Kevin C. Johnson: After 26 years of covering St. Louis’ music scene, I’m saying goodbye

All I know is this – for the past 26 years, I’ve dedicated myself to documenting St. Louis’ music scene from its artists to sounds to venues and festivals and more, all to the best of my ability for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But now that will change.

In a desire to add a fresh chapter to my story, prove to myself it gets greater later and hopefully make room for a new voice to emerge, I am leaving the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and my music critic position to join the corporate ranks at Live Nation, the world’s largest presenter of concerts and live entertainment.

I’ll be the new content editor for Live Nation Venues/Venue Nation. It’s a position wrapped around an offer I couldn’t refuse, and the new role has me feeling activated all over again.

Leaving the Post-Dispatch and my coverage of all things St. Louis music and more is bittersweet. I feel as ingrained in the local music community as anyone and will miss covering it. But I also believe I’ve told the stories I needed to tell. (There were so many, and still more for others to tell.) I leave behind an overstuffed body of work. My job is complete.

Covering the scene since 1998 has been one of the biggest joys of my career, a surprise realization considering when I moved here I didn’t know a soul in St. Louis or anything about the place, and figured I would give the city five to six years tops.

Looking back at my wall-to-wall coverage, I’m reminded how much the scene has meant to me, how wildly talented its players are, and how so many pieces have gradually been put in place to help artists succeed.

Of course, there were the bigger, flashier parts of my Post-Dispatch gig, interviewing national touring acts and covering their shows once they hit town.

Some of those shows I can’t forget an include Prince, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, U2, Coldplay, Sade, the Rolling Stones, Outkast, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, J. Cole, Fleetwood Mac, Usher, Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Lenny Kravitz, Smashing Pumpkins, Garth Brooks, the Chicks, Robert Glasper Jr., Maxwell, SZA, Sting, Nine Inch Nails, Beck, Chris Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Erykah Badu, H.E.R., Bryson Tiller, and so many more.

I can’t forget Bruce Springsteen walking through the crowd at a Chaifetz Arena concert, locking eyes with me and making it a point to fist bump me; or the night I caught the soccer ball Rod Stewart kicked out into the crowd; or the way the Post-Dispatch stood behind me when I laid out in a column why I would not review Morgan Wallen.

A couple of other key memories include standing between Carlos Santana and Ronald Isley backstage at the Fox Theatre while Santana told me how vital my position was. My proximity to greatness that night still blows me away, as does taking a backstage picture with Queen Latifah, Badu and Jill Scott, a triple power punch.

And of course, there was the evening in 2019 I put a VIP wristband on my mother, who died in January, and took her backstage with the rest of my family to meet and take a picture with Patti LaBelle at J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.

But the heart of this gig for me wasn’t those big acts who played town for a night on tour and left. It was connecting with the St. Louisans who keep the music and entertainment scenes pulsating.

I’m talking about the singers, musicians, rappers, producers, DJs, dancers and choreographers, comics, photographers and videographers, the venue runners, festival organizers, publicists and promoters, podcasters, and influencers, the tech crews, fellow journalists, music fans, my opinionated readers and more.

Since joining the Post Dispatch, I made it my mission to highlight St. Louis’ music and entertainment scenes in a major way on my platform, without pause, and making that coverage as important as coverage of national acts.

My underlying mission, one I showed rather than told, was to make sure many of those faces were Black. Representation matters, and Black faces need to be seen in more than law-and-order stories.

I believe I’ve succeeded, giving St. Louis artists a regular voice in their mainstream, hometown newspaper unlike ever before. For the majority of them, they received their first major news placement through our interviews.

Having these artists trust me with their words, their life stories means the world to me. I hope I represented each and every one for who they are. I believe in them, and they believe in me.

The talent in St. Louis is untapped, underrated and undeniable. St. Louis artists (I’ve abandoned the term “local artists” long ago) are indeed world-class artists, as Alonzo Townsend of Townsendx3 Agency often says.

This is all facts, regardless of whether their goal is to perform worldwide or they’re good circling St. Louis venues.

These are artists I’ve spoken up for, defended, recommended and been consistently proud of. The latter was especially true watching how they wrangled their way through the pandemic, making quick pivots as they embraced alternative ways to keep performing. It was a testament to their will, and I was never busier during that period when there was supposedly no live music happening.

And while I have continually uplifted the community, it has uplifted me in return, treating me with respect and honor. I am grateful.

With a smile on my face, I’ll always watch what St. Louis’ music community is up to, look for artists to continue shining, and hope these artists remember their best work is still in front of them.

Thanks, everyone, for letting me in and making sure I stayed a while.