“A lot of the music that I like to go see personally ... I was only seeing it in Cincinnati and Columbus and outside of the Dayton region,” said Ballengee, 46. “And that was really after Canal Street (Tavern) had closed, Gilly’s was in its last days, and there was definitely live music downtown, but a lot of it was a little harder rock, and not necessarily stuff to go out and dance to, so I just wanted to kind of shake things up.”
Since 2019, she’s been collaborating with Carli and Hamilton Dixon, co-owners of The Brightside Music and Event Venue in downtown Dayton, to bring in numerous artists from a wide variety of genres from funk, jazz and jam bands to folk, bluegrass and hip-hop.
Shelly Bramer of Dayton nominated Ballengee as a Dayton Daily News Community Gem.
“Libby does so much for downtown Dayton,” Bramer said. “Her efforts to bring live music back to the region has positively impacted the economic viability of the downtown area. We moved downtown to attend the various events she brings in town.”
Ballengee said she is “very flattered” to be nominated as a Community Gem. “That’s very sweet,” she said. “I really appreciate that acknowledgment.”
Through Venus Child Productions, Ballengee began producing shows at various venues, including the now-closed Oddbody’s via friend and co-owner Neil Hixson, who guided her through “all the pieces and parts to doing a show,” from making an offer to a band to ironing out a contract with its agent.
But Ballengee doesn’t just produce events at The Brightside and other spaces in the region, including The Dayton Arcade and the State Theater in Springfield, among others. She also helps organize the Yellow Springs Film Festival and produces Dayton 937, a monthly event guide distributed at local cafes and public spaces.
Ballengee formerly co-hosted the now-defunct Gem City Podcast and contributed to Dayton.com, including writing the Dayton Music Insider blog.
Bramer said Ballengee is a Community Gem because “partnering with the Brightside Music and Event Center and other venues extends their reach.”
“Her focus on really understanding the needs and wants of the community is a passion and she listens and adapts,” she said.
Ballengee said once her concert booking “sort of got a life of its own,” people started trusting her taste in music and came out to see artists unfamiliar to them.
“It’s just been really rewarding, because I’m trying to open people up to all different kinds of music, and add to the vibrancy of downtown,” she said. “I’m trying to bring stuff that I’m seeing in these clubs in other cities and then bring it back to Dayton, just trying to make Dayton cool and cosmopolitan.”
Ballengee said there are other people promoting music throughout the area, but “the more the merrier.“
“People like Shelley and other people around town have appreciated that, and that’s really kind of put the wind in my sails to keep me going, because it’s not the easiest thing in the world,” she said.
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