OFM Gallery: HerSound Artist Showcase at Fraco’s Bar
The Colorado music scene has a new arrival in the showcase business, and it’s paving the way for a women-led space in the arts here in Denver and abroad. HerSound, which had its debut show last Friday at Fraco’s Bar and Live Music in Littleton, is a fresh musical series focused on empowering women in the local music industry. The event included performances by Who is Abby, Zoe Brenn, Katrina Leibee, Ella Cartia, Ani Han, Briana JannYne, Maria Elayna, and Eloise Smith. Jazmine Loomis, who operates under the name Jazzy P for her own artistic and musical endeavors, hosted the project and put on her own performance as well. Loomis also founded and launched the HerSound project alongside Qoncert, a booking platform based in Denver that focuses on coordinating shows for local indie acts.
Though the HerSound project is relatively new, it comes as the latest expansion of a space for women musicians that Jazzy has been building here in Denver for months, most notably with the Volume Series that she cofounded, which debuted at Two Moons Music Hall in July. The series similarly focused on women in the local music scene, but also organized each show centered on a particular one-word theme, with the first show themed on the word “Heal” and the second show themed on “Grow.” The series was supposed to have a third volume iteration centered on the theme of love, but the October concert had to be cancelled.
Loomis said that the decision to launch HerSound alongside Qoncert was to provide women with musical opportunities at various venues instead of just one location, and to broaden the scope of the musical project so that artists of any genre would have a space in the showcase, whereas the Volume Series had a more specific creative approach. However, like with Jazzy’s “Volume” series, HerSound goes far beyond just booking artists and a venue. She also coordinated photoshoots, helped generate socials content to promote the debut show, and designed flyers as well as online resources to help promote each of the nine women involved in the Fraco’s concert.
Loomis says that she had originally been working towards hosting a festival, but after frequent experiences of her own and of other women she has worked with in the creative scene, decided that founding her own space for women was a necessity to empower fellow artists.
“It’s really important that they feel safe,” Loomis says, “because there’s been enough times in my own creative journey that I have not felt safe to … be vulnerable or creative.” Loomis also says that HerSound, which stands for “heard, empowered and rising,” is about making a platform for women to show off their creativity without feeling the pressures of the masculine influence in any industry.
“The idea is that these people will have a safe place to come and create, and be vulnerable with their creations, and be celebrated for it,” Loomis says.
