New York, NY (December 11, 2025)—Live Music Society has awarded $252,500 to 33 venues across 19 states and Washington, D.C., including the organization’s first-ever grantees in Nebraska and Utah, in this year’s Toolbox grant program.
Since launching the Toolbox program in 2023, LMS—a nonprofit supporting small venues and listening rooms across the U.S.—has awarded $844,111 to 109 venues. The organization has now distributed a total of $5.1 million in grant funding overall to small performance spaces nationwide since its founding in 2020 and notes it has surpassed $1 million in annual grantmaking for the second consecutive year.
LMS continues to play a role in supporting small performance venues, many of which operate on razor-thin margins yet provide essential stages for emerging artists and serve as cultural anchors within their communities. The organization’s Toolbox grants are tailored to practical needs, helping small venues (50–300 cap) address short-term issues that can have long-term positive effects on the health and growth of the venue. Projects funded in this round include accessibility improvements, sound and lighting upgrades and equipment that enables training opportunities in live music production and stage lighting.
• Live Music Society 2025 Toolbox Grant Application Process Opens
Among the 2025 Toolbox grantees are several venues completing upgrades that strengthen their day-to-day operations. North Omaha Music & Arts in Omaha, NE, LMS’s first grantee in the state, will use its award to expand its backline. In Salt Lake City, UT, The Beehive will make sound and lighting improvements in its all-ages space.
Rudy’s Jazz Room in Nashville, TN, and The Sanctuary in Detroit, MI, will both install HVAC upgrades. The Kennett Flash in Kennett Square, PA, will update its lighting and seating, while Central Saloon in Seattle, WA, will add new video equipment to provide emerging artists with high-quality content of their performances.
The organization also continued its Music in Action grant program for the third year, awarding $765,500 to 26 small performance venues.
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This year, LMS additionally launched One Night Live, a first-of-its-kind touring initiative created in partnership with like-minded organizations including D-TOUR, Salt Lick Incubator and Cleveland Rocks: It will expand One Night Live in 2026, with new routes, new cities and new collaborative partners to be announced in the coming months.
