Beachland Ballroom co-owner Cindy Barber — one of the premiere movers and shakers of the local music scene — will be on a panel at this year’s Music Cities Convention, which calls itself as “the biggest global event exploring the use and importance of music in the development of cities all around the world.” This year, it takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Thursday November 3-Saturday November 5, presented by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts, and Culture. She’ll be speaking Friday on a panel called “Your City is Unique: Your Music Strategy Should Be Too.”
Barber has been a major contributor to developing a Cleveland strategy, starting with the Beachland, which she conceived nearly 23 years ago as not merely a music club but as a hub for a music and arts neighborhood, which continues to expand its footprint. She joined with other club owners to form the Cleveland Music Club Coalition to address common problems and was instrumental in launching the Ohio branch of NIVA – the National Independent Venues Association — formed in 2020 to help independent venues such as hers advocate for their needs and survive the pandemic.
She also started a nonprofit called Cleveland Rocks: Past, Present and Future to honor Cleveland music pioneers and provide opportunities for musicians today with its music incubator program; creation of gigging opportunities; and projects such as the new Cleveland Rocks space, which will be a retail outlet for local band merch and recordings; and the Space: ROCK Gallery.
Barber says the opportunity for her to speak was the result of lobbying by Lisa Claus, who started the Cleveland Music Industry group on Facebook and has hosted live events to talk about growing the music scene. She’s currently stumping for a future Music Cities Conference to be held in Cleveland, according to Barber.
musiccitiesevents.com/music-cities-convention