For the love of Branson: The Live Music Show Capital of the World

Having grown up in Branson makes me prone to using musical metaphors. And with the recent addition to the Branson Chamber of Commerce of marketing director Heather Hermen, I think it is fair to say that we’ve found ourselves a rock star! Heather came to us from Sedona, Arizona (God’s country to say the least) and brought with her an immense amount of destination marketing experience. But what I appreciate most about Heather is how she immediately recognized that Branson knows who it is and who it wants to be. She has quipped many times that other communities conduct focus group after focus group trying to figure out their next move when it comes to marketing themselves. And yet Branson simply declared itself the home of faith, family and flag and then asked what comes next.

But the next step in Branson must always pay homage to our roots as The Live Music Show Capital of The World! You heard that correctly, “live music show!” We aren’t a state capital that houses honky tonk bars or even a financial mecca with historic musical theatre venues. Instead, we have something unique to Branson which is essentially a hillbilly vaudeville taking place in two-hour increments every evening.

Now I said that Branson doesn’t bog ourselves down with focus groups but in the year 2020, we did hire a consulting firm called Sound Diplomacy to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of our music industry. This firm out of London is famous for revitalizing music and theatre districts in cities all across the world. While there were aspects of the study that I agreed with and some I didn’t, one thing I appreciated was the way they highlighted how unique a Branson show is.

Ask yourself this question, what is a music show? That might seem rather obvious until you remember that Branson doesn’t necessarily put on concerts or gigs in a club (although those things have occurred in our town from time to time). Instead, we put on two-hour variety performances complete with gospel segments, patriotic tributes and a little something for everyone in the family. But the key to the whole formula is that it is live!

When “60 Minutes” did their famous piece on Branson in the 1990s they called us the Live Country Music Capital of the Universe. And while that was a fun moniker for the news piece, leaders in our show industry decided to put their heads together and come up with a tagline of our own. Now throughout the years some have challenged this title. Previous city leaders who weren’t keen on keeping music as the focal point of Branson argued that it is too close to the tagline Austin, Texas, uses, namely “the live music capital of the world.” And yet as I’ve argued here, live music fits in a bar in downtown Austin, it doesn’t quite capture what takes place on a Branson stage.

And for anyone who argues that there is no distinction between these two city nicknames, I would point them to the similarities between Springfield’s “gateway to the Ozarks” title and Forsyth’s “gateway to the Ozarks outdoors” moniker. City nicknames around the United States are often strikingly similar to each other; however, Branson has owned the “Live Music Show Capital of the World” nickname for decades now and we don’t intend to give it up anytime soon.

That’s why when the aforementioned marketing director at the Chamber, Heather Hermen secured a spot for Branson on the Today Show’s Merriest Main Street celebration at Christmas time, I had the perfect sign in mind for the occasion. Complete with pictures of Glen Campbell, Tony Orlando, Mel Tillis and, of course, Andy Williams, I proudly held a 4x4 sign above my head on national television proclaiming our special title to the world. And as long as I have the breath to sing it out loud, I’ll never let anyone forget it!