Sonic Guild Seattle (formerly known as Black Fret Seattle) has announced $80,000 in grants to ten Seattle area artists, concluding it's 2022 giving season. Each 2022 Sonic Guild Seattle artist will receive an $8,000 unrestricted grant to support their music career development.
Founded in 2013, Sonic Guild (known initially as Black Fret) is a 501c3 public charity headquartered in Austin, TX, whose mission is to build a community that supports the creation and performance of new music by exceptional musicians. The organization is an innovative evolution of the age-old symphony patronage model that is instead focused on supporting popular local music. Sonic Guild’s limited membership, sponsors, and support have supported musicians with over $3.5 million in grants and direct payments since 2013. In return for annual dues, members enjoy a broad range of private events in various venues. Grant recipients are selected annually through a yearlong process where members, advisors, and prior grant recipients nominate, attend performances, and finally vote on their favorite artists.
2022 SEASON GRANT RECIPIENTS:
Brittany Davis, Cumulus, Dean Johnson, Deep Sea Diver, King Youngblood, La Fonda, Shaina Shepherd, Small Paul, Thunderpussy, Wild Powwers
Sonic Guild launched its Seattle chapter in 2020 and has grown despite the pandemic. 2022’s grant pool increased by 45% supporting musicians as they continue to find steady footing after a prolonged period of forced inactivity. Now with chapters in Austin, TX, Colorado, and Seattle, Sonic Guild has passed the $3.5 million dollar mark of money distributed to musicians since 2013.
HOW SONIC GUILD WORKS
Each year, Sonic Guild Members (community supporters, not musicians) pay dues ($750 for an individual, $1,500 for a dual, or $3,000 for quad membership) that fuel the organization’s events and grants. Members gain access to monthly private curated performances featuring a fantastic cross-section of local music, the right to nominate artists (along with a panel of music industry advisors and past Sonic Guild grant recipients) for yearly grant consideration, and the ability to vote for the allocation of grant dollars at the end of each season. Along with sponsors, individual & corporate donors, foundations, government, and strategic partnerships, Sonic Guild has built a new model of philanthropy to support the creation and performance of popular local music.
HOW TO BECOME A SONIC GUILD MEMBER
Those interested in supporting the future of Seattle music can join Sonic Guild today by going to www.sonicguild.org/membership/.
MORE ABOUT SONIC GUILD
In addition to the work Sonic Guild does to support musician career development, they work with other non-profit partners to support the larger Northwest music community, including curating the annual SMASH (Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare) Benefit Concert that in 2022 raised over $220,000 to support SMASH’s mission to provide access to free and low-cost medical, dental, and mental health services for working musicians in the Puget Sound area, produced events for Bloodworks Northwest as part of their Music’s in Our Blood campaign that cultivated over 18,000 new and re-engaged blood donors and provides ongoing curation assistance for the annual SMOOCH (Seattle Musicians for Children’s Hospital) Benefit that’s raised approximately $30,000,000 to date for uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Sonic Guild is also working to support the United Way of King County’s annual 2023 Eat Drink and Be Generous Event.
CLASS OF 2021 Acid Tongue, Beverly Crusher, Black Ends, Caitlin Sherman, Da Qween, Parisalexa, SassyBlack, Shelby Earl, Sol, True Loves, Zan Fiskum
CLASS OF 2020 Bearaxe, Chong the Nomad, Naked Giants, Sera Cahoone, Stephanie Anne Johnson, The Black Tones, Smokey Brights, Tomo Nakayama, Tres Leches, Whitney Mongé
HOW TO DONATE TO SONIC GUILD
Tax-deductible donations can be made today at www.sonicguild.org/donate