FLORENCE – While a lot of music is based on three chords or three-part harmony, an annual music festival at the University of North Alabama is set over three nights this week.
Starting Tuesday, the Mane Room Music Festival is a three-night music event featuring a songwriting competition, battle of the bands, and a Muscle Shoals song review.
The festival is a collaboration between the Department of Entertainment Industry, within the School of the Arts at the University of North Alabama, along with MEISA and Phi Mu Alpha.
“The Department of Entertainment Industry has been in operation since 1973 as ‘commercial music’ and now as a freestanding department since 2006, totaling 50 years of our students successfully navigating the music and entertainment business,” said Dr. Charles Brooks, an assistant professor in the department and among the organizers of the festival. “We have invited high school students to participate for free, and the competitions are popularity-based, which means they will need to bring their supports along to garner enough votes to claim the first-prize spots.”
The festival nights are:
- Tuesday – “Sound of the Town,” a songwriting competition for up-and coming high school musicians who are writing songs and who want to showcase their talent.
- Wednesday – Battle of the bands competition among high school bands showcasing their talents among all genres.
- Thursday – A Muscle Shoals Song Review, featuring The Midnighters.
All competitions are free to high school students and their friends and families.
