KANSAS CITY, Mo — A Kansas City nonprofit music label is changing the Kansas City music scene by putting the spotlight on local artists.
Manor Records was started by Shaun Crowley, who said he felt there was gap in supporting local artists based in Kansas City.
"I was a local musician for a long time in this city and I felt like there was not a lot of resources for me to go to or make a living as a musician in this town," Crowley said.
Since its inception, Manor Records has served as a pillar for local music, by helping its signed artists physically put out their music, book shows and get their name out. To offset costs, Manor Records uses cassette tapes and heavily relies on donations and grants to support its mission.
"I've always said a lot can go a long way putting money in artists' pockets, because they're the most creative. We pay for cassettes, CDs and hopefully vinyl, so that they don't have to invest any of their own money and pay and do press for them," Crowley said.
Manor Records has more than a dozen signed artists with them, including local folk band, True Lions. The band has been with Manor Records since 2020 and has released several at-home demos, while shinning a light on Kansas City's local music.
"Jazz is essential to our history and how Kansas City came to be but there's so many kinds of music and people playing it and they all need to be heard," True Lions band member Alison Hawkins said.
The next step for Manor Records is to open a record store inside the 12th Street Post in the West Bottoms neighborhood, where people can buy their artists' music. The nonprofit eventually hopes to build a live stage inside the store. The label's goal is to raise $10,000 before its Oct. 6 opening, with proceeds going back to local artists' pockets.
"We're humans and art is what makes us that in my opinion," True Lions band member Fritz Hutchison said. "It's just a general human disservice to not be funding and caring for the arts because we that's what makes us humans."
This Friday manor records will be hosting a fundraiser for their record store from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. to raise additional funds for their music store.
