Wednesday
September 18, 2024 
With a mission to establish a 5,000 to 7,000 capacity arena, the nonprofit Bucks County Music Project held its first advisory board meeting Monday at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Buckingham.
Richard Towey, the founder of the project, convened the meeting to discuss next steps.
The board itself boasts an impressive lineup of members. They include Towey, a national sales director for Primerica; Marissa Christie, president and CEO of United Way of Bucks County; Matt Freeman, a musician who owns a recording studio in Ottsville; and Melanie Boyd, general manager of School of Rock in Doylestown.
The objective of Monday’s meeting was to start identifying leaders, gathering members and designating them for specific working groups. Towey outlined specific project needs, such as social media help, organization, legal services, etc.
“Music is an encouraging world” said Towey, who first got into the music industry in the ‘70s. “Bucks County has a horrible reputation for treating musicians.”
The Bucks County Music Project wants to do everything at a “world-class level” to break that reputation.
Towey believes this project will create a positive economic impact. Explaining that a big music arena brings close to $1.2 billion a year. A venue here that can hold upwards of 7,000 people “would bring in 5% of that,” claimed Towey, for a total of about $60 million per year.
During Monday’s meeting, Freeman educated the members about an app he had developed called “Stagebright,” which he called “a tinder-style app for musicians to help find gigs.” It has been in development for the past year.
The Bucks County Music Project plans to create an app specifically for Bucks County residents that holds the same idea and motive that “Stagebright” does. Any income the app earns will be put back into the app.
Towey claims that this new project will spark positive changes in Bucks County.
“Music, jobs, education, quality of life, all will go up,” said Towey. “There’s so much work to be done here.”
“Take the people in the world of arts, bring it here,” says Towey.
To succeed, the project also plans to host gigs where, included in the price of the ticket, comes a CD of the band playing, provided to hopefully give the musician more exposure. The leadership will also take audience feedback online and provide an opportunity for musicians to sell merchandise.
Ultimately, sustainability is what Towey wants for this project.
“When I’m gone, I want this thing to keep rocking,” he said.
The board is passionate about reaching other parts of the county and having representation in those areas as well as they do in Doylestown.
The Bucks County Music Project has multiple meetings planned in the next few months to keep the project on course.
Interest is running high, said Towey, who added he suspects they won’t be able to hold the October meeting at the Biotech Center due to having too many attendees.
“We’re gonna make history”, exclaimed Towey, as he closed the meeting.
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