Cause some noise
How BHS alumni are making it in the creative industry
Stage diving at Higher Ground during the concert. Photo courtesy of David Cloy
February 13, 2023
Higher Ground hosted a show that sold out of its 750 tickets in one day. 99 Neighbors, North Ave Jax, Real Ricky, UVM Elites, and Love, Kelly were some of the artists in front of the crowd. These performers include a number of BHS graduates and alumni who all came together to put on an affordable show for their hometown. With ticket sales starting at $5, many students, friends and peers of the artists were found in the crowd. It was a community celebration.
The mastermind behind this event was Kelly Butts-Spirito who was born and raised in Burlington.
“There’s a lot of talent here that gets overlooked so it’s really beautiful to have everyone come together and it almost just amplifies everyone,” Butts-Spirito said. “So when you have 99 [Neighbors] and [North Ave] Jax they both get new fans from each other.”
Kelly hopes for these shows to be a place where our diverse Burlington community can be in one space. “And you know with UVM Elites too it shows that all of this culture is here,” Butts-Spirito said.
The former HMS and BHS student Butts-Spirito is a 22 year-old filmmaker and event producer as well as a current student at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY.
“I had always wanted to throw shows and was like let’s just pull everyone together and throw one,” Butts-Spirito said. “We started at house parties and then it kind of just overflowed and kept progressing. So we were like, ‘let’s just see how big we can take this’ and it sort of just took on a life of its own.”
In 2021 Kelly and Jax threw a basement party with live performances of Jax’s new single, “Eastside”, which went viral on TikTok with over 1.6 million views. Catching the eye of known rapper Lil Tjay, Jax has come out with a remix featuring the rapper in November. Kelly and Jax are both signed to Roc Nation.
“Something that is really missing in the industry is authenticity,” Butts-Spirito said. “A lot of these executives that I have been interacting with take a weird interest in me and in Jax because we have authentic backgrounds like doing house party shows and not really asking anyone for much.”
After the basement success, Butts-Spirito threw a free show at Arts Riot in November 2021 and in April 2022 threw the first official show at Higher Ground.
“The thing that has been shocking to people is like, ‘why are the shows so packed? Why are they selling out so fast?’” Butts-Spirito said. “And I think it’s because Burlington has had this community all the time and I feel like it’s just an amazing way of representing what Burlington really is in terms of every community being represented.”
Butts-Spirito’s filming skills helped his push to create these events.
“There has always been a desire (to create events), but there’s not much recognition from people who actually have the money and resources to do this,” Butts-Spirito said. “They don’t wanna do it (fund shows), but I was blessed to have some opportunities through my filming to put on these shows and now I feel like it’s just kind of propelled into something new.”
He wants to inspire those of Burlington to reach for their dreams and go after what they want.
“I feel like the biggest piece of advice I could give someone from Vermont who wants to do something creative is like don’t wait for anyone else to tell you its time or whatever just do what you gotta do to cause some noise and connect with people,” Butts-Spirito said. “I was DMing people all the time on instagram, like 24/7.
