As I mentioned last month, the Road to Nightfall is about to kick off, and event organizer Gig City Productions recently announced which artists will be battling it out for a purse that offers $2,000 and a headlining slot at Nightfall, among other prizes.
Casey PhillipsRoad to Nightfall mastermind Jonathan Susman says he received about 45 applications, a slight decrease compared to 2015. To compensate, the number of performance slots has decreased, from seven per night to six. Since Rhythm & Brews closed last fall, this year’s preliminaries will be held at Granfalloon, and the finale also has relocated, from The Camp House to Revelry Room.
Here’s how things will shake out when the rumble commences next week.
* March 11: Nick Lutsko, Dylan Ireland & The Smoke, Genki Genki Panic, The Scarlet Love Conspiracy, PLVNET and Sam Killed The Bear.
* March 12: Long Haul, Pluto’s Advantage, Preston Parris Band, Shabti, Big Green Funk and Marlow Drive.
* March 17: SunSap, Magic Birds, High Meadows Communion, Earl Brackin, Legal Adult and The Road Runners.
* March 18: Danimal Planet, The Giant & The Tailor, Jesse Jungkurth, Mendingwall, Dr. B & The Ease and Backwater Still.
* March 19: Krystye Dalton Band, Subkonscious, T.J.G. & The 423’s, Caney Creek Company, Steadfast Soul and Sexy Sullivan.
Since 2011, the Road to Nightfall has helped bands build their audience and forge new collaborations, but prize packages that now include rehearsal and recording time and professional development workshops can’t help but improve the profile of local artists and raise the bar for the music Chattanooga is exporting to other markets.
“I feel like Road to Nightfall and the work I started with this five years ago helped drive the conversations that created SoundCorps [a musical economic development nonprofit] and got Mary Howard Ade her job at the Convention & Visitors Bureau [as music marketing manager],” Susman says. “I don’t think we would have gotten as far if we didn’t have the success you did see from the bands who came out of Road to Nightfall.”
This year’s winner will join ranks of past victors that include some of the most entertaining Chattanooga artists of recent memory, including Ryan Oyer Band (2015), Function: With a “C” (2014), Amber Fults & The Ambivalent Lovers (2013), Strung Like a Horse (2012) and WTM Blues Band (2011).
What are your thoughts about Road to Nightfall? Is it making a difference in the local scene? Should a band you love have won instead of one of the past winners? Email me, and we’ll compare notes.
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.