Speak Out! Sacramento was founded in December 2016, when its predecessor Midtown Out Loud (MOL) ended its truly unforgettable five year run. When Heather Anderson, host of MOL (and pictured above), asked a few beloved artists take over the time slot and help keep the community she had created alive. Luckily, the founding team of Grace Loescher, Matt Walsh, and HK Poet were beyond thrilled to bear this particularly brilliant torch. A few months after Heather's tearful goodbye, the artist trio introduced Speak Out! Sacramento, adding their own flavor with holiday parties complete with ugly sweaters and carolers, musical instrument petting zoos, congressional letter-writing parties, green beer for St. Patty’s Day, summer solstice singing circles, and so much more.

As families grew and life demands piled on, Matt and HK were forced to leave behind Speak Out! Sacramento and lovingly pursue other paths, leaving Grace Loescher the sole producer and host of Speak Out! Sacramento. Nearly seven years later, Speak Out! is going strong and has expanded its original vision of a bi-weekly open mic to a grassroots production organization that works to build platforms for artists to have their work featured and links to build bridges throughout the creative community in Sacramento. Speak Out! still remains true to the spirit of Midtown Out Loud in hosting bi-weekly open mics rooted in inclusivity and radical acceptance, while also producing a number of creative concerts and feature shows for the Sacramento community. Speak Out! Productions has grown astronomically in the last year and has every intention of continuing to do so in the years ahead!