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The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and EarthQuaker Devices have teamed up again in collaboration of a second set of limited-edition guitar pedals. The pedals feature new and exclusive artwork from the legendary Cleveland artist, Derek Hess and come in a variety of colorways.

June 28, 2023 // From securing nonprofit status to bands buying the actual clubs, anything and everything seems to be on the table for indie live-music operators. [RollingStone.com]

June 20, 2023 // Downtown Cleveland Inc., is bringing back the Downtown Busker Program for its second year.The official street-performance program features 20 pre-selected “pitch” (the area buskers perform) locations and guides for potential buskers to help them find their perfect “pitch.”Each pitch location was selected by Downtown Cleveland Inc. to maximize pedestrian visibility near hot spots and offer room for creative freedom in performing. [Cleveland.com]

June 15, 2023 // When Music Saves, the record store next to the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, closed its doors in 2017, Cindy Barber had a plan to revive the space. Barber’s nonprofit bought the storefront in 2018, and after launching a fundraising campaign, is now turning it into a retail space for local music called Cleveland Rocks Shop. [Ideastream.org]

April 28, 2023 // Young creatives ages 15 to 25 are working on Hollywood-style recording projects as members of Northeast Ohio’s Kaboom Collective. Students work with a variety of industry professionals in the arts, from musical composition to script writing to digital animation. But at the collective’s center is its studio orchestra led by Kaboom Collective Co-Founder and Cleveland Arts Prize winner Liza Grossman. [Ideastream.org]

April 13, 2023 // Analysis from the 2022 Arts Vibrancy Index reveals Cleveland, Ohio with a score in the top 1% of communities on measurements of Arts Dollars. The city shows particular strengths in the amount of earned revenue generated from artistic programs and the total compensation paid to arts and cultural employees per capita – higher than all other large midwestern communities on these two sub-measures. [CulturalData.org]

April 14, 2023 // Dig through crates and find your next great listen at Northeast Ohio’s vast variety of independent record shops. [ClevelandMagazine.com]

The Boddie Recording Company was the city’s first Black-owned studio, operating from the 1950s through the 1990s. The Landmarks Commission voted Thursday to approve landmark status for the company’s former headquarters, a house at 12202 Union Avenue in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.