Two years after opening, the Cicada, a Fort Worth bar that spotlights indie music acts, found itself on the verge of closing after a 25% increase in rent. <\/p>\n
The financial strain from the rent hike was compounded by rising alcohol and supply costs as well as a nationwide decline in patrons attending live music events. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were drowning to the point where I honestly was ready to give up,\u201d said Tyler Stevens, who runs the bar with her husband, John. \u201cI did not see a way out.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Cicada opened in March 2023. Stevens, who previously ran the Tin Panther \u2014 another Fort Worth music venue in Fort Worth that has since closed \u2014 saw slower nights than expected. <\/p>\n
News Roundups<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have a fantastic week where we have Friday, Saturday night sold-out shows. And then the very next week, we have a mediocre outcome for those shows,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Dallas-based law firm Mullen & Mullen, which sponsored a recent D-FW music festival <\/a>and other initiatives championing local independent music, heard about the bar\u2019s woes through the Fort Worth Music Office, also called Hear Fort Worth. <\/p>\n Related:Why two personal injury lawyers from Dallas are starting a music festival<\/a><\/p>\n The firm and the Fort Worth Music Office pledged a $20,000 grant to the Cicada this month, making it the first recipient of the new Jambaloo Venue Prize. <\/p>\n Future winners will also be in the D-FW area and selected by a group of judges evaluating the venues\u2019 impact and community value, among other criteria. <\/p>\n The Cicada will use the grant for outreach efforts including social media marketing and merchandise as well as for artist fees, Stevens said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can finally afford to do some of the things that will really help us to be more seen,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Joe Morrison, an attorney at Mullen & Mullen, had not visited the Cicada, but friends heaped high praise on it. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re in Fort Worth, it\u2019s going to be one of, if not the first, place you play,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cFrankly, looking at it, not everyone\u2019s going to blow up and become a professional musician. But these are just places where people can go out and express themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n In recent years, storied music hubs have shuttered across North Texas. Andy\u2019s Bar<\/a> in Denton closed in February. Lola\u2019s<\/a> in Fort Worth, where singer Leon Bridges<\/a> performed before his rise to fame, closed in 2023. Deep Ellum nightclub Lizard Lounge<\/a> closed in 2020. <\/p>\n \u201cThe margins are so thin on having a music venue,\u201d said Tom Martens, director of the Fort Worth Music Office. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard of venues where their air conditioner went out, and it put them out of business.\u201d <\/p>\n As for Stevens, Martens said, \u201cyou have this person who has a building that has rent, that has products she has to keep in stock. \u2026 She has to pay talent, pay security, and sound and licensing. \u2026 It\u2019s going to have a price to it.\u201d <\/p>\n A June study from the National Independent Venue Association, an advocacy organization, found 64% of independent venues were not profitable. Research relied on sources such as survey data and venue information, including attendance levels. <\/p>\n \u201cNo one\u2019s becoming a millionaire opening a live music venue,\u201d Martens said. \u201cIt\u2019s a passion to amplify our local musicians.\u201d <\/p>\n The Jambaloo Venue Prize has been a \u201csafety net\u201d for the Cicada, Stevens said. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely not out of the water yet, but we have a life vest on. \u2026 We\u2019re swimming towards the future.\u201d <\/p>\n The bar\u2019s mission remains the same: \u201cto revitalize that fire that used to be in people\u2019s hearts for local music,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s basically about getting community to come back out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years after opening, the Cicada, a Fort Worth bar that spotlights indie music acts, found itself on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":93962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,52560,7371,7372,975,4006,9207,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-93961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bars-and-cocktails","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fortworth","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-pop-music","14":"tag-small-business","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tx","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114919311313047353","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}