EXCLUSIVE: Electric City Music Conference announcement party will be at Stage West in Scranton on July 5
The Electric City Music Conference and Steamtown Music Awards will host a free announcement party at Stage West in Scranton on Friday, July 5, starting at 6 p.m.
Although this party has been revamped this year and moved to a Friday night, it will still cater to the needs of the busy music community. The event will kick off at 6 p.m. with an acoustic performance by Joylynne Raye Frie. At 6:45 p.m., the organizers will announce the finalists for each Steamtown Music Award category and unveil the full Electric City Music Conference lineups and schedules at each venue.
“I’m want to apologize in advance for every last name and band name that I absolutely butcher at the announcement event. It happens every year. I think people look forward to watching me struggle during the announcements as much as the event itself,” ECMC co-organizer Joe Caviston joked.
The event will then carry on through the evening with an impressive and varied lineup of performers, including The Boastfuls, Elephants Dancing, Send Request, These Idol Hands, and Joe Lombardo.
“We wanted to make it more of an appreciation party and mixer this year. We’re going to wrap up all of the announcements by 7:30 p.m. so that anyone who has a show that night still has plenty of time to get there. But, for those who want to stay and hang out, there will be drink specials and amazing music all night long,” noted co-producer Ken Norton.
“As with everything ECMC related, it’s all about networking. Everyone should come out to see where they’re playing and what they’re nominated for, but they should also make some connections and mingle with other members of the local music scene,” Caviston added.
The sixth annual Electric City Music Conference will kick off with the Steamtown Music Awards on Thursday, Sept. 12, and the rest of the conference takes place on Friday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept. 14 with over 150 bands across 12+ venues, along with an educational component with industry professionals. The first 67 acts were announced in March, followed by another 40 in May.
Nominations for the Steamtown Music Awards are still open at electriccitymusicconference.com/awards and will close on Saturday, June 29.
Venues returning for the 2019 ECMC are Ale Mary’s, the Backyard Ale House, The Bog, Harry’s, the Irish Wolf Pub, The Keys, the New Penny Lounge, Peculiar Slurp Shop, Thirst T’s Bar & Grill, and The V-Spot. The new venues added this year are Finnegan’s Irish Rock Club and Stage West (301 N. Main Ave., Scranton), which both opened within the last year.
Last year’s conference featured performances by over 150 bands from five states in 10 venues throughout the Scranton area, the Steamtown Music Awards ceremony with many new awards and special performances of its own, and free panel discussions and mentoring sessions for local musicians, professionals, and music fans. As the largest event of its kind in Northeastern Pennsylvania, this celebration of the diverse local music scene is much more than a music festival, bringing hundreds of artists and music industry professionals together annually to meet and network while recognizing and showcasing established and up-and-coming musicians.
Organized by music promoter Joe Caviston and Graces Downfall singer Kenneth Norton, the ECMC worked with Scranton media production and web development company Ionic Development to produce the 2018 aftermovie, which premiered on NEPA Scene in February:
See NEPA Scene’s photos from the 2018 ECMC announcement party here, the 2018 Steamtown Music Awards here, and the entire Electric City Music Conference here. Listen to Caviston and Norton talk about the conference and the awards in depth in Episode 75 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
Photo by Keith Perks/1120 Studios
