A Letter From the Owner

Oh hello there.

This is Ang Buxton. Writing you a letter on the internet.

As you may know, I became an owner of 10 Forward January 1, 2023. It's been a wild ride, and I've learned a LOT. If you’ve ever owned and operated a venue, or tried to produce an event, or been a part of something you care a lot about, you know. And to be honest, I take a lot of pride in being one of very few trans venue owners in the country. And I feel like the students I taught over a decade of teaching + the people who knew me growing up in Springfield would be like. both really blown away and also like. Yeah totally makes sense you would own a club now. Aren’t you a dj AND a comedian? Don’t you wear like a lot of nikes and leather jackets? Makes sense.

Now here’s the thing - despite alllll of our best efforts, 10 Forward is not exactly breaking even, and certainly not profitable enough to take owner's draws. So it's been necessary I still keep my 9 to 5 and continue to pick up gig work in this capitalist hellscape. And yes, it is a lot. But I care about building community (above all: explicitly queer and trans safe spaces) more than well...at the very least, sleep. and eating hot meals. and "down time," whatever that is lol.

10 Forward’s cash flow goes right to the following - 1. paying for what we need to keep us open and 2. the employees. We've got an incredible group of queer and trans folks (+ 1 token straight) working every day in person and behind the scens. As such, our biggest expense every month is pay roll. And as it should be!!!! It is a HUGE part of what I wanted to do as an owner - put money in the pockets of other queer and trans folks who just want to put on dope shows and build community in a true-to-form queer safe space.

The best way to sustain us? More folks at more shows. More people, more fun, more door money for artists, more bar sales for us....Because sadly & ultimately, our income is from the bar, a real moral quandary for me as a sober person. But! we've got, dare i say, THE BEST non-alcoholic drink selection in probably the world?? (I'm privy to the Moneyball Jones myself.)

I would love to see 10 Forward begin to rely less on the bar to pay its bills. But to take more from the door ultimately means taking more from artists... which is not something I'm willing to do. AND? I think there's another way!

You can sustain us through our Patreon! We are working to build out it out with more content.

And look - I know it's not always possible to come out to the club, but you can help sustain it so that it is still there for the times when you can. If another subscription isn’t doable for you re: capitalist hellscape, our real preference is you come to a show and be there with us in the moment soaking up the greatness. But also let’s be real - if you have some cash to spare and want to hit us on Venmo, we're @ the10forward and we will be eternally grateful.

On behalf of the 10 Forward staff, and the regulars that keep us smiling - if you, or anyone you know, can spare $5 a month to help sustain us, it could go a very long way to keeping a veryyyy important space open.

Love you all,

Ang Buxton

they/them