HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville is becoming a music destination, and the city is making sure local artists get their chance to shine. "At the end of the day, like curating and developing the local talent we have here and showcasing that talent, putting systems in place to ensure that they stay here in Huntsville," Music Officer Matt Mandrella shares. "Our music efforts are like year-round. You know, we use September as kind of an opportunity to really, really put a spotlight from the city channels and from the city perspective."
September is Huntsville music month where the community can get introduced or reintroduced some of their local favorites. "We have several venues that are going to be packed full of amazing shows and yeah, there's going to be something, if not multiple things every night of every night of the month and September and, and also October," Mandrella shares.
The addition of the music office has made the difference in Huntsville’s ecosystem. "Nothing makes us happier than when we have a show at the VBC or the Orion or an event like South Star where we have just like a ton of locals coming to participate, but also we see like the hotel rooms packed with people coming to visit Huntsville."
Speaking of South Star, Mandrella says John Hunt Park is nearly ready for the big event. "We just announced the food vendor lineup today, so we have a lot of both like local, regional and national like vendors coming, Mandrella shares. "If you look over there and there was like maybe Brown a couple of months ago or now if you go over there, it's like very lush and green and so that footprint, the majority of festival footprint is going to be here and that's like from the JC building to the soccer stadium. Like people will park them into the main entrance and you'll see that footprint. Well, we'll have like two massive stages, a giant sports bar, a ton of food vendors in between, a lot of activities."
The city is also preparing for the big crowd. "We have a very like well-laid out traffic plan. we are, of course, like whenever you have a big event, there's going to be a little bit of congestion. But I think that on the scale of other event sites, and you know, it's like compared to maybe like a football game in Tuscaloosa, it's going to be very, very minimal."
Huntsville Music Month events
- VBC 5K Music Run – 8 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 31 in downtown Huntsville: Race into Huntsville Music Month as part of the VBC’s 50th anniversary celebration. The run will feature live entertainment at the starting line, finish line and each mile in between. More info here.
- Jazz in the Park-Huntsville – 5-9 p.m., Sept. 1, 2, 8, 15 & 22 in Big Spring Park East: Led by the City of Huntsville’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, this beloved annual community-driven concert series provides music-lovers across generations a free ticket to experience some of the biggest names in smooth jazz. More info here.
- Blast Music: Hear To Be Seen – 5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 5 at The Orion Amphitheater: Photojournalist and Huntsville native Shedrick Pelt joins forces with the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library Foundation to present his latest project, “Hear To Be Seen,” an interactive exhibit of portraits of Huntsville musicians. More info here.
- Launchpad Music Festival – 6-9 p.m., Sept. 6-8 in Big Spring Park East: This free, three-day music festival will feature headliners The Beastie Goys, a Huntsville-based Beastie Boys tribute band on Friday, and Carver Commodore on Saturday. The third night is devoted to Jazz in the Park-Huntsville. More info here.
- Summer Sunset Concert Series at Ditto Landing – 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 10: Unwind to live music from Dawn Osborne and Jason Humphress by the water at the Summer Sunset Concert Series at Ditto Landing. The free monthly series is presented by the Huntsville Music Office and Artemis Music Productions. More info here.
- Music Industry Career Fair & Community Expo – 12-2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14 at VBC East Hall: The Huntsville Music Office and Arts Huntsville are teaming up again to produce a free music industry-related career and community expo to help connect people to job openings and volunteer opportunities within our music ecosystem. A full list of participants will be announced soon.
- Women in Music Week - Sept. 14-22 at various venues: Returning for a sixth year, Women in Music Week showcases the talents of over 50 women in the music industry at various venues and provides artists the opportunity to shine on stages throughout the City. A full schedule will be announced soon.
- Rocket City Ramble at AMERICANAFEST – 12-5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 19 at Acme Feed & Seed in downtown Nashville: Huntsville’s Music Office is partnering with the Americana Music Association and the iconic Acme Feed & Seed venue in Nashville to highlight Huntsville talent with the Rocket City Ramble, an official AMERICANAFEST event. The free showcase from noon to 5 p.m. will feature performances by Camacho, Common Man, Hugh Lindsey, Luna Koi, The Wanda Band and Victoria Jones. More info here.
- 805 After Five – 5-8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 19, at S.R. Butler Green at Campus 805: Join the Huntsville Music Office and Downtown Huntsville, Inc., for the September installment of 805 After Five featuring The Vegabonds and the Shane Davis Group. Admission is free. More info here.
- Urban Music Symposium, 3-7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, Tangled String Studios: Join Meridian Media and Woodaworx for a deep dive into the works of urban music and the role North Alabama plays. The pop-up Urban Music Symposium will center around the region’s production phase with representatives from Atlantic Records, Warner Records, The Recording Academy, NASA and more in attendance.
- CulturA Fest: 12-7 p.m., Sept. 22 at The Orion Amphitheater: Join the Music Office from noon to 7 p.m. for the third annual CulturA Festival, a free community event produced by Revel Events Agency and presented by Bill Penney Toyota & Mitsubishi. The event will include diverse Hispanic foods, a wellness village, live music and a marketplace. More info here.
- Blast Music submissions: Blast Music – the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library’s music streaming service – is accepting submissions from Tennessee Valley artists. The Blast curator team listens to submissions and decides what music is added to the platform after each round. Those selected will have the option to sign Blast’s license agreement, upload a full album/EP to the streaming platform and receive an honorarium check. More info here.
- School instrument drive: The Huntsville Music Office is proud to work with Huntsville City Schools, Microwave Dave Music Education Foundation, Maitland Arts Initiative and Madison County Commissioner Phil Riddick to put instruments into the hands of more students through a monthlong citywide instrument drive. Find drop-off locations on the Huntsville Music Month web page.
- Music at City Council meetings – Sept. 12 & 26: Tune into live local music performances at both Huntsville City Council meetings scheduled in September. Leading up to the 5:30 p.m. start of the meetings, community groups will perform outside City Hall on the lawn. During Council meetings, local artists will perform The Star-Spangled Banner. Performers will also receive special recognition at the meetings. Watch live here.
- South Star Festival – Sept. 28-29, John Hunt Park: The City of Huntsville and C3 Presents invites the community to the inaugural South Star Festival in John Hunt Park on Sept. 28-29. Artists include Blink-182, Gwen Stefani, Shinedown, Beck, Ludacris, TLC, Jane’s Addiction, Sublime and Goo Goo Dolls. A massive sports bar will feature multiple large-screen televisions showing SEC and NFL games. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit SouthStarFestival.com or //Facebook.com/SouthStarFest.
- For more information and to see the full Huntsville Music Month calendar, visit //huntsvillemusic.com/musicmonth or the Huntsville Music Office Facebook page.