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Iowa City jewelry vendor Mark Ginsberg has dedicated himself, his business, and his money to making this area a focal point for live music.

By Mike Mendenhall

Friday afternoons in Downtown Iowa City are the quiet before the storm of FAC, when smokey, strobe-lit bars and a barrage of college students flood the streets. The moderate amount of people walking from building to building on the week’s last business can hardly be interrupted.

But on Washington Street, Iowa City patrons and professionals alike can, if only for a moment, be captured by the sounds of Kevin Byrd, The Diplomats, Dave Zollo, or other local area artists vibrating off the surrounding structures of glass and concrete.

These “distractions” adding to the culturally “urban flavor,” of downtown are the beats and melodies of the Friday Music Series from outside M.C. Ginsberg Jewelry and Art Gallery. The business has been promoting the local music scene with public performances since 1987.

“Most people [in Iowa City] normally would go to a bar where they wouldn't’t hear this music,” Mark Ginsberg the store’s owner said. “There is a tremendous amount of talent in this town to goes unnoticed.”

Iowa City Music Exposed

Ginsberg has created a venue of public exposure for Iowa City musicians who recently, with the reorganizations of “Gabe’s” to “The Picador” and “The Green Room” to “Verde,” have experienced a club scene with a shifting foundation.

With no audition or street credit necessary, Ginsberg and his staff book local artists, groups, and solo acts alike. Any genre is welcome, and Ginsberg likes the variety; booking acts from jazz to rock, from classical to jam bands.

“I don’t tell them what to play,” Ginsberg said. “I let them paint their own pallet here. The only thing I ask them to do is thank the house.”

Artistic Freedom price tagged

With little venue promotion required, musicians outside of M.C. Ginsberg are free to play original music and highlight their own work. But if they’re like Guitarist Kevin Byrd, after he gives a sample of his personal flavor, he’ll play to the crowd by taking requests and showing a vast repertoire.

“And now I’ll play a little “Ain’t no Sun-Shine” for that guy over…hey where’d he go,” Byrd said to a gathering crowd at an Oct. 12 performance. “Dude requested a song and left. That was rude…ah; I’ll play it anyway. You all will enjoy it.”

A musician at the Friday series may also sell their CDs’ and have a tip jar, but Ginsberg doesn’t leave the players without compensation. $30 dollars is paid to a performer for an hour gig. A group is paid up to $120.

The kids love this one

Trying to spread arts and culture appreciation to a young audience, Ginsberg also sponsors community outreach programs. Working with the City of Iowa City Community School District, the company has set up k-6 music and art programs. A scholarship fund with the University MFA Program was also put together.

“Iowa City is strong with its arts and music, and we need to make sure it remains strong,” Ginsberg said. “Contrary to popular belief; it’s an economic and cultural necessity for a community to survive.”

Music + Retail = Change

As M.C. Ginsberg’s Friday Music Series has proven to be a strong artistic outreach, it also has given Ginsberg himself a way to connect his passion with his business. “Taking risks,” and the realization that money “isn’t dominant” to his life, has motivated Ginsberg to bring the music scene out of the club and into the streets.

“The retail environment has grown to become my bully pulpit,” Ginsberg said. “I have 1,200 square feet to say what I want. Adding to the myriad of artistic programming adds an urban and metropolitan feel to our city.”

Email: michael-mendenhall@uiowa.edu

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