Whippoorwill Arts is on a mission to advocate for, invest in and uplift the work of roots musicians and nurture their creativity with a focus on collaboration, fair wages, equity, and social justice. We model equity booking and fair pay — and work to reimagine and transform the music ecosystem for all working musicians. Who is speaking for them? Through our National Research Study of Working Roots Musicians, they speak for themselves.
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Music aLIVE helps career Roots musicians get back to work with guaranteed pay for live local performances and enriches community through free public concerts in non-traditional venues, such as K-12 public schools, libraries, hospitals, retirement, and elder care centers, etc.
The Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship celebrates the musical accomplishments, extraordinary talent, community spirit and creative soul of working roots musicians. Since 2018, Whippoorwill Arts has awarded eleven fellowships.
In 2021, Whippoorwill Arts partnered with research powerhouse Slover Linett on a landmark national survey of roots musicians. The data collection included more than 1,200 working musicians across multiple categories, as well as four focus groups and numerous cognitive interviews. The results are in and Whippoorwill Arts and it’s allies are busy working on reforms.
Each year Whippoorwill Arts collaborates with exciting festival organizations with shared values to present live music featuring Whippoorwill Arts Fellows and other regional and national roots musicians. Partner organizations—such as Freshgrass Foundation and Northwest Folklife—value working musicians, equity pay and booking, and building community.
Curated Concerts showcases fresh voices and music from Roots musicians for virtual concerts sponsored by organizations like AARP-Oregon and Banjo Boy Coffee. Whippoorwill Arts curates concert series in collaboration with the sponsoring organization which broadcasts it to their members, audience, or volunteers. Check out great music and connection with the your new favorite artists!
Whippoorwill Arts is an Anti-Racist organization. We stand with All Black Lives Matter and the Movement to Defend Black Lives and all people of marginalized identities vulnerable to systemic discrimination and policies that do not fully include and embrace their humanity. As non-profit leaders, artists and producers, here is our commitment and plan:
We will hire and highlight BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ Artists and marginalized artists.
We will actively seek diverse applicants for all intern, contract and staff positions. We commit to be inclusive of all humans regardless of race, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status.
