Bad Copy

If you’ve gone to or played a show in Baltimore, it’s likely that you’ve been to the Sidebar. The venue was established in 1998 and has been a home to up-and-coming bands who play Punk, Metal, Hardcore, Indie, and everything in between. That, alone, should tell you hope important this place is not only to Baltimore, but to our national scene.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (or under the blankets on your couch) for the last two years, you know how challenging the pandemic has been on venues and live music. Promises of relief from higher up rarely materialized and, if it did, is was rarely enough to bolster support.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with Rachel Taft and her labor of love, Feed the Scene. What started out as a Baltimore-based “Band & Breakfast,” has turned in to much more. In addition to housing touring bands and providing them a home cooked meal, you can find Rachel and her crew at major festivals, passing out baked goods. There are Feed the Scene sponsored events. They book shows. In fact, it may be easier to start listing what they DON’T do.

So, when the Sidebar announced that they may need to close, Feed the Scene has stepped up. The amazing non-profit is looking to buy the venue. It’s a great business plan, really. They are hoping to raise enough money to have the non-profit buy the business and the liquor license and run the bar as an open source non-profit so it will endow itself for its own longevity! But they need donations. They are trying to raise $80,000 and are currently 1/4th of the way there! So, give a little if you can and please note: because Feed the Scene is already a non-profit, all the donations are $100 tax deductible!

Check out the GoFundMe set up by Rachel and donate – if you can – to help save live music and a really great Baltimore venue!