I asked another committed Detroiter the question above.  Here’s her answer.

(NB You can watch video of Rebecca’s terrific lecture at DETROIT SPEAKS on the city’s alt-music history here. )

Rebecca Mazzei

Thanks for the question Steve. Its so complicated. Here is a quick response:

I find that New Yorkers’ perspectives, no matter how creative they may be, have been built around parameters of property, both intellectual and real. A widened sense of spiritual consciousness, which has its roots in the African-American community here, has shifted Detroiters’ parameters to the communal, as opposed to the personal. You shouldn’t just move here if you are interested in how your art may be better served by being in Detroit, or even in how the city may be better served by your presence. You should move here if you have a genuine inclination to redefine your understanding of what belongs to you, what is owed to you, what you deserve, what you need, what you want, what money can buy.

Rebecca Mazzei, along with composer Joel Peterson, runs TRINOSOPHES, a multi-arts venue on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit that contains a coffee shop, bookstore, performance space, exhibitions, and archives.  It hosts the Detroit Commissioning Project as well as the free, publicly-accessible storefront museum for the extensive music archive developed by musician and proprietor of the world-renowned Peoples Records, Brad Hales. The Michigan Audio Heritage Society Museum (MAHS)  features regularly changing exhibits that highlight Detroit and Michigan’s significant contributions to global musical culture.