Blues Musician Receives $2M Grant for Community Music Hub

Blues musician Bill Grisolia is thrilled to be a recipient of the Los Angeles County Commercial Acquisition Fund (CAF) which will provide $2 million in financing to his nonprofit, the  Long Beach Blues Society (LBBS) and Lockout Music Studios for the acquisition of a vacant commercial property, where they can run all of their various initiatives. 

Photo byBill Grisolia

“We are very thankful for the recent grant from the County of Los Angeles, with whom we’ve worked for many years,” said Grisolia. “This application was a tremendous team effort of our executive board; our leadership worked fast and hard to prepare the programming and benefit information.”

Grisolia has “tremendous” community support from loc al elected officials, including the LA County Supervisor for their district, Janice Hahn, the Mayor of Long Beach, Rex Richardson, the city Council person for the midtown area, Mary Zendejas, Visit Long Beach as well as the Black Cooperative and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

In a letter that Grisolia submitted, Richardson wrote: “I support the development of this piece of property and this partnership which will improve and serve the surrounding community and include the beginnings of and help incubate the Long Beach Music Museum project.”

“It is clear that our work over the years has not been unrecognized and so this recognition and validation  of our programming impact is significant and gratifying.  We look forward to helping the community with increased quantity and quality programming and helping small businesses throughout the area.”

The $2 million grant funding request will be matched with additional funding for property acquisition and remodeling. The proposed program would include a community facility expected to open its doors by early 2025. This initiative includes establishing a museum to celebrate Long Beach's rich music history. LBBS will also continue to offer and expand community programming in the Midtown District.

Photo byBill Grisolia

The project will also offer numerous benefits to the community, including entertainment at below-market rates, the creation of a vibrant community that boosts the local economy, the generation of indirect sales tax revenue through strong retail patronage, free studio time for local artists, and private music lessons in collaboration with local schools.

This has been the realization of Grisolia’s long-held dream to implement a brick & mortar building behind their activities. 

“In addition, we are looking forward to working with the Long Beach Music Museum in preparation for the purchase of another building too,” he enthused.