Listen Local First

Branding a local music initiative.

I lived in Washington, D.C. from 2006-2012. It was one of the most formative time periods of my life. It was also the time in my life when I started to pursuit my passion for songwriting. A big part of being a working songwriter is finding opportunities for you to play. One day I was sitting in a coffee shop who prided themselves on being “all-local”. Locally roasted beans, locally founded, local art on the walls. But I noticed that they were playing top-40 music over their speakers. This felt like a disconnect. They call themselves local, but when it came to the music they played, it was decidedly un-local.

So, I pitched an idea to a music-lawyer friend of mine. We needed to get local establishments to feature local music in their stores, therefore elevating the local music scene in the city. This is was the impetus behind “Listen Local First”, a local music initiative that provided local music playlists to establishments so that they could play and support the local music scene.

The logo came about pretty quickly, riffing off D.C.’s “Think Local First” business association, who was our fiscal sponsor throughout the endeavor. Listen Local First is still going strong, but has shifted its focus to addressing the many policy decisions in D.C. that affect the local music scene.