Our 2018 Begins Now….

Posted by & filed under OUTREACH.

Our 2018 begins now. It’s been an incredible year. The Blue Bird Stage went to France, we turned five, John Lee Hooker got inducted into the Detroit Sound Hall of Fame, we have come up with a plan to restore the Club Heaven Sound System as a mobile legacy performance program, and we did acoustic […]

Memphis Meets Detroit

Posted by & filed under Education, Events.

In celebration of the final night of Sound Diplomacy‘s Music Cities Convention as well as the deep sonic connections between Memphis and Detroit, Detroit Sound Conservancy presents an evening with Saturna, Carleton Gholz, and LeRoy. RSVP + MORE INFO HERE. Saturna, Memphis Saturna is a Memphian, a singer, and a deejay of two decades who […]

Red’s Jazz: Surveying

Posted by & filed under Preservation, PROJECTS.

This summer, I consulted for Oakland Avenue Urban Farm which had just purchased the abandoned Red’s Jazz Shoeshine Parlor located at 9148 Oakland Avenue. The business itself still exists further south at 8348 Oakland. Our friend Jean-Louis Farges and his team, working on behalf of the farm, had discovered a stage in the back of […]

The National Theatre: A Facade of Silence

Posted by & filed under Education, ENDANGERED, Preservation.

On Monday September 11th, the property management company Bedrock Detroit publicly announced their plans to demolish the National Theatre and move a portion of its façade to serve as a pedestrian walkway. We are deeply concerned. On August 24, the first public kickoff meeting for Bedrock’s proposed Book Tower and Monroe Block development projects was […]

September Feelgood Tap Fundraiser

Posted by & filed under OUTREACH, Press, workinonit.

Batch Brewing Company and Detroit Sound Conservancy partner during September for Feelgood Tap Fundraiser and Event Batch Brewing Company in Corktown continues to develop local philanthropic partnerships through the Feelgood Tap, an in house initiative that became a 501c3 in late 2016. In September, participating Feelgood Tap establishments get to focus on a local partner […]

Remix Blue Bird Backdrop

Posted by & filed under 5021 Tireman, OUTREACH, Photos.

Calling all designers! In preparation for our Blue Bird Stage Homecoming Celebration on August 26th at Detroit Public Library and our upcoming #DETROITSOUND4 conference on September 9th we are looking for a few good designers to take a crack on remixing the Blue Bird Stage backdrop in 2D. Our goal will be to pick the […]

Partnering with StoryCorps

Posted by & filed under Education, OUTREACH, STORYTELLING.

On July 16th, Detroit Sound Conservancy partnered with StoryCorps to activate a session between our adviser Curtis Lispcomb (in photo on left) and his longtime friend Damon “Magic” Percy to discuss their shared history in Detroit dance culture generally and the Club Heaven Sound System in particular. A report from Magic: “We discussed how music […]

United Historic Marker Celebration

Posted by & filed under Education, Preservation.

We just got a great message from United Sound Systems: Greetings United Sound Supporter! We are very excited to announce that United Sound Systems Recording Studios has been deemed a Historic site by the Michigan Historical Commission! We invite you to celebrate this great milestone with us on Sunday, June 25, 2017 from 4pm-6pm at […]

Graystone Audio Preservation Progress

Posted by & filed under Audio, Interviews, Music.

Our ally Ryan Jonik has been working diligently over the last year to accession, inventory, and digitize over a hundred tapes recorded by the Graystone International Jazz Museum during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of these tapes were recorded by former President of the Graystone Museum James Ruffner who died in 2013. (His partner in […]