Four live music venues in Asheville have joined a new national effort to lobby Congress for more financial help while they remain closed because of the Coronavirus.
The National Independent Venue Association is a coalition of more than 800 clubs around the country, including the Orange Peel, the Odditorium, the Grey Eagle and Asheville Music Hall.
Their letter Wednesday to U.S. House and Senate leaders in both parties asked that they be covered under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. In the letter, the association also asked to establish a business recovery grant fund for concert venues, tax relief and continued unemployment insurance for contract workers and artists not typically covered by such protections. The association’s letter also asked for guidelines to help safely welcome back live concerts and their audiences as part of the eventual reopening process.
The association said its venues combine to contribute $10 billion each year to their local economies.
