Trying to create a comprehensive preview of this weekend’s Secret Stages festival downtown – in a span of a little over 900 words, no less – is a fool’s errand. Even reduced from the sprawling affairs of the last two years, Secret Stages still totals over 45 bands. More importantly, those bands are as diverse as the South itself, a panoply of genres that lends credence to Secret Stages’ identity as a “music discovery festival.”
One common theme, however, is that all these acts are professionals, whether they’ve honed their craft for decades or have demonstrated a great deal of talent in a short deal of time. As Travis Morgan, who has booked all of the festival’s non-hip-hop acts since its debut in May of 2011, put it: “It’s not open mic night. It’s the real deal.” With the amount of skill and talent on hand, it becomes a lot easier for neophytes to believe that claim and take a leap of faith.
Morgan, who founded local indie label Skybucket Records a little over 10 years ago “as a means of helping out bands that weren’t getting much exposure locally,” watched the Birmingham scene change for the better over the last decade. Improvements in technology and communication have allowed more bands to create professional-quality work, including full albums. The goal for both Birmingham’s music scene and for Secret Stages, as Morgan sees it, is “progressive music, stuff that will stand the test of time instead of being of the moment.”
That drive for “progressive music” transcends any one genre in the Secret Stages lineup. It’d be easy, for instance, to cook up a lineup of deep-fried Skynyrd clones, but the festival’s schedule aims a good deal higher. Much to their credit, the festival’s brain trust took the risk of not underestimating Birmingham’s intelligence or its taste.
Most obviously, the festival’s commitment to diversity shows up in its hip-hop lineup, which will be performing at Matthew’s Bar and Grill on Morris Avenue. Out of Atlanta, there’s the singsong flow, ready wit and cinematic production of Yamin Semali, whose cool seems genuinely effortless. Local act the Ninjaz are entirely too young to be as good as they are, putting an aggressive, youthful spin on the atmospherics of Native Tongues forerunners A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. And then there’s perhaps the most entertaining act of the whole festival, the Bodega Brovas, a hilarious trio that embodies everything joyous about classic hip-hop.
That’s not to say that the more traditional genres don’t have very solid representation, too. There’s the alt-country stylings of Muscle Shoals’ Belle Adair, whose live work bears a strong resemblance to early Wilco. Leeds’ excellent Colossal Gospel provides gorgeous harmonies that should appeal to fans of Fleet Foxes, while Athens, Georgia’s New Madrid provides a stately, dreamy counterpoint.
Those who don’t mind getting a little synth in their pop songs owe it to themselves to see Nashville electro-pop outfit Ponychase and Oxford, Mississippi’s Dead Gaze, an oasis of fuzzed-out weirdness. Fans of straight-ahead rock ‘n roll have plenty waiting for them, too, including local stalwarts Vulture Whale and the exuberant pop-punk of Montevallo’s Holy Youth.
In addition to the concert schedule, there are plenty of other attractions awaiting downtown at the festival. Joe Minter, an eclectic artist recently profiled in the New York Times, will present an exhibition of his yard art entitled Joe Minter’s African Village at Secret Stages. From 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, there will be a Musical Instrument and Gear Expo, including pedals from Avondale’s Sitori Sonics, which are used by Sonic Youth and St. Vincent, among others.
But perhaps the coolest promotion at Secret Stages is its association with Scrollworks, a music school from Metropolitan Youth Orchestras of Alabama. Secret Stages is donating 20 percent of its proceeds to Scrollworks, and festival-goers can drop off used instruments at What’s On 2nd to be donated to the school. Scrollworks’ student ensemble will also perform at the festival’s kick-off party on Thursday, August 1 at WorkPlay.
In many ways, Scrollworks is the perfect partner for what Secret Stages is trying to do. The love of music is just about universal, and the nonprofit is seeking to make the means to accommodate that love as close to hand as possible, strengthening the Birmingham community in the process. It’s no coincidence that one of the other acts at the kick-off party is the Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir, a powerful gospel choir originally formed at the request of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth himself.
Although there are two acts from Cincinnati on the ticket, Secret Stages is almost entirely a Southern festival. More to the point, it’s really a Birmingham festival. The slate of local acts isn’t just strong, it’s representative. In the drama of the Great Book of John, in the utter cool of the Grenadines, in the bluesy aggression of Banditos, in the garage psychedelia of the Dirty Lungs, you’ll find Birmingham’s stories.
And in the handclaps and hallelujahs of the Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir, you’ll find them, too. You’ll find them in the notes welling up from Cleve Eaton’s legendary bass. You’ll hear them on the streets and on the stage, in a city that still has countless stories – and secrets – to tell.
Secret Stages will take place downtown on August 2-3. For more information, visit secretstages.net.