#WomenCrush Music has announced a nationwide virtual tour to support and connect local music communities across 15 U.S. cities. Beginning in August, the non-profit arts organization, which is dedicated to creating opportunities for rising womxn songwriters, will partner with venues and sponsors at each tour stop to donate proceeds to participating Womxn/BIPOC-Owned venues and artists. A full list of cities and a link to RSVP is available here. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, #WCM, like many other organizations, had to navigate how to best support their communities and come together, while staying apart. This has meant shifting their showcase programming to virtual, hosting weekly Instagram Live sessions featuring artists from their nationwide community while partnering with larger brands to engage new audiences. They’ve continued to bring valuable and timely information to their community through webinars with CDBaby, Songtrust and more, as well as increasing their output of artist releases and think pieces on their blog, #TheCrush. They’ve also recently launched Song Sessions, a chance for the #WCM community to submit songs for critiquing by established songwriters and industry members.

“When COVID-19 hit, I knew that as a community-focused organization we had to continue supporting our community in any way we possibly could,” Founder/CEO Ashley K. Stoyanov states. “While the weekly Instagram Lives and webinars were reaching an international audience and were a valuable resource, we wanted a way to help further connect the rising womxn songwriter community on a local level, as well as help support local music venues who truly make the local music scenes in these communities special. We have always wanted our events to be a place where womxn songwriters can find their next collaborators for shows and to share resources, and we hope that we can continue doing that even if it is virtually through this pandemic.” 

The tour kicks off August 3 in the San Francisco Bay Area and will continue through mid-December, spotlighting a new city or region every two weeks. In addition to songwriter showcases, they will also team up with local industry professionals to host panel discussions and webinars. #WCM’s goal is to partner with local womxn/BIPOC owned music venues to support them with 100% of the proceeds from showcase ticket sales. They will be partnering with sponsors and have launched a Facebook Fundraiser to help pay the artists and support tour costs (10% of all donations will go to Public Functionary - #CreativesAfterCurfew).

The tour will run through mid-December and will hit the following cities/areas: 

San Francisco Bay Area - August 3 to 14
South Florida & Atlanta - August 17 to 28
Portland & Seattle - August 31 to September 11
Austin - September 14 to 25
NY & Boston - September 28 to October 9
Washington DC & Philadelphia - October 12 to October 23
Denver - October 26 to November 6
Chicago & Mineappolis - November 9 to 20 
Nashville - November 23 to December 4
Los Angeles - December 7 to 18

RSVP to receive details for each city as they are announced.