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By Kate Krieger. MCP Corresondent.
LUDINGTON – Mason County has always been known for a thriving music scene and with the addition of Ludington Live Local Musicians, many more musicians are getting attention for their talents and upcoming gigs in the area.
Cathy Dalton, creator of Ludington Live Local Musicians is no stranger to the music scene and, in fact, she has been recording and promoting area musicians for years through her website, www.ludingtonlivelocalmusic.com.
“I’ve been doing it for years,” Dalton said. “I used to record a few videos.”
Dalton stated that all the videos and activity on her website started bogging the site down, so she decided to not only use her website, but she created a Facebook page where anyone could access her calendar of events, videos of live area music and information about artists. She also linked her personal website to the Facebook page, making it easy for people to go between either site.
“I really just started taking more videos when I went out,” Dalton said. “The whole things just grew and now people are friend requesting the Facebook site daily.”
Currently, the Ludington Live Local Musicians Facebook site has over 1,700 followers and is growing daily and Dalton is hoping that her personal website will also grow in popularity, so she can start promoting more music with the help of venues in the area and possibly have them sponsor the site and have individual calendars of events run for their particular venue, restaurant or bar.
“I’m really hoping the local venues can jump on board and help sponsor the site,” she said. “I will be making t-shirts as well as a way to promote the website and to take in some revenue.”
As of now, Dalton has been doing the entire venture without collecting any kind of fee for her services and having the website creating possible opportunities for different venues through advertising, she’s very hopeful that will soon change and she will be able to take her passion for music to the next level.
“It really is a passion of mine,” Dalton said. “It takes a lot of time though, uploading all the videos and trying to make it to all or most of the music being performed each weekend.”
If her life wasn’t busy enough spending so much time updating her website and Facebook page, traveling between venues to record music, contacting venues about upcoming gigs and working two part time jobs at O.J. DeJonge Middle School and Sandcastle’s Children Museum, she also discusses the upcoming weekend’s events at 5:20 p.m. every Thursday with The Boatman on 94 K-Rock.
“The Boatman saw me and asked if I wanted to come down and talk on the radio,” Dalton said. “So I went down and went into the studio. The Boatman is great at promoting the events. We do it for the love of music.”
Dalton said that she has been getting calls on a pretty regular basis from different bands, asking her how they can break into the area music scene because they have seen her Facebook page.
“There’s a lot of networking,” Dalton said. “It’s pretty cool to see the people at the different shows who have contacted me. The word is getting out.”
Dalton hopes that her recordings and websites have helped area musicians get their names out and she also intends to continue to watch her work grow and expand because she knows how much talent there is in the area that needs to be supported.
“They’re all amazing musicians,” she said. “It’s unbelievable how much talent there is here. I think some of the musicians just think about music all the time, which is so cool. I am always very amazed and I enjoy everywhere I go.”
Many of the local musicians have a lot of positive things to say about Dalton and how her website and Facebook pages have helped their audiences grow.
“Any music scene needs some sort of unifying force,” local musician, John Merchant said. “In Ludington, Cathy Dalton and Ludington Live Local Musicians have provided musicians, venues and fans a base of operation and a point of reference. As local bands sprout up, and out of town groups more and more see Ludington as a viable touring stop, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Ludington Live Local Musicians and the tireless work of Cathy Dalton and her omni-present video camera.”
Local musician, Wally Leversey also had a lot to say about Dalton’s work with local musicians.
“One word about what Cathy Dalton does on her own time for all of us local musicians priceless,” he said. “Promoting, advertising and just capturing precious moments on video for us as musicians. I can’t thank her enough.”
Ed Santarelli, Ludrock president also praised Dalton’s work and stated that even though he isn’t always in the Ludington area, the local music scene is only a few clicks away.
“I grew up many years ago Ludington,” he said. “Life’s road moved me away long ago, but my heart never left that little old lumber town. Ludington Live has made me feel like I am not so far away and that I am still connected to my hometown. I couldn’t ask for more. I am proud to call Cathy my friend.”
Dalton’s website can be accessed through her Facebook account by logging onto website.facebook.com and searching for “Ludington Live Local Musicians.”
“I’ve just always loved music,” Dalton said. “It makes you feel happy.”
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