Practice venue springs out of grass-roots musicians' activism

ROCKING IN A COOL, DRY PLACE: The Flocked Cows practice at FACE. / Photo by Ben Hibshman

By Ben Hibshman

April 12, 2007 | Many Cache Valley musicians' dream is to have a clean, supervised building to practice with bands, and put on concerts that don't suck the money right out of their wallets.

The Free Academy of Creative Expression plans to give the community of musicians in Cache Valley just that.

FACE is in a pavilion at the Cache County Fairgrounds. It will provide a well-managed and supervised venue that includes practice rooms for musicians of all ages and abilities, at a low cost, said FACE board of directors member Shane Harris.

"We want it to be a place where people can interact and socialize," said Todd Milovich.

Milovich said he would like a place where people can not only play music, but hang out as well.

"Usually it's a bunch of people hanging out in the parking lot," Milovich says about Logan's concerts. "We want to change that. Bring them inside!"

Milovich wants to see events take place at FACE where people "hang out, eat great food…and oh, watch a band!"

FACE held an open house March 17 to kick off the organization. Members from the band In Vein played acoustic sets while Logan artists displayed their artwork for people to look at. Food was also provided by Amy Nguyen.

"I couldn't believe the amount of creative people in the room," said Milovich. "It was a huge success."

Concert promoters from Logan have already put the pavilion to use. On April 6, The Hanks from Los Angeles played with Logan bands Bleary, The Flocked Cows and Putnam and the Radar.

FACE plans on staging high quality performances. According to Harris, they hope to attract an audience that spans a larger demographic.

"Over time, FACE will be able to attract established touring artists who will not only perform, but be willing to share their experiences with local musicians," said Milovich.

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