America's not a good place for the arts. Mainly it's because people are generally apathetic about it. But it's also the political situation as well as the lack of funding in schools for arts and music programs for young people. People don't understand how important it is for your morale and your general psychological well-being to feel connected to some kind of culture. Especially local culture.
Local music is one of the most available forms of that.
It's cheap and it's good for people because everything is like Starbucks nowadays. They think that they should work every single day of the week. People work harder for more money and enjoy themselves much less. They need music and art now more than ever. With the presidential elections only a few weeks off, the subject turned to who would best be able to guide America out of the slough of greed and shallowness into which it has descended.