Last year, Evanston residents Jeremy and Zarina Docken noticed a flaw in traditional art education: It can fail to provide artists with the business acumen necessary to navigate a creative industry, leaving many talented individuals stuck without performance opportunities. In June 2024, they created the non-profit Likhaya to fill that educational void.
Now, the Dockens are partnering with Downtown Evanston on a pilot program that places local musicians in Evanston restaurants.
Encore! Evanston, which launched Tuesday, will run from February through April and feature free live music at three venues. Participating musicians will play at The Blue Horse Tavern on Tuesdays, Ridgeville Tavern on Thursdays and Bat 17 on Fridays.
For Downtown Evanston Executive Director Andy Vick, the motivation for instituting the program on the side of business owners is clear.
“The whole concept is that if we put more live music in some of our downtown restaurants and bars, we are thinking that we’ll be able to create more attendance,” Vick said. “People will stay longer, people will eat more food, drink more beer, and so it’s a good economic development tool.”
Likhaya maintained a different motive. Jeremy and Zarina Docken said they believe the program will grant musicians the experience and exposure necessary to keep pursuing their artistic goals.
Still, Zarina Docken recognized the potential financial gains for restaurants, citing the program as an avenue for post-pandemic recovery.
“Some of those behaviors that we did during the lockdown are still prevalent now, where people are like, ‘We’re just gonna order in; we’re gonna stay in; we’re gonna be in the house,’” she said. “We have forgotten the joy of being in a communal environment.”
Zarina Docken said she hopes the promise of live music will draw community members back to restaurants and create a more “vibrant environment” downtown.
Musician and Encore! Evanston organizer Daniel Jackson highlighted the program’s significance to him as a participating artist.
“It’s much easier to want to create art as a creative person,” Jackson said. “It is much harder to want to motivate to design posters or find out which gigs or which venues pay.”
Jackson said that while there are many guidebooks to making it in the industry, there are very few “direct lines” to actually break through for those without the resources or connections, which is where Likhaya steps in.
Since Encore! Evanston is a pilot program, Jeremy Docken said the organization is focused on measuring impact so it can explore the feasibility of implementing similar programs in restaurants throughout the Chicagoland area.
“I don’t like thinking small,” Jeremy Docken said. “I’m really excited that we’re gonna find a measurable improvement in the satisfaction of the customers to make it clear to businesses that this is something that’s worth continuing to do.”
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