Mile of Music

Dave Willems discussed how he helped to create the Mile of Music that took place August 8-11, 2013 to bring original singer/songwriters, combos and multi-piece bands to multiple venues in downtown Appleton. He started planning the festival in January and then it was announced to the public on May 9.  To make this undertaking a reality, Cory Chisel, national recording artist and singer/songwriter, signed on as music curator, headliner and host.  Norah Jones was the surprise guest that sang at Lawrence Memorial Chapel.  A percussion group went through town and offered 15 participative sessions. Bands played on buses.  There were 107 artists that held 182 live performances in 41 venues - most being indoors.  During the event, 3 ATM's ran out of money and 1 bar ran out of liquor.  Most of the venue reported record weeks. Their goals is to bring three times of number of people to downtown Appleton, have 300 performances and that it become the best and most distinctive music festival in the world.  One of the challenges was the amount of sound equipment available in the area.  Other venues want to participate, but the focus is on downtown Appleton as well as original handcrafted music.  This event could not have taken place without the dedicated team and volunteers that made it happen.  This event gave some bar owners hope since business has not been good over the past couple of years.  Proceeds from the Mile of Music was split into two funds:  a new Mile of Music Fund though the Appleton Education Foundation to help fund more music opportunities within the Appleton public schools and a new Creative Downtown Fund which will be used to provide seed money for projects that help color our creative economy and keep downtown Appleton strong, vibrant and creative. The next Mile of Music is scheduled to August 7-10, 2014.