Secret’s Out
The skinny on Birmingham’s newest music festival
cover story Sam George
If you haven’t heard, the state tourism board
has dubbed 2011 the “Year of Alabama Music”,
and it certainly seems as if their timing was
right. The pall that fell around the music scene
in Birmingham after the messy demise of City
Stages has apparently lifted. There is a flood of
music-related events happening or being planned
in Alabama right now, many of which are in their
first or second years. The Hangout Music Festival,
a beach festival which premiered spectacularly
amid much hardship during the oil crisis last
summer, has announced a star-studded line-up
that’s got everyone all aflutter. The BAAM Festival
is slated for its second round at the end of this
upcoming summer, and if it can rally the com-
munity around local music the way it did last year,
it is sure to be a memorable event. The Oxford
American folks released an Alabama music issue
and are holding concerts to celebrate it.
Into this mix, Birmingham Weekly is
proud to add Secret Stages, a new walking music
festival to be held on May 13-14 in downtown
Birmingham. For those two days, our city will play
host to over 60 regional and local bands as well as
national acts. All of them will be excellent, and you
may not have heard of any of them. You see, Secret
Stages is a “discovery” festival. We’ve scoured the
nation for some of the best up-and-coming bands,
bands that next year, you can say you saw first.
These bands were selected because they have a
certain “buzz” about them, and because, regardless
of their genre, they definitely got us excited. You
know that feeling you get when you stumble on a
new song that you can’t stop listening to, like you
found the next track in the soundtrack of your life?
At Secret Stages, hopefully you’ll feel like that most
of the time.
Secret Stages isn’t just about you finding
your next musical obsession, either. It’s also about
allowing these great bands, and the many fans,
journalists and music-industry professionals who
will come to see them, to discover Birmingham.
Those of us who live here know that Birmingham
Dawes
Jack Oblivian
 february 17, 2011 - february 24, 2011 BIRMINGHAM WEEKLY
is a haven for great music, as well as a pretty swell
place to live, and it’s time for the rest of the country
to get a taste of what we have to offer. To that end,
Secret Stages will be held in one of downtown
Birmingham’s thriving districts, First and Second
Avenue North, between 22nd and 24th Street.
Many excellent venues, such as Rogue Tavern, Pale
Eddie’s Pour House, The Wine Loft, Metro Bar &
Music, M-Lounge and others, will all host stages
for this walking festival that will allow attendees to
hop from show to show with ease.
So, in the name of discovery, here is a preview
of the first ten bands we announced last week:
Dawes —Los Angeles, CA
Dawes claim as their influences Crosby, Stills
& Nash, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, all part of
the “Laurel Canyon” sound, which featured gor-
geous harmonies and quiet acoustic music. In fact,
to capture that sound, Dawes recorded their newest
album in Laurel Canyon on analog tape.
Empress Hotel —New Orleans, LA
This six-piece centers around the songwriting
of Micah McKee and Ryan Rogers, and combines
the rhythmic intricacy and playful structure of
Vampire Weekend, but with greater sonic range
and more mirth.
Thomas Function —Huntsville, AL
Thomas Function has a successful European
tour and critical success from shows at festivals
like SXSW under their belt, probably because they
write bouncy rocks songs that sound like they’re
having a lot of fun.
G-Side—Huntsville, AL
The latest hot thing to come out of the
Huntsville rap scene, G-Side has received a lot of
attention from respected sources like pitchfork.com
and The Village Voice. They have been described
as “Outkast on steroids.”
Empress Hotel
The Booze
John Paul Keith & The One Four Fives—
Memphis, TN
The country-rock legend that never was,
John Paul Keith has survived an early stardom and
a decade of confrontation with everyone around
him, and after giving up the ghost and relocating
to Memphis, he’s producing some of the best work
of his life.
Jack Oblivian—Memphis, TN
One of the key figures of the Memphis-based
garage-punk scene, Jack “Oblivian” Yarber wraps
gritty vocals around a booze-soaked electric guitar
and then sets it all on fire. Metaphorically speaking,
that is.
The Booze—Atlanta, GA
The Booze sound like “Beggar’s Banquet”-era
Rolling Stones with enough convincing swagger
that you sometimes forget they aren’t, and they spin
out short, tight numbers that get stuck on the brain
easily. They’re dropping a new disc, At Maximum
Volume in a matter of days, and what I’ve heard of
it is their best yet.
Oryx and Crake—Atlanta, GA
The nine, count ‘em, nine members of Oryx
and Crake create driving, lyrical compositions that
have been compared to Sparklehorse, Portishead
and Wilco. The over-abundance of musicians
never seems like a hindrance.
Young Buffalo—Oxford, MS
Three part harmony and pounding percus-
sion, that’s the Young Buffalo M.O. It’s energetic
and glorious, music to triumph to, with great
dynamic changes sprinkled throughout.
G-Side
Oryx and Crake
Johnny Bertram & the Golden Bicycles—
Jackson, MS
Rustic folk with a pop edge, Johnny Bertram
& the Golden Bicycles plays music that speaks of
sunshine in the countryside but hides lyrics with a
darker take on things.
In addition, we are taking this opportunity
to announce the next ten bands you’ll be able to
discover at Secret Stages:
The Green Seed - Birmingham, AL
William Tyler - Nashville, TN
The Deloreans - Louisville, KY
Delicate Cutters - Birmingham, AL
Kovacs and the Polar Bears - Asheville, NC
Futurebirds - Athens, GA
Model Citizen - Birmingham, AL
URI - Tuscaloosa, AL
The Sunshine Factory - Mobile, AL
The Bohannons - Chattanooga TN
To find more about all of these bands,
including streaming music and video, visit
www.secretstages.net.
Tickets for Secret Stages will be available
next week. For early birds, a weekend pass is
$15 and a V.I.P. pass is $35. Stay tuned to www.
secretstages.net for further announcements
about bands and ticket availability.
Secret Stages is sponsored by Alabama
Power, Regions Bank, Supreme Beverage, CBS
42, B-Metro Magazine, Birmingham Mountain
Radio, Ticket Biscuit, The Wilbanks Agency and
Birmingham Weekly.
Sam George is the managing editor of
Birmingham Weekly. Please send your comments
to editor@bhamweekly.com.