<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Crunchy Western Boys</strong></span></p><p> The Crunchy Western Boys have no problem playing intimate venues. But what is now their signature light-hearted audience banter evolved out of one that was borderline too intimate.<br />“We were playing some room and there were only like four people out there. So I said, ‘Since it’s just the eight of us, we might as well get to know each other,’” Steve McBrian said. “We just took that (approach) and kind of expanded it, and it works. The audience is a huge part of what we do.”<br />Indeed, the Crunchy Western Boys aren’t entirely sure what kind of music they play – a bluegrassy vibe that comes from a pop-rock place has prompted McBrian to refer to it as kindgrass – but they are sure you’ll have a good time at their shows. McBrian employs a humorous no-holds-barred and no-words-minced approach to addressing the audience while the band unleashes their acoustic-only flavor that features a fiddle but doesn’t include any percussion.<br />You certainly aren’t the only one that’s going to have fun at a Crunchy Western Boys show, either. The band members make sure to enjoy themselves, and aren’t afraid to belly up to the bar and rub elbows with the paying customers.<br />“We’re a drinking band with a music problem,” McBrian said.<br />They also aren’t afraid to seek out a new audience. Though most of their gigs are in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, they’ve played in Ireland twice and have visited the Virgin Islands – partly to avoid the frigid snow-based doldrums that can dampen the music scene during a New England winter.<br />“We like to play a lot around here and then go somewhere completely different,” McBrian said. “Around here you pretty much play your Halloween gig and pack your fiddle on moth balls until February or March. We like to get out of dodge.”<br />Ultimately, it’s the band’s insistence on remaining a square peg in a music world of round holes that makes them such a unique experience.<br />“We’d be the first ones to tell you we’re not really a bluegrass band,” McBrian said. “I always tell hardcore purists my favorite (bluegrass pioneer) Bill Monroe quote is, ‘I invented this kind of music because I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing.’ So why follow in lockstep with what Bill already did: Branch it out, man, have some fun with it.”
<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Crunchy Western Boys</strong></span></p><p> The Crunchy Western Boys have no problem playing intimate venues. But what is now their signature light-hearted audience banter evolved out of one that was borderline too intimate.<br />“We were playing some room and there were only like four people out there. So I said, ‘Since it’s just the eight of us, we might as well get to know each other,’” Steve McBrian said. “We just took that (approach) and kind of expanded it, and it works. The audience is a huge part of what we do.”<br />Indeed, the Crunchy Western Boys aren’t entirely sure what kind of music they play – a bluegrassy vibe that comes from a pop-rock place has prompted McBrian to refer to it as kindgrass – but they are sure you’ll have a good time at their shows. McBrian employs a humorous no-holds-barred and no-words-minced approach to addressing the audience while the band unleashes their acoustic-only flavor that features a fiddle but doesn’t include any percussion.<br />You certainly aren’t the only one that’s going to have fun at a Crunchy Western Boys show, either. The band members make sure to enjoy themselves, and aren’t afraid to belly up to the bar and rub elbows with the paying customers.<br />“We’re a drinking band with a music problem,” McBrian said.<br />They also aren’t afraid to seek out a new audience. Though most of their gigs are in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, they’ve played in Ireland twice and have visited the Virgin Islands – partly to avoid the frigid snow-based doldrums that can dampen the music scene during a New England winter.<br />“We like to play a lot around here and then go somewhere completely different,” McBrian said. “Around here you pretty much play your Halloween gig and pack your fiddle on moth balls until February or March. We like to get out of dodge.”<br />Ultimately, it’s the band’s insistence on remaining a square peg in a music world of round holes that makes them such a unique experience.<br />“We’d be the first ones to tell you we’re not really a bluegrass band,” McBrian said. “I always tell hardcore purists my favorite (bluegrass pioneer) Bill Monroe quote is, ‘I invented this kind of music because I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing.’ So why follow in lockstep with what Bill already did: Branch it out, man, have some fun with it.”

The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $31.2 million in annual economic activity in the Greater Concord area — supporting more than 960 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $2.8 million in local and state government revenues, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 national economic impact study.

The most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States, Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 was conducted by Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, in partnership with local organizations including the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce.

Results show that local nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent $17.8 million during fiscal year 2015. This spending is far-reaching: organizations pay employees, purchase supplies, contract for services and acquire assets within their community. Those dollars, in turn, generated $22.4 million in household income for local residents.

“This is the second time we have partnered with Americans for the Arts to measure the impact of the nonprofit arts and culture institutions locally. The numbers have been growing and demonstrate that Concord is emerging as an important cultural center in New Hampshire,” said Tim Sink, president of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to spending by organizations, the Greater Concord nonprofit arts and culture industry leverages $13.4 million in event-related spending by its audiences. As a result of attending a cultural event, attendees often eat dinner in local restaurants, pay for parking, buy gifts and souvenirs, and pay a babysitter. Out-of-town attendees frequently stay overnight in local hotels, get coffee and breakfast and fill gas tanks before heading home – bringing in valuable tax revenue from meals and rooms and gas taxes.

“The study showcases the growing economic impact of nonprofit cultural organizations in the Greater Concord area. Just over half of audience participants in the study came from outside of Merrimack County, and 93 percent reported that their primary purpose for visiting the area was to attend that particular arts event. This means Concord is attracting cultural tourists that spend on average $49 per person at local shops, restaurants and hotels in addition to what they paid on tickets or admissions,” said Nicki Clarke, executive director of the Capitol Center for the Arts.

Insider staff