Norfolk native set to serve on GRAMMY Museum panel
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Norfolk native is packing his bags and heading to in Los Angeles, California for a seat at GRAMMYs week!
Antonio Dowe is a 32-year-old musician from the Berkley area and the CEO of Global Music Touring.
Dowe was invited to share insight on the ‘Live Out L!ve Presents: Creating Your Space In Live Music‘ panel during GRAMMY museum’s week 2024.
Leading up to the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards show on Sunday Feb. 4, the GRAMMY In The Schools Fest is a festival celebrating music and education all week.
“It’s GRAMMY kickoff week. They do a lot of like kickoff events,” said Dowe. “One of the big things that they do at the Grammy Museum, they have some kickoff panels. I have an opportunity to sit on one. The panel is about creating your own space in live music, which is what we’ve done to The RNB Block Party.”
Dowe is the co-founder of The RnB Block Party.
“For me as a producer, I started to realize that there was a gap in production with the financial side. Everybody can’t afford a $150 concert ticket to see your favorite act every time they come into the market. So to be able to sell tickets to an event and that’s affordable for live music consumers was also important. We make it all about energy… all about the people.”
The block party brings together local DJs and big names like DJ Jermaine Dupri.
“It’s not really about the performer, it was more so about the energy and the vibe,” said Dowe.
The idea came about after Norfolk city leaders voted to revoked several conditional use permits from businesses in the Downtown area in 2022.
“A lot of the clubs and bars getting shut down was affecting my friends.”
Since then, the block parties have been successful with nine events in 2023 in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Las Vegas. Dowe said the events sold 23,000 tickets last year.
“2023 was crazy. We did [the] Something In The Water Festival for three days on the Oceanfront. The very next weekend, we went to Vegas,” said Dowe. “Being able to be associated with the GRAMMYs in any capacity, especially [being] from Norfolk, is a big deal!”
Starting in radio with the Steve Harvey morning show, then putting on concerts all over the country. Dowe has always remembered his Norfolk roots with the Party on The Plaza Hip Hop Festival, as well as, the High Tide Cannabis Summit in Portsmouth, according to his biography.
“This is actually year 10 for me. The RnB Block Party is the production everybody gets to see, as the shiny new thing right now. But I’ve been in the trenches in this space for a while,” he said.
When he returns from the West Coast. Dowe is already looking forward to the next The RnB Block Party on Feb. 17.
DJ Envy, a Hampton University alum, is the headliner.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
