Performing as a children’s artist comes second to Aaron Jones who has dedicated his career in part to advocate for the fair and equitable compensation of musicians.
As part of the Concord musical community, Jones has always volunteered his time to perform at Market Days. The three-day festival in late June attracts over 50,000 visitors to the area and showcases the best that downtown Concord has to offer, including more than 150 musicians who volunteer their time and talent to the city.
“I’ve always played Market Days for free because it’s my hometown but at the same time, I have to take time out of my schedule during a really busy season for me and I’m also not home or on vacation,” Jones said. “When it comes to paying artists and musicians, it’s important and simple: If you want us to be there sharing talents and skills, we’re worth paying.”
This year artists like Jones will be paid a small sum of money for their time.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and through conversations with local artists and musicians like Jones, InTown Concord Executive Director Jessica Martin applied for and received a $5,100 community engagement grant to support the local artists that perform at Market Days. The grant was awarded by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
“This grant will help us compensate local musicians who have been performing for free at Market Days for over a decade,” she continued. “We believe that these talented musicians deserve to be recognized and compensated for their contributions to our community.”
Martin said she knew it was no longer fair to ask performers to donate their time when musicians are just regaining their footing in the post-pandemic music world.
“It made it more apparent of the struggles that live performers have and how fragile that system is,” Jones said. “We really appreciate the thoughtfulness to recognize that we weren’t doing anything for a couple of years and now we’re still recovering from that.”
Though the grant will only support a fraction of what musicians would charge for their services, compensation will be equitably considered based on band size and set length, Martin explained. A subcommittee will be in charge of creating a payment guideline to look at all contributing factors and finalize individual compensation rates per performer.
“Like anything, I am all for compensating the musicians for the time and energy and effort that goes into music,” said Lucas Gallo, a longtime musician and coordinator of the Homegrown State at the festival. “For me, I’d like to see the value go up but I think any amount is awesome and I can’t say enough good things about our community of musicians and their willingness to do these things because they care about the music community.”
Market Days will be held from June 22 to 24. For more information, visit www.marketdaysfestival.com.