east river music project

The East River Music Project was formed with the goal of putting on a free summer concert series of local music at the East River Amphitheater on the Lower East Side. While there are other free summer concert series around the city in the summer, the biggest one is in Central Park and rarely features smaller local acts. By all accounts, New York City is currently going through something of a musical renaissance, and where better to showcase those talents than downtown, where much of this new music is born.

The Project was inspired in part by Flywheel, a collective in Western Massachusetts that runs an open performance space, and Fort Reno, a park in Washington, DC, that hosts free, biweekly concerts every summer. While the logistics of New York City make it hard to replicate a place like Flywheel or a series like Fort Reno locally, the musical community in New York is just as strong as it is in those aforementioned places and, due to the shortage of good clubs and the overabundance of bands, the need for a Flywheel or a Fort Reno is probably just as strong if not stronger here than it is anywhere else.
The East River Amphitheater is becoming a desirable venue and the cost of putting on a show there is high. In turn, we can’t promise the facilities or volume of concerts that Flywheel or Fort Reno can provide. We are going to put on as many shows as possible, however, with winter benefit shows and, through recently acquired non-profit status, grants and fundraising. With all of the resources at our disposal, ERMP is going to celebrate New York City/the Lower East Side and its music in one of the best venues the city has to offer.