Kalyn Rose Heffernan has played shows all over the world and never been asked about her accessibility needs.
“It’s wild to me,” said the emcee frontwoman of hip-hop group Wheelchair Sports Camp. “Wheelchair is in my band name. All of my pictures are me in a wheelchair. And you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been placed at a festival upstairs.”
Wheelchair Sports Camp has been a sonic staple in Denver for over a decade, and they’ve played the annual Underground Music Showcase a handful of years during that time. In 2022, Youth on Record, a nonprofit music organization that Heffernan works for, took over partial ownership of the festival. The ownership agreement came with a commitment to audit and overhaul the festival’s accessibility strategy. Heffernan was the obvious first call.
Growing Denver’s largest music festival
The Underground Music Showcase, a three-day, multivenue festival with nearly 200 acts, bubbled up in 2001 at the Bluebird Theater on Colfax. For a few years the showcase — which started with four bands for $5 — bopped back and forth between the Bluebird and the Gothic Theater in Englewood, until 2006, when it settled into its current location, a six-block strip of South Broadway.
Over its 23-year run, the festival has changed hands from Denver Post reporter John Moore (now the arts and entertainment reporter at the Denver Gazette), to the Post’s then-music critic Ricardo Baca (now of the marketing agency Grasslands), to The Denver Post itself through the paper’s community foundation, and finally, in 2018, to its current co-owner, the marketing agency Two Parts.
Two years ago, Youth on Record, a nonprofit music organization, got in on the action.
Youth on Record had received a surprise, unrestricted $1 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2021, which Jami Duffy, executive director of Youth on Record, wanted to put toward building a “musician middle class.” That meant investing in things like professional development, higher wages and more opportunities for young musicians “to get in front of people,” Duffy explained. “So I looked at that and said, why don’t we see if that’s possible under UMS’ umbrella?”
Putting accessibility in writing
In March 2022, Duffy met with Casey Berry of Two Parts at the late-night hang Sputnik and inked their new co-ownership deal. Part of the ownership agreement included an accessibility audit, conducted by Youth on Record.
They didn’t get straight to it. During Youth on Record’s first year of co-ownership, they had “some other things to focus on,” Duffy said. They set up sober bars, created a “care lounge” for artists to recharge away from the noise, and started Impact Days, a two-day industry-focused conference for musicians to learn and network.
Then it was time to hire Heffernan.
“Kalyn’s always been such a leader for accessibility rights. She’s a huge advocate in our community. She works with kids. And, bonus points, she’s also a well-respected career musician,” Duffy said. “So there was no better option locally.”
They also brought in Jessica Wallach, an accessibility consultant and artist who sometimes uses a scooter to get around. Together, Wallach and Heffernan conducted a comprehensive audit of every venue at UMS.
“Just by us rolling through these places, and knowing little tricks, I think we were able to explain the accessibility of places in a way that hopefully other people are going to benefit from,” Heffernan said.
“You know, like, ‘the door is heavy, but once you get in, it’s nice and open. The bathrooms are accessible, but the sink is high up.’ Weird shit like that.”
Together they compiled the festival’s first accessibility guide, which details everything from where to find water (for concertgoers and service dogs alike) to what the floor is like (the stage at Goodwill has freshly paved concrete, the stage at Punch Bowl has potholes). This year’s guide is 31 pages and can be downloaded ahead of time in regular or large print, and can be read at the festival in braille.
“Ability is temporary”
The goal is to make bigger changes in the coming years, like building raised platforms at the main stages, creating low-sensory spaces where people can take breaks, hiring American Sign Language interpreters, and looking into alternative modes of experiencing music, like vibrating haptic suits that allow wearers to feel the music.
But all of that costs money. Duffy is looking for an additional $50,000 next year to specifically address accessibility needs.
“Something Kalyn taught me that has stayed with me is that ability is temporary,” Duffy said. “At some point in most of our lives, we will experience a disability, whether that’s temporary, long-term or forever. It could be because of an illness, because of an accident. You know, there’s all kinds of things that can happen. So ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities means that everyone is being taken care of.”
For now, the accessibility committee — headed by Wallach and Heffernan — is focused on providing an abundance of information so people with access needs know what they’re getting into. Along with the accessibility guide, they will have on-site coordinators and a tent with ear plugs, water and power strips to charge wheelchairs.
For Heffernan, working with UMS “really filled a void. And like, (quieted) the rage,” she said. “It’s frustrating at times. If I don’t say something, nobody will, and if I say something then I’m working within all these trade-offs,” she said, referencing the inaccessible shows she’s gone ahead and played, but that upset the disability community in the process. “What a dream world it would be to just make my art and play music.”