The Elbow: Connecting Residents and Music. First Coast Magazine April 2013

The Elbow

Connecting Residents and Music

Text by Abigail Wright

Downtown Jacksonville has been feeling somewhat of a resurgence recently which I think is partly because of the hugely successful area known as The Elbow.  Starting at the corner of Ocean and Bay streets downtown, it spreads over two blocks and 30 businesses including Underbelly, 1904 Music Hall and Swagonsville (to name a few). It’s really no wonder that the masses from all over Northeast Florida flock there nearly every night of the week.  Starting in 2013 during the inaugural One Spark festival, founders Grant Neilsen, 31, and Trey Hebron, 28, began the journey with the idea that downtown Jacksonville needed a more inclusive image for the emerging neighborhood. Since its conception, it has been welcomed by the citizens living in or around the Urban Core, forging a new community of musicians and artists and their followers and fans. Hebron recognized the void in the scene early on and, together with Neilsen’s direction and urging, really made this happen. “Our efforts at The Elbow are directly driven by the people who occupy the area. The rest of Jacksonville needs to see that there is a young, positive movement happening down here rather than the unsafe, lackluster scene Jax has come to preconceive at the present. By focusing on a section of downtown that already seems predisposed to heavy nightlife, we believe we can increase business that will eventually radiate outward throughout the entire Urban Core.”

            And it is an exciting time to be downtown — these gentlemen are more than doing their share to facilitate the forward mobility. The downtown dream team ping-pongs ideas off each other and comes up with great events that show the rest of the city that all of what’s happening here is important. Hebron urges more residents from all over to join the scene at The Elbow: “It's brimming with music, art and culture and I want the rest of Jax to start noticing this movement that's occurring down here."

For more information and a complete event list, go to theelbowjax.com.

http://firstcoastmagazine.com/theelbow/