Posted for Nancy Yearout
RE/MAX Properties of the Summit, Breckenridge, Colorado
nyearout@colorado.net
http://www.realestate-breckenridge.net
Set on bringing bigger and better bands and artists to the Riverwalk this
summer, the Breckenridge Town Council approved a $50,000 partnership with the
Breckenridge Music Festival to entice big talent to a small town.
The
BMF, host of the popular-music Blue River Series, asked the town to provide a
financial backstop to help negotiate more lucrative contracts with headline acts
this summer.
Seeing music as a potential economic driver, the council
unanimously agreed, promising to put up $30,000-$50,000 this summer to help
attract big-name talent to Breckenridge.
“What we're trying to do is
enhance the Blue River Series so we see bigger numbers, more people coming to
town and perhaps going out to dinner, perhaps spending the night,” Mayor John
Warner said.
The Blue River Series is a summer-long succession of
concerts and shows, which in the past has featured performers ranging from
fiddler Natalie MacMaster to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Los Lonely Boys.
The BMF, an independent orchestra and anchor tenant of the Riverwalk
Center, puts on the series every year to round out their own classical offerings
at the facility.
Currently, the BMF books musicians with the lowest
possible cost and ends up turning over to them the better part of any profits
generated by the concert. Financial backing from the town will mean, this
summer, booking higher-cost talent and keeping more of the return in
Breckenridge.
“There's more risk, but there's also more reward,” BMF
board member Dick Sosville said.
The nonprofit BMF currently has a
$10,000 price tag limit on bands. The town will provide additional cash to cover
the risk of financial loss in the event the show doesn't generate sufficient
revenue. Profits from concerts will be shared between the town and the BMF.
Talent in the $15,000 - $25,000 range includes One Republic, Railroad
Earth, Leanne Rimes, Indigo Girls, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Alison Krauss. With
$25,000 - $35,000 to spend on the Show, BMF representatives indicated it would
be possible to book The B-52s, Charlie Daniels Band, Colbie Caillat or Kenny G
to play the Riverwalk Center.
Town Council members said they were ready
to back the partnership in 2013 as a trial with the goal of booking three big
shows.
