Local musician Lydia Cooley urges Chico citizens to get out and experience the growing community of live, in person, folk and bluegrass music. 

Lydia Cooley, lead singer of the band “Flume Street Station,” is a growing name in the local folk and bluegrass scene here in Chico, California. I got to speak with her about the importance of local live music and folk music in general. Bringing people out of their houses and off their phones into the real, alive world we have out here seemed to be the main focus of our conversation.

 In today’s day and age, especially since Covid, citizens seem to be focused on social media more than ever. This is most likely due to the rise in popularity of Tik Tok and Instagram since we all had to shelter in our houses for close to a year. The concept of reels, 15 second videos that you can scroll through at high speed with a mind of itself decided what you do and don’t want to see next, what will or will not hold our attention for the next ¼ of a minute, is so new to the human mind that we aren’t able to realize what exactly that is doing to our society. 

Live music is one little antidote to fight the symptoms of being inside and on our phones too much. Lydia explained that amongst her close-knit friend group, music allows “intentional time to spend together, using our brains with each other to create something, instead of all sitting around on our phones, or wondering what we can all go buy that day to have fun. Instead, we now have a purpose to make something beautiful together and inspire each other.”

Music has always been about bringing people together, getting a glimpse of someone else’s mind in a way no other vehicle can deliver to you. Followed by enjoying that insight with the people around you, they could be people you know and love or people that you have never met or seen before. It’s a special form of communication that we absolutely cannot let go of.

Being at one live music event can change your perception of the world, Lydia claiming that she’s “seen younger people at shows and can tell that they’re more in the pop culture headspace or if they’re just new to the scene. But then later you see those people more intrigued and enjoying it all.”

She explained that not only is it a place for people to discover something about themselves, but also a community where anyone who already loves this kind of music can come and enjoy themselves outside, and maybe even dance a little.

“It invites the community to be a little more loose, and less based on what people think they have to be doing” she says, and that it “reminds us to be like kids” again, happy and open and willing to learn about ourselves. 

The uprising of this type of music and these types of events could help us all to feel a little more happy and open, more often.

Chico has kept its music culture alive and well, with a scene for almost all types of music thriving at one point or another, but since Covid it was apparent that not everyone has had enough time, peace of mind, or funding for these scenes to completely flourish.

It seems that just enough time has passed since the lockdown that everyone is starting to realize that staying inside on your phone all the time is not an activity that can sustain itself for much longer. This appears to be manifesting in the form of new communal events and attitudes.

“Something I’ve noticed that’s changing is that the solo singer song-writer people that are all throughout town are starting to morph into more of a proper folk scene” claims Lydia, which reminded me of an event I’ve been to recently called “Spling Fring”, which was an all-day festival at Chico’s sycamore pool, free to the public, where local artists got up on a small stage and performed their music to whoever wanted to come and listen, or just to those passing by. The stage was surrounded by blankets, bikes, dogs, and Chico citizens being there, outside together, enjoying themselves and the music. That, to me, feels like the perfect example of what seems to be coming together here in Chico at this moment in time.

Our little Northern California town has a lot to offer our community, local folk and bluegrass music being just one piece of the pie, and it seems that it’s time we all get out and start to experience all that Chico has to offer, and hopefully learn a little about ourselves in the process.