11/6: Reflections on the Love, Kelly Showcase

All photos courtesy of the Timberline Media team. Hire them.

When I was putting together yesterday’s news update, I reached out to Kelly Butts-Spirito for some words on the incredibly successful concert he’d put together at ArtsRiot. I knew he’d have something smart & thoughtful, because the interview we did was gold. The reply he gave me was so good I’m just going to run it, in full, along with some more of those awesome Timberline Media shots. The purpose of this website is documenting history, and that night was definitely some history. - JB

The best part about what I do is the people I get to do it with.

The biggest word that comes to mind when I reflect on the show is gratitude.

So many new beautiful relationships were born from the concert last weekend.

Burlington is such a special place. The energy, the turnout, the crowd, it was surreal. All the out of town artists continually commented that the energy in Burlington is insane and is something you do not get everywhere.

It's not everyday you get to do a free show for your hometown community and that is a testament to these incredible artists taking their time to show love to Burlington. We had a line around the whole building for hours and had to turn away hundreds of people. What a blessing to have a turnout like that.

The crowd that made it inside the venue was level 10000 energy for the whole entire 4 1/2 hour event.

I remember ZAIA said before the show that this is a once in a lifetime type thing and it was true. I don’t think anything quite like this will ever happen again. There was no industry oversight or contracts or investors or anything. When we say the word "love" that is really the best way to describe it. Everyone involved from the artists to photographers to videographers to producers to the fans, everyone was there to uplift each other and that is so special. That is special and something to be celebrated by all of us.

Over the past two years I have done countless free or extremely under priced videos because I believe in certain artists. I have always been someone who really stuck my neck out to support the artists I believe in. A lot of people criticized me for it, saying stuff like “you’re going to get taken advantage of” or “you need to be more focused on the bag,” etc, etc, but I always have believed that if you put out love into the world and you are good to the people you meet/work with, blessings will come back tenfold, just not always in the time frame you imagine.

Nov. 6th was an accumulation of the hard work, love, loyalty and sacrifice that I have put into this all coming together. This event is not possible without these artists. Nov. 6th proved what this music scene is capable of right now. Burlington Hip Hop has a scene, and it is alive and well and producing superstars like North Ave Jax. It honestly left me speechless sharing that moment with artists, managers, friends and family that I love from all over the country.

This was such a unique event.

On the same stage you have Zaia who's signed to a major label, and whose last project had over 17 million streams, and you have 17 year old local artists that have been listening to him for years. You have KBFR with a hit song that has over 40 million streams and you have local videographers shooting their first show. Now, because of this event, they are friends and they are collaborators.

I am so grateful for them and all of you who continue to support me and uplift my life and the people around me. Let's celebrate this win, because it was big for one Burlington, it was a big win for every small town kid with a big dream, and it was a win for all the kids that get forgotten in high schools all over the country because this group that made this show possible is a group of misfits, the forgotten, the comeback kids. Everyone doubted that this could be pulled off, like it was from managers to articles to venues, but we did it. It was a win for all of us, the youthful music community of Burlington and every single artist who performed.

In terms of the next show - we are planning a big one for after the new year. It’s going to be 10x what this was. The connections, support, funding and access is only growing. North Ave Jax - “trust nobody” will be out very soon. It is shot in BHS and Al’s French Fries. It is the biggest video of my career so far. I have a video with kbfr hood baby, ZAIA, Mikey polo ft. Trippie Redd and 4 special ones with local artists Yvng Ohm, EBK Kami, Hakimxoxo, Brazii, Flywlkr and a young new Burlington artist named Xistential.