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Dazzle music venue hosts food pantry, online concerts to support struggling musicians

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by
Brian Willie, Kyle Cooke
• Published on
Rocky Mountain PBS

DENVER—One of the first things to stop was live music.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been roughly nine months since many musicians have played to a full, in-person crowd.

“Now we’re going to the holiday season and we’re hearing some pretty rough stories of people just not having enough to make ends meet,” said Cass Clayton. She is the lead singer and frontwoman of the Cass Clayton Band.

“Musicians live on a very tight, thin budget anyway,” Clayton said. “When we found out artists may be having struggles with getting three meals a day, Dazzle was the first one to step up and say ‘Let’s create a food pantry just for musicians and the music community.’”

Colorado Voices

Bread & Jam

3:33
Published:

Bread & Jam, a program to help artists that need a little help putting food on the table.

And so that’s exactly what Dazzle, the popular jazz music venue in Denver, did.

The project is called Bread & Jam because “our initial desire was to create a live music jam for professional musicians,” Clayton said. Dazzle will host live-streamed concerts every Sunday and the musicians will be paid for their performances.

“The session will be led by a different house band each week and will be live-streamed to our broad audience of music lovers,” according to the event’s website. “During the live stream and hours surrounding it, a food pantry for artists in need will be available along with mental health services and/or referrals.”

For people looking to donate food items to the effort, drop-off is open from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Dazzle (1512 Curtis Street, Denver). They can also send monetary donations to Bread & Jam at this link.

The full schedule of live-streamed concerts, starting with the Cass Clayton Band on December 4, is available here.

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