THE LYNN MUSIC FOUNDATION
By Emma Stout, Community Engagement Coordinator at Save the Harbor
When Edwin Cabrera and Chris Martin met in high school, they never imagined that 15 years later they’d be running one of the most successful music foundations in the greater Boston area.
The two have always been at the heart of the greater Boston music scene. In high school, Martin ran a hardcore punk label – Prospect Records. After college, they worked together at a major indie label based in Beverly – Deathwish Inc.. During this period, while Cabrera was packing vinyls and Martin was working as a production assistant, it dawned on them that they could run their own label. In 2015, they co-founded Grind House Recordings to support Lynn-based artists. Just seven years later, they launched their first non-profit.
The Lynn Music Foundation was officially founded in September of 2022 by Cabrera, Martin, and their friend Jay Moon in order to serve and meet the needs of the rapidly-growing music scene in Lynn. “[Providing] music education, performance opportunities, and mentorship to the underserved communities in Lynn” is at the core of the foundation’s work; however, its impact extends far beyond its mission, giving Lynn artists a voice and claiming Lynn’s stake in the greater Boston community.
“The Lynn music scene is awesome in so many different ways,” said Cabrera. “Hip-hop has been a pretty big part of Lynn’s identity, and it has been since the early 90s,” said Cabrera. “We also had – and it’s sort of finding its way back – a pretty prominent punk-rock and hardcore punk scene. The edgier music genres always thrived in Lynn. And aside from that, we have a bunch of different bands – lots of rock, and some dad rock here and there.”
Despite the robustness of these scenes in Lynn, Cabrera noted how Lynn often gets forgotten about in the greater Boston music sphere. “From a lot of the artists that I’ve spoken with (and I’ve also witnessed this and can attest to it), they feel like the Boston music scene has always looked at them like they’re not a part of the scene.”
The foundation is working hard to break those barriers. “A lot of Lynn artists tend to be very [proud] of being from Lynn, but they feel like they’re looked at differently when they walk into a room in Boston,” said Cabrera. “We’re trying to break those barriers by hosting events.”
Thanks to the new space at 25 Exchange St. that they acquired just last year, the foundation’s capacity to support Lynn artists has grown significantly. Their multi-floor space, which includes a state-of-the-art recording studio (Bank Block Studios) and a thoroughly-equipped production and event theater (The Neal Rantoul Vault Theater) make expensive resources more accessible for artists who are looking to grow their craft. Producers and artists are welcome to reserve these two spaces, as well as the foundation’s recently acquired podcasting studio across the street in Inc.ubate Coworking (614 Washington St).
The Lynn Music Foundation also offers numerous workshops and classes throughout the year. Under the global non-profit We Make Noise, the foundation runs a production workshop catered toward young people. They also use this workshop to provide more opportunities for women and girls who are interested in music. “The Lynn scene is very male-dominated, and we wanted to make sure that we’re creating pipelines not just to support the current community, but also to get more women and girls involved,” said Cabrera. “We want there to be an equitable amount of people participating in the music scene here, and we want to be at the forefront of creating that.”
Their other workshops include artist development workshops on Tuesdays, hosted by Jay Moon (foundation founder and producer), which helps established and up-and-coming artists develop their professionalism, build their brand, and learn more about streaming. On Wednesdays, they host an Intro to Songwriting class, and previously, they’ve hosted music production classes, beat making workshops, and an Afro-Cuban drumming workshop.
Beyond workshops, they have organized multiple highly successful festivals. Their Keep Moving Forward festival premiered in 2022. “We had a big turn out. We had 50 local artists perform, and it was just great. After that, we decided we wanted to do more for the community, and that’s when we officially decided to become a nonprofit as the Lynn Music Foundation,” said Cabrera.
This year will be their first annual Lynn Music Festival, which was made possible through Save the Harbor’s Better Beaches Grant Program. “Thankfully, Save the Harbor was able to really make this happen. It will be our first annual festival, and it’s really to bring music to the beach, and for beachgoers to get in touch with local musicians.” In the Fall, they will be hosting their first film festival.
“The most rewarding part of this all is feeling like we’re at the forefront of something really important,” said Carbero. “People are really thankful for what we’re doing. You know, I’m 34 years old. I know about the last 10-15 years of music in this area, but I’ve spoken to so many people around this area who have been here since the 80s, who have seen what this community was back then, and how it’s grown to what it is now, and they say, ‘If we had what you guys have now, we would’ve been outta here.’”
“They didn’t have stuff like this back in the day, even if the community was there for it. So that’s what I take a lot of pride in. We’re not just serving the community now, we’re building something stronger for the future. We’re called the Lynn Music Foundation because we’re building that pipeline for musicians who – today, they’re utilizing the resources, they’re performing more – but what we’re really doing is just giving them more opportunities to put themselves out there tomorrow.”
The Lynn Music Festival is happening August 11th at Red Rock Park. Save the Harbor and the Lynn Music Foundation are co-hosting a producer showcase on July 13th at the Lynn Music Foundation’s site. Visit lynnmusic.org for more info on these events.
