Written by Julia DuBois
Images taken from B-Side Magazine’s website and Instagram
“We intend to help build and strengthen Boise’s music community by bridging connections between artists + venues + audiences” – B-Side Magazine’s Mission Statement
B-Side Magazine, a new nonprofit in Boise, has made quite the impact on the local music scene already. Their services as an independent music press do not only help local artists, but they help local music lovers as well. The site currently offers a live music calendar, band and artist profiles, venue details, gear and hardware information, and more. The site is not only user friendly, but entertaining enough to accidentally spend a few hours on as you read all about the people and places who make up the music scene in Boise.
The creator of B-Side Magazine, Kristin Birt, started the website to hopefully help others with an issue that she kept running into herself. She found herself time and time again missing out on shows playing in Boise simply because she never knew they were playing in the first place. Between booking companies such as Duck Club who manage a variety of different venues in town, DIY venues such as the CRLB, and all the venues in between, there are a lot of concerts to try and keep track of. Kristin grew tired of missing these shows, saw the problem, and became the solution. She then started with the idea to create a live music calendar, which aims to include a comprehensive list of all the shows taking place in Boise. This ranges from touring acts playing at the Knitting Factory, to freshly started groups playing in someone’s garage, and even to music related events such as musical bingo or open mic nights. If there is music in Boise, chances are Kristin has it listed on her live music calendar. The live music calendar was just the start of B-Side Magazine, and hopefully it grows into so much more; in fact, it already has.
B-Side Magazine was able to secure a fiscal sponsorship from one of Garden City’s own art hubs, Surel’s Place. Surel’s Place partners with growing nonprofits that are centered around the arts, and tries to give these non profits a chance to play a role in the creative scene that Boise has. After Kristin, with the help of donations from individuals on Kickstarter, was able to raise a certain amount of money, then Surel’s Place was ready to give B-Side the rest of the financial support needed in order to confirm their partnership. With this money, and hopefully more grants and donations in the future, B-Side plans to become a 501 Nonprofit with its very own staff and physical location. Here, B-Side will be able to further fulfill their mission statement and grow as a magazine. For now, however, B-Side will continue to work with what they’ve got.
Currently, B-Side is not just working on growing as a nonprofit, but is working on growing creatively as well. After Treefort, where Kristin and Alie O’malley were able to work as a team covering the festival, B-Side was able to grow as a website. They want to continue to cover events, tour kick offs, album debuts, and more. Also, as they move forward, they hope to take submissions from other passionate writers for the magazine section of the website, photographers for the photo gallery, or just anyone who wants to contribute to the magazine. It doesn’t matter what your skill level is, if you are passionate about live and local music, and you want to get involved, be sure to check out B-Side Magazine.
