In summer 2017, Kindall Reuschel was attending a class reunion in her hometown of Galesburg, wherean old classmate put on a show with his band.
Reuschel had no idea thatshow would lead to hernew endeavor.
Live music was pretty cool to see, she thought. It sparked a bigger question, too: Does Peoria have regular, live music?If it did, it didn't seem easy to find.
"If I am looking (for live music), other people probably are as well," Reuschel said.
When she returned to Peoria from the class reunion, she began taking notesof places doing live shows and who was playing. The notes grew and became extensive.
Eventually, she realized she probably had enough knowledge on the who, what, when and where of the Peoria music sceneto start sharing publicly.
From there, Peoria Music Live was born. It has since grown into a Facebook page boasting over 14,000 followers with ambitious plans to expand its content and establish a brick-and-mortar location.
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Goal is to 'get people off their couches'
In simple terms, Peoria Music Live "promotes all the live music in the Peoria area," Reuschel says.
In more blunt terms, she says the goal of the site reallyis to "get people off their couches and out into the community.The music scene is a great place to do that."
Peoria Music Live does free promotions on social media for both venues and artists, but it makes its money through sponsorships.
On a busy week, Reuschel tries to attend no more than six live music shows in Peoria, including two or three on any given Friday,when she'll typically post a video of bands playing on Facebook Live.
"I thought I could actually show people some of these shows, and I wouldn't have to be in front of the camera," she said. "I didn't used to (record) every show I went to, some I used to just take a couple of pictures and share later, but the videos got the most traction."
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Attending all those shows is a lot of work, especially given Reuschel runs a cleaning business, Hire a Housewife, as her main job.
But that hasn't stopped her from expanding the music site.
She recently launched "The Green Room,"a subscription service that will curate written content, such as columns and features, on the localmusic scene. She's seekingfreelance writers.
"It's basically live, local music news," Reuschel said. "Anything that's going on with the bands, new releases. I used to only focus on the live performances and getting people to the performances, but if people are getting to know the artists through their stories or finding out about different things they're doing and building that connection, that will get them out to shows as well."
Teaming up with 'What's Up Peoria'
In 2018, Reuschel appeared on the internet talk show "What's Up Peoria,"geared toward telling people what is going on here eachweek.
Reuschel did so well talking about the live music scene that the group brought her back for another week. And a week after. Eventually, Reuschel became a co-host of the show alongside Kelly Schneider.
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The show is now called "What's Up Peoria Music Live With Kelly and Kindall." Schneider said Reuschel is a perfect fit.
"She elevated the show completely," Schneider said. "She is so creative, and she had some wonderful ideas of how to really highlight the musicians that are in the area."
Schneider said the coolest thing Reuschel has brought to the show is live bands performing at the conclusion. She said it gives ita "late-night talk show" feel.
Moving into a new building
In her time interacting with bands, Reuschel was shocked by stories of the places Peoria bands had to practice.
"I've heard stories about awful places in the past where people are like, 'You wouldn't believe how much I paid for a place that was falling down around me so the band could all practice in one spot,'" Reuschel said.
She figured she could help by finding some non-squalid space.
Peoria Music Live's new building, located at 1133 N. North Street, will come equipped with rentable practice rooms for bands and people giving music lessons.
What she really loves about the building is its proximity to Peoria High School, whichReuschel hopes will bolster youth participation.
She hopes the new building can be a starting point for a not-for-profit she would like to create to offer instruments and music training to children who otherwise would not have access to either.
"When you have that exposure to all the different music styles, then you are more likely to say, 'Oh, maybe I could play that instrument,'" Reuschel said. "But if your only exposure is through the radio or high school band, it's harder."
COVID-19 stifles live music, but Peoria Music Live presses on
The COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed in-person events, has not made it easy to be a live music promoter.
But Reuschel recognized a need for people to still connect with local music. She said Peoria Music Live's online presence provided the perfect platform.
Bands streamed live performances, and sheencouraged people to tip virtually tosupport the bands.
COVID-19 wasn't going to slow down Reuschel. She says she's beenthrough enough in her life already to know how to grind through anything.
After a romanticrelationship went sour in2012, she moved herself and her four children, all under the age of 14, to a campground, where they lived in an RV for six months.
During that same time, a litany of bad occurrences struck, including her only vehicle catching fire while she drove it.
Reuschel said shelater turned to God and said, "I don't know what my real job is supposed to be, so until you tell me, I am going to clean houses."
An advertisem*nt on Craigslist and an eventual Facebook page sparked what would become her own cleaning business. She suddenly had more work than she could handle and went from living in a temporary home to thriving as an entrepreneur in under a year.
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Now, she is the co-host of a talk show and the proprietor of a music publication with 14,000 followers and growing.
"I admire the heck out of her," Schneider said. "I think she's an absolute genius when it comes to social media marketing, an absolute genius when it comes to highlighting musicians and the talent we have in the community. She just continues to come up with innovative ways to do things bigger and better."
