The Gang Gets a Music Month

It’s official, y’all: the City of Philadelphia is formally recognizing May as Philly Music Month. The announcement was made Wednesday night at City Hall during a kickoff press conference led by the city’s Chief Cultural Officer — and musician — Val Gay.

Philly Music Month arrives nearly one year after Councilmember Isaiah Thomas introduced a resolution declaring Philadelphia “The Original Music City,” a title meant to reclaim the narrative from Nashville and honor Philly’s musical legacy, which stretches back well before Tennessee entered the union.

“[This event] is the mayor and city council coming together saying that we agree — Philly is the original music city, and we will invest in the industry,” Thomas said during Wednesday’s kickoff event. He continued by calling for a dedicated music position within City Hall.

“Just like we have a Nighttime Economy Manager, we need a dedicated position in City Hall, directly under the mayor, that’s specifically focused on music,” he said.

Thomas emphasized the importance of having someone within city government whose job is to advocate specifically for Philadelphia musicians. He also pointed to the need to expand the city’s creative grant programs to better include musical artists.

That support, Thomas explained, would ensure that “artists in the City of Philadelphia, even when they’re struggling a little bit,” know the government can step in and say, “We believe in your talent. Keep going.”

Thomas also called for a city-run Department of Music, modeled after quasi-government arts agencies like the Philadelphia Film Office and Mural Arts Philadelphia.

Or, as he put it: “Well, shit, the same way we’ve got the Parking Authority to be our quasi-government organization to deal with cars,” he said, as laughter began to drown out his words, “we need the same thing for music.”

Wednesday’s event was the culmination of more than nine months of work by The Original Music City Task Force, a volunteer group of industry professionals committed to spotlighting Philadelphia’s vibrant music community and advocating for the kind of government support already seen in cities like Nashville, Austin, and Atlanta.

The ultimate goal, task force co-chair Suzann Christine said, is to make “Philadelphia a place where music creators don’t just start — they stay, grow, and thrive.”

To celebrate the inaugural Philly Music Month, Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, announced a special Music and Murals Walking Tour created in partnership with the Philadelphia Music Alliance. The two-hour tour is designed to bring “the sounds of Philadelphia to life alongside vibrant public art,” featuring murals with music-related themes and taking participants along a stretch of the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame.

Also on hand was Leah Douglas, Director of Guest Experience at Philadelphia International Airport, who announced a pilot project bringing live performances by local musicians to PHL (For the record, we had no prior knowledge of this before Justin suggested that Wax Jaw could “get a pit going at the TSA line at the airport").

Local public radio station WXPN is also ready to celebrate Philly’s extensive music heritage — but as Assistant Music Director and TOMC Task Force member Kristen Kurtis explained, the station’s celebration will extend well beyond May 31 in honor of the city’s upcoming semiquincentennial.

Beginning Monday, WXPN will air “Philly Music Moments,” a series of audio vignettes running through July that spotlight specific moments in Philadelphia music history. The station will also launch its “Philly 250” countdown, a list of city-defining songs curated by WXPN members and listeners.

The celebratory evening ended with performances by The New No Question (one of the last acts signed to the legendary Philadelphia International Records) and Namarah McCall, and a reminder to spend the month of May celebrating our local music scene.

While every day is Philly Music Month here at Music Jawn, we’re joining the celebration by featuring one local independent artist per day on our Instagram Stories throughout May, beginning tomorrow evening. Come for the celebration, stay for the piecemeal content!

HAPPY PHILLY MUSIC MONTH!