New C3 fest Puts Huntsville On Music Map

New initiative is the inaugural South Star Festival, produced by C3 Presents

Huntsville, Alabama, known for NASA’s rocket propulsion program, is hoping to propel itself into the live music universe with a full time “music officer” tasked with creating a more dynamic music scene in the city.

“The community was really interested in the investment in growing music as an economic initiative and as a quality-of-life initiative,” said Huntsville music officer Matt Mandrella.

Growing the music ecosystem became a focus for five-term Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle following a music audit in 2018-2019, conducted by global research and strategy consultant Sound Diplomacy. The results of the year-long study were the creation of the Huntsville Music Board.

The board, the state’s first volunteer governing body of its kind, was tasked with implementing and prioritizing the road map provided by the audit to expand Huntsville’s music industry. After a two-year COVID delay, Mandrella was brought on in January 2022 to run the Huntsville Music Office.

“There is so much enthusiasm around music and my role,” Mandrella said. “Huntsville is really on fire right now, in all the good ways.”

The Music Office strives to use music as a platform to strengthen Huntsville’s economy, attract visitors and enhance the quality of life for residents. When the original audit was done, the annual economic impact was $169 million. Mandrella said they are assessing the current contribution, which he said will be much higher due to the opening of the 8,000-cap Orion Amphitheater in 2022.

“There’s a lot of music, and a lot more big music coming into the market,” explained Mandrella, who advocates for the music sector and has oversight of music-related strategic planning that doesn’t compete with the private sector.

The department, which has an annual budget of roughly $300,000, nurtures the city’s music ecosystem through advocacy, policy and strategic planning initiatives focused on ensuring that the music sector reaches its full potential. The Music Office often does that by helping to remove roadblocks.

“The amount of red tape the Music Office has to navigate is very minimal being a city government office rather than, say, being a not-for-profit or outside the city,” Mandrella said.

A new initiative that hits the target of making Huntsville a music destination is the inaugural South Star Festival, produced by C3 Presents. That takes place Sept. 28-29 in the 450-acre city-owned John Hunt Park, which is anchored by a new minor league soccer facility and championship cross-country course.

The festival grounds will feature two stages and a massive sports bar for SEC/NFL football fans. Headliners include Blink-182 and Gwen Stefani along with Beck, Jane’s Addiction, Jimmy Eat World, TLC, Ludacris, Sublime, Goo Goo Dolls and others.

“We want this to be as dynamic as any festival site in the country,” said Mandrella, who grew up near Mobile, Alabama, and worked at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, and in Austin, Texas, where he worked for a variety venues and festivals including Fun Fun Fun Fest, Mohawk, SXSW and Do512 (DoStuff Media).

Partnering with C3 Presents, known for producing festivals including Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Governors Ball and Lollapalooza, elevates Huntsville’s profile in the music industry and will hopefully be a catalyst for more big events in the city.

Huntsville Music Office also created an initiative that mobilizes local musicians as national and international ambassadors, called the Huntsville Music Ambassador Program, or MAP. Because touring musicians have a unique opportunity to promote Huntsville as a tourist destination or place to live, MAP pays a subsidy to the artists.

“Our approach is that we don’t want to dictate the culture, we want to elevate the culture,” Mandrella said. “This is a long-term plan. We are taking and enhancing the culture that is already here, that’s where the magic is.”