• About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Legal Notices
  • Newsletter Signup
Lagniappe Mobile
  • News
    • Cover Story
    • Latest
    • Bay Briefs
    • Sports
    • Community News
    • Open Documents
    • e-Edition
  • Baldwin Edition
  • Commentary
    • Damn the Torpedoes
    • Hidden Agenda
    • Beltway Beat
    • The Real Deal
    • Sports commentary
    • Weather Things
    • The Gadfly
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Cuisine
    • The Dish
    • Word of Mouth
    • Beer and Loathing
    • Cuisine Directory
  • Arts
    • Artifice
    • Art Gallery
    • The Reel World
    • Calendar
  • Music
    • Music Feature
    • Music Briefs
    • Music Listings
    • Submissions
  • Style
    • Media Frenzy
    • Mobile Magnified
    • Horoscopes
    • Master Gardeners
    • Style Feature
  • Lagniappe HD

Select Page

SouthSounds has best year yet

Posted by Ashley Trice | Apr 13, 2016 | Hidden Agenda, by Ashley Trice | 0 |

Hey, are you one of the organizers of this festival?” a lady said to me as I was working the Lagniappe Showcases at SouthSounds last weekend. As I was explaining I was really just an organizer of this one particular part, she interrupted me. She didn’t really care about my exact role; she just had to tell someone her thoughts right that second.

“We just moved here from Atlanta,” she said, pointing to her male companion. “And we just realized Mobile is cool. This festival is so cool,” she said, effusive in her praise of the weekend’s events.

And that was generally the vibe felt by everyone who attended the SouthSounds Music and Arts Festival last weekend, not only by festival-goers, but also by the musicians who played.

As it wrapped up this past Sunday night, it became obvious this had been the best year yet for the festival that was co-founded in 2011 by Ted Flotte and Emily Hayes. But along with Flotte and Hayes, there was a lot of talent on the board this year that really helped bring this festival up to a whole new level, including Gabe Fleet, Carol Hunter and Jeff Marcus, among others.

The festival also worked with other organizations that put on different aspects of the event, like the Mobile Arts Council, which not only organized its regular LoDa ArtWalk in conjunction, but also MAC’s Hillary Anaya and Lucy Gafford, who coordinated the art market and LoDa Squares Art Competition.

Chris Barraza at Leadership Mobile put on the Engaging the Next Generation nonprofit event and food truck fair. And Johnny Gwin and Stacy Wellborn from Deep Fried Studios organized an amazing live podcast and panel discussion. As previously mentioned, we did our little part here at Lagniappe by hosting the Mobile Bay Music and New Southern Music showcases.

As Fleet put it, “I like the notion of this being a broad-spectrum event with participation from lots of aspects of the community.”
And it truly was. And I imagine that spectrum is only going to continue to grow.

Out-of-town festival-goers and musicians alike walked away with a very positive impression of our city. And I think even Mobilians who sometimes doubt our people will support anything in great numbers walked away with that notion dispelled.

And I have to say I was thrilled with the way the Lagniappe showcases turned out.

We were able to showcase some of our best local talent with the Mobile Bay Music Showcase, featuring Black Titan, Crowned Jewelz, Coleman-Mason Band, Infant Richard and the Delta Stones, Stereo Dogs and Underhill Family Orchestra. Their performances were as impressive as they were diverse. Everyone was really bringing it.

We really had a great panel of industry executives from various record labels, bands and other music-related fields, so it was really cool to show off our bands to not only these guys, but to the festival-goers, many of whom never make it out to the late night clubs or venues where these groups usually play.

The members of the metal band Black Titan were joking before their set that they were going to run the crowd off by the end of their first song. But they were so wrong. The crowd was pumped. I typically like whiny singer-songwriters (the sadder the better!) and they are probably not a band I would typically go see, but they were great. And I think all of my fellow, ahem, older, boring folks out in the crowd also found it cool to be exposed to something so gritty — I mean that as a compliment — in the middle of the day in Cathedral Square.

Underhill Family Orchestra won the local showcase and went on to participate in the regional showcase along with some really great up-and-coming regional acts: Motel Radio and Bantam Foxes from New Orleans, The High Divers and She Returns From War from Charleston and the Sh-Booms from Orlando. They all put on top-notch performances, once again judged by industry executives.

Ultimately Motel Radio won and received a fantastic prize package donated by Mobile businesses. The fabulous Rick Hirsch, who may just be the nicest man on the planet as well as a founding member of Wet Willie and amazing producer, donated three days of studio time and accommodations at his Studio H20. He also served as a judge and took the time to speak with each of the bands.

Local music store Andy’s Music donated a $500 gift card. SouthSounds Music Festival donated a week-long writing and R&R retreat at a Gulf-front beach house in Gulf Shores. We really can’t thank these guys enough.

Motel Radio is featured in the music section of this issue, so read all about these guys, as they will back here in a month.

On Sunday night at Callaghan’s, most of these bands were hanging together, sharing war stories and forming new friendships.

Again, it was just a great vibe.

Many thanks as well to stage manager Albert Robinson, who kept both of our showcases running smooth as silk. It truly was a team effort, and it was great to be a part of it.

Thanks again to Gabe, Ted and Emily and the rest of the board for a great weekend, as well as all of the volunteers. I can’t even imagine what this festival is going to be like in a few more years, but if the buzz after this year’s installment is any indication, it’s going to be huge.

I will have to agree with that lady from Atlanta. Mobile, you are pretty darn cool. And there are a lot of people working hard to make it that way.

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

It looks like you are opening this page from the Facebook App. This article needs to be opened in the browser.

iOS: Tap the three dots in the top right, then tap on "Open in Safari".

Android: Tap the Settings icon (it looks like three horizontal lines), then tap App Settings, then toggle the "Open links externally" setting to On (it should turn from gray to blue).

Share:

Rate:

PreviousTo the opponents of marijuana legalization: Give up
NextIf you want to sing ‘Bobby McGee,’ learn the words

About The Author

Ashley Trice

Ashley Trice

Ashley Trice is the editor and publisher of Lagniappe Weekly, which she co-founded with fellow publisher Rob Holbert in July 2002. Lagniappe has steadily grown from a 5,000 circulation biweekly into the 30,000 weekly newspaper it is today. Originally from Jackson, Alabama, she graduated cum laude from the University of South Alabama in 2000 with a BA in communications and did some post graduate work at the University of Texas. She was in the 2011 class of Mobile Bay Monthly’s 40 Under 40. She is the recipient of the 2003 Award for Excellence in In-Depth Reporting by the Mobile Press Club and for Humorous Commentary by the Society of Professional Journalists in 2010 and 2018. In 2015, she won a national writing award presented by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for “Best Column.” She won the Alabama Press Association Award for Best Editorial Column in 2017 and for Best Humor Column in 2018. She is married to Frank Trice and they live in Midtown with their children Anders and Ellen, and dog Mattie.

    Related Posts

    Figuring out our own field of dreams

    Figuring out our own field of dreams

    October 18, 2017

    Hear us roar, but let’s be reasonable about it

    Hear us roar, but let’s be reasonable about it

    November 29, 2017

    A pessimistic case for the lottery

    A pessimistic case for the lottery

    February 21, 2018

    The anatomy of a perfectly terrible morning

    The anatomy of a perfectly terrible morning

    September 5, 2018

    Recommended Stories

    Let the holiday madness begin

    By Rob Holbert

    Something in the turkey

    By Ashley Trice

    This Thanksgiving, arm yourself with knowledge

    By Ashley Trice

    These (annexation) leftovers are best served cold

    By Rob Holbert

    Unloading the un-thankfulness

    By Ashley Trice

    • Advertising
    • Newsletter Signup
    • About Us
    • Jobs
    • Contact Us

    Search This Site

    Browse the Archives

    © Lagniappe Mobile 2019 | Designed by Optera Creative