 Emma Young Quartet
August 26 Brook Faulk
September 2 Steve Eaton
September 9 To Be Announced
September 16 Steve Fulton
September 23 Justin Nielsen w Featured Guitarist
September 30 Phil Roy
Quirky Quarantine Quorum photo by Ed Simon. Firenza Pizza photo courtesy of Firenza Pizza Boise. Dan Costello photo courtesy of Dan Costello.
