Portland Music Foundation

Initiated in the Spring of 2006 by Grammy Award-winner Adam Ayan (Gateway Mastering), the Portland Music Foundation was founded to help people get what they want out of the local music community. The organization was originally discussed across a very long table in the Old Port. As a small group of local people from the club, press, studio and radio world talked about how to make the music scene more prosperous for those looking to make a living out of it, The McCarthys, a local country outfit, began to set up their instruments around the corner in the next room. The room was partially filled with people who were completely unaware of the musicians who were about to play. By meeting's end, this newly formed Portland Music Foundation was committed to finding ways to help artists (like that country combo around the corner) pack local venues with people wearing their T-shirts, buying their CDs and singing their songs.

The PMF will thread itself into the outlets that allow aspiring artists to nurture their own success regardless of their age or musical genre, working with clubs and concert venues that bring music to the fans, retail outlets that assist musicians in selling their music to the public, radio stations who promote local music on the air, even to the stores that sell musical instruments. The PMF recognizes that a successful music scene will be one that not only exports, but also imports music and fans into our community. The Foundation plans to make Portland’s music scene more attractive for national artists and organizations to visit, serving as a clearinghouse for the local scene. If you’ve got a question about music in Portland, the PMF is here to answer it.

The PMF members who comprise the board of directors are all volunteers currently working in the Portland music community.

Adam Ayan - Grammy Award winning mastering engineer Adam Ayan works at Gateway Mastering & DVD in Portland, ME. Ayan's diverse client list includesartists such as The Rolling Stones, Faith Hill, Nine Inch Nails, SarahMcLachlan, and Nirvana; as well as Portland artists such as Rustic Overtones, The Wrecking, and Pete Kilpatrick. Ayan has mastered several #1 albums across various genres of music, and has over 30 Gold/Platinum/Multi-Platinum records to his credit.
James Begley graduated from UMass Lowell in 1996, with a degree in Sound Recording Technology. Since then he has been working as a freelance Engineer and Producer in Southern Maine. Jim's highest concentration of work has been at The Studio, in Portland, where he has worked with dozens of local artists of every style and genre, as well as produced hundreds of local and national, radio and television commercials. In addition to his studio work, Jim is an active live-sound Engineer, working in clubs throughout New England, and weekly, here in Portland, at The Big Easy Music Club, and Space Gallery. He is also a member of the team at local production company, AV Technik. Lastly, Jim enjoys playing drums in various local bands, snowball fights, and an occasional day at the park with his wife, Jen, and son, Owen.
Wendell Clough has worked professionally in commercial radio for twenty-two years. As Director of Community Marketing for WBLM and WCYY, he bridges the gap between the concert and club scene in Portland, and Maine's non-profit organizations. Wendell grew up in Massachusetts and attended Brown University, before starting his radio career in Providence, RI.
Mark Curdo - Mark has been deeply involved in the music industry since the late 1980's. He has worked in almost every area of music. Retail, Radio, Music Video Host on TV in Boston, Artist Management, Former Music Artist and VP of a successful independent record label from 1997-2002. Mark now works for WCYY and runs his own record label, Labor Day Records based in Portland, Maine.
Herb Ivy is the long-time Program Director and Operations Manager for Citadel Broadcasting's WBLM & WCYY. He also hosts the WBLM Morning Show. Herb believes that true local radio must embrace local music with real airplay and exposure.
Mark Lourie is Vice President of Skyline Music, an international booking agency with offices in Nashville, Atlanta, Florida, New Hampshire and here in Portland, ME. A Portland native, he is the mountain, west coast, and Canadian territorial agent for Skyline and is the responsible agent for such acts as: Over The Rhine, Michelle Shocked, Hot Buttered Rum, Gaelic Storm, The Section Quartet, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. In his free time you can find him trying to fix his drive or shedding the newest licks on his strat. BTW he also ran live sound for many years and can talk your ear off about hi-fi stereos.
Patrick May/President - After performing in, and promoting bands and concerts throughout college, Patrick started booking the bands he was performing in out of sheer necessity. Patrick was able to diversify his understanding of the industry and became manager & talent buyer for Halvorson's Upstreet Café,(Burlington, VT)where he was responsible for booking, promoting & producing their concerts. A future as a booking agent was cemented while volunteering at www.bigheavyworld.com (a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and archiving Vermont musicians). Patrick landed himself at Skyline Music in 2002 where he now books the Northeast region and is the responsible agent for Toubab Krewe, Lez Zeppelin, Black 47, Jazz Mandolin Project, Dubconscious & BLVD.
Sam Pfeifle/Secretary - Sam has been writing about Portland's local music scene in his weekly column, "The Beat Report," in the Portland Phoenix, since 2001. Before that, he was the paper's first listings editor when it came to Portland in 1999, and he served as the paper's editor from 2001 through 2005. Pfeifle, who is unashamed of saying that the first album he ever purchased with his own money was Duran Duran's Girls on Film, also fronts the Grassholes, a six-piece bluegrass band that has been playing throughout New England since 2003. For his day gig, Pfeifle now edits two international trade publications focusing on the security industry. It's unclear why.
Lauren Wayne is the Northern New England Marketing and Promotions Director and a club talent buyer for Live Nation New England. She also books The White Heart Bar and Lounge in downtown Portland. She is sad Conway Twitty is dead.
Lisa van Oosterum/Treasurer - I always wanted to be an [ACTRESS] when I was a kid, but thanks to my love of music I somehow ended up the [CEO] at Omnirox. As evident by the company I work for I generally have [AMAZING] taste in music, although I secretly am a sucker for [ROBBIE WILLIAMS]. When I’m not putting the interests of our [HARDWORKING] bands before my own, I can be found [CHANGING DIAPERS] or [DOING CARTWHEELS]. I think [I] would play me in the movie of my life, probably because I’m so [PERFECT FOR THE ROLE]. Really, though, all you need to know about me is that I [EAT] music for dinner!