The next installment in our Big Ideas for Making Louisville Better series comes from music blogger Sean Cannon. He’s got some big ideas for changing up the Louisville music scene and I like them a lot.

First off, I want to say one thing that drives the rest of what I’ll say here ? I love Louisville! This is a great city. And I firmly believe it can be the greatest city. I didn’t decide to just settle for Louisville. I’m here because this is where I want to be. Now that I’ve got that italic-laden rant out of the way…

Plenty of twentysomethings have moved from their hometown to a place like Brooklyn, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, Nashville or Portland in the last 10-15 years. And as most of them will tell you, there’s one thing tying these cities together as places to be: The music scene. As a music blogger who’s active in the scene at large in a few ways, I might be biased. But I do think this is one key to making Louisville a better city.

There’s been a lot of talk about shaping the city’s economic and industrial landscape to attract young creatives, but I think it misses the point. It’s not that we shouldn’t be trying to cultivate a sustainable economy (it is obviously a high priority). It’s just that those kids will move where they want to be, not necessarily where the jobs are.

Plus music is the arena I inhabit. It wouldn’t be smart for me to lay out a plan for economic expansion or architectural standards. So of course I’m going to come at it from this angle. As such, here are three ideas that could help cultivate local arts and music, attract the creative class and help the local economy. Be warned, though – It does mean we have to actually get out and work together.

A music festival utilizing downtown facilities on a large scale

SXSW and CMJ are a couple of obvious examples of these sorts of events. But even on a smaller, more doable scale, Cincinnati has Midpoint Music Festival. Forecastle is good and all (speaking of which, it is boasting a fairly solid lineup this year), but it doesn’t showcase the city’s asset the way this would.

This sort of an event shows people outside the city our unique character. Festival-goers aren’t standing in front of a portable stage for eight hours a day. They end up traveling from spot to spot, exploring the city. They hit up restaurants and retail shops between sets they want to catch. They get to see the great concert spaces available. They linger around the streets of Louisville for a few days, soaking it up.

The most crucial part would be to get the local government involved in the actual planning and development. This would allow the fest to grow more rapidly and have an increased capacity to create a workable infrastructure — and that’s a huge part of making a festival like this a success. Too often, these kind of events suffer from poor planning and/or a lack of foresight. Even more often, they aren’t allowed enough time to evolve into something viable and find its place in the city. Both of those issues would be taken care of from the get-go.

Involving the city in all stages of the game means that many issues can be found and worked out along the way. It means that concert spaces, sponsors and promotion will be even easier to come by. It also means that people in other areas will see that Louisville as a whole cares – about local businesses, its culture, the arts and its citizens.

And of course, having big crowds of people wandering in and out of local businesses throughout the day for several days in the downtown area – and other neighborhoods as the size of the festival grows – sounds pretty appetizing, doesn’t it?

Increased collaboration/participation in the music community

While Louisville’s music scene is vibrant and full of potential, one thing holding it back is its fragmented nature. A lot of larger cities have the same problem, but the fact that they have a lot more people to collaborate and interact with one another cancels that out. In a city the size of Louisville, we can scarcely afford for small groups to hive off in their own little musical cul-de-sac.

There’s a lot of good stuff going on across the board, but plenty of folks aren’t aware of what’s happening just outside of their musical comfort zone. Even if everyone isn’t doing the same thing musically, we need to be talking/working with one another. This strengthens the resolve of participants in the scene (concert-goers, musicians, promoters, media, etc.), because they know there will be support for whatever endeavor is undertaken. And it projects the kind of camaraderie that people in other cities want to be a part of.

It’s tough to quantify what steps need to be taken for this, since it primarily hinges on the willingness of folks in the scene to participate. But there are a few ways to spur it. Hosting periodic forums for musicians is one great way to get different people involved. If the knowledge shared and discussed in these events is timely and important to artists, they will participate. If you invite musicians and fans alike to pick the brains of media members, record labels, successful bands, promoters and other relevant folks in an open and pretense-free environment, then it would spur conversation and collaboration in a great way.

The ability to gain new connections and information is essential for bands to succeed, and providing a means for that through collaboration and participation with other musicians helps everyone. But to be honest, no matter what amount of planning is undertaken for this, it does hinge on the willingness of people in the music community to get out there and step out of their comfort zone a bit. So this is the part where a few people need to get on the ball and lead the way. If some people blaze the trail, then others will follow.

Sponsorship of touring musicians from the local government

This is by far the most forward-thinking idea I’ve got. Many federal governments give musicians financial support when touring abroad to help raise awareness/appreciation of that country’s music and culture. Why can’t we export this idea to Louisville on a smaller scale. If the city would provide grants for local musicians to go on the road, they would be even more willing to sing the city’s praises to those in other areas.

This gives Louisville the ability to put its brand and reputation out there in a way that most other cities wouldn’t even realize is possible (in fact, I don’t know of any other city even considering something like this at the moment). And then think about the potential of being a trendsetter in this area. What if other cities looked to Louisville and said, “Wow, those guys got it right with this. How can we compete and catch up?”

Many cities spend their time and money trying to get people to come to them, but there’s no guarantee that those efforts will be effective in getting people to see Louisville. However, if you take Louisville out on the road, then people get to visit Louisville for the first time without ever leaving home. And then the second visit, they’ll come to us.

Plus, more than just getting people to visit, it would show other musicians and creative types that, “Hey, this is the place to be.” The primary thing that attracts the young creative class to a city is its culture — not its industry. And supporting local musicians on tour is one really effective way to spread the word that this city has the kind of culture they want in spades.

Sean Cannon doles out “music news + useless opinion” daily at Buzzgrinder.com, and is a graphic designer/concert promoter/amateur philosopher/beard aficionado/semi-professional dabbler/Louisville lover. If you want to get in touch with him about any of these things, give him a shout at sean@buzzgrinder.com.