SouthSounds has changed shapes many times since its start. The festival grew out of two earlier events — Kris Skoda’s Coastline Chronicles in 2010 and the LoDa Live series helmed by Emily Hayes and Ted Flotte — before uniting as SouthSounds in 2012. Six years later, the 2017 edition spans more than 65 bands across 14 stages.
New this year is a formal Board of Directors, a group of volunteers and music advocates working to build something lasting for Mobile. We asked several of them why SouthSounds matters and which acts they’re most excited to see.
Why it matters
“SouthSounds is important not only to downtown Mobile, but to all the citizens of our fair city,” said Riley Copeland, the board’s VIP and sponsor chairman. Carol Hunter of the Downtown Mobile Alliance pointed to the festival’s “cool factor” as a tool for helping the city compete for 21st-century talent.
Ann Rambeau, who handles SouthSounds logistics for the City of Mobile, framed it in practical terms: the event adds to quality of life and economic growth, drawing people downtown who might not otherwise come.
Must-see bands
Board members named a wide range of picks. Ginna Inge of The Steeple on St. Francis highlighted Muddy Magnolias, The Wild Feathers, and Big Freedia. President Gabe Fleet pointed to The Wild Feathers, Young Mister, and Sweet Crude. Emily Hayes, a cofounder, leaned local with Bantam Foxes, Jeff the Brotherhood, She Returns From War, and The Hallers.
The volunteer media coordinator, covering the festival since 2012, urged fans not to miss local favorites like The Dirty Lungs, Glass War, Jamell Richardson, Infant Richard and the Delta Stones, and Black Titan.
A community effort
SouthSounds began as a nonprofit special event under the Mobile Arts Council and still runs on volunteer energy. As Hayes put it, the goal was always to grow at a sustainable pace so the second weekend of April in Mobile, Alabama would become synonymous with SouthSounds — and to keep bringing the best up-and-coming Southern musicians to the city for years to come.