WHAT: CALL FOR ARTISTS continues, SOUTHSOUNDS MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL, APRIL 8-10, 2016
WHEN: Deadline is March 8.
HOW: Visit www.southsoundsfest.com/mobilebayshowcase
Over 300 up-and-coming acts from across the Southeast applied to play SouthSounds Music Festival this year, which will take place in downtown Mobile April 8-10. Around 40 acts were chosen and will be announced very soon, with organizers promising this is the best slate yet.
Lagniappe has also teamed with the festival this year to present a very special industry showcase.
Of the 40 acts booked, five deemed the hottest and most promising will be invited to play in front of a panel of industry experts in the Lagniappe New Southern Music Showcase on the Cathedral Square stage on Sunday, April 10. In addition to these five acts, the winner of the Mobile Bay Music Showcase will also perform in front of the panel. That competition will also be on the Cathedral Square stage on Saturday morning and judges will select the “best of the best” of all of our local acts who apply.
In addition to getting this valuable industry exposure, the bands will also be competing to win an awesome prize package, which we are now pleased to announce. It includes three days of studio time, including accommodations, at Studio H20 with legendary producer, founding Wet Willie and Alabama Hall of Fame member Rick Hirsch, a $500 gift certificate to Andy’s Music, a week long writing/R&R retreat at a gulf-front beach house in Gulf Shores, a $150 gas card to fill the ol’ van up and a feature in the April 14 issue of Lagniappe. Not too shabby.
These acts will each play a 25-minute set on Sunday in front of the panel, which includes Nashville’s J.D. Connell, SESAC vice president and counsel, new media licensing, who was named one of Billboard magazine’s “Digital Power Players” in the Oct. 24, 2015, issue. Connell is one of 25 music industry executives named as a leading digital strategist. Also on the panel will be Atlanta’s Matt Wilson, partner/owner/artist management of GT Music Group, the management company for Moon Taxi, T. Hardy Morris, Roadkill Ghost Choir, Dead Confederate, Sans Abri, Great Peacock, Cicada Rhythm and Packway Handle Band, among others. Joining them will be the aforementioned Rick Hirsch. And we hear there will be a couple more “big players” added to the panel in the coming weeks.
These executives will offer guidance to these emerging acts and choose one as the winner of the New Southern Music Showcase.
Local bands interested in participating in the Mobile Bay Showcase need to make a submission through the SouthSounds website, southsoundsfest.com/mobilebayshowcase. Deadline is March 8. Bands should be prepared to play both the Saturday and Sunday time slots, if selected.
The festival will release the line-up in the coming days and tickets go on sale March 1. Visit southsoundsfest.com for more information.
