By Fran Thompson Locally produced and with an equal emphasis on local talent, the inaugural Deep South Music Festival will be held on September 27 at Oysterella’s on the Moble Causeway in Spanish Fort. The fest will feature at least 17 regional and local acts on three stages and pull from genres ranging from reggae, funk and blues to bluegrass, country, and hip-hop.

Bands booked include The Burnin’ Smyrnans from New Smyrna Beach, FL; Juice (featuring Fairhope’s Chris Spies on keyboards) from New Orleans; Wes Loper, The Lowdown Throwdown, Hank Becker, Subject Matters, DJ Fragment, Microphone Messengers, Tyler Champion and Mob Towne Revival from Mobile; Swamp Wampus from Auburn; The Dig and Jerusalem High from Ocean Springs; The Common Thread from Birmingham; and Bust, Tyler Champion, Phunk Blue Moon and Grey Matters from Fairhope. Gates will open at 11 a.m. Music will start soon after that and continue through Burnin’ Smyrnans’ 10 p.m. set.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate and may be purchased at Oysterella’s, Dr. Music in Fairhope and Serda’s Coffee Company in downtown Mobile. The fest took shape with music junkie David Sisco, who approached musician Ryan Balthrop with the idea. Balthrop has years of experience in bands that include Slow Moses, Refried Confusion, Loose Cannons and his current band, LowDown ThrowDown. Balthrop also books other bands through his promotion company, SoonCome! Entertainment. “Ryan has a lot of connections and all the locals love and respect him and his bands,’’ Sisco said. “David has been wanting to do it for years and we started talking about six months ago,’’ Balthrop said. “This is an event put on by friends who want to organically represent the best that Mobile and its surrounding area has to offer.

“It’s in a beautiful waterfront venue that is new to the area,’’ Balthrop added. “It’s new and fresh, just like our festival. Balthrop saidd Will Isherwood and his company, Prime Suspect Productions, has been instrumental in organizing ht event and will also be director of lighting. Timmy Dennis with The Music Exchange, and Josh Murry with Endeavor Audio are providing the sound for each stage. JMF Solutions Inc. designed and hosts the fest Website (deepsouthmusics.com).

92 ZEW is an event sponsor and will broadcast live from Oysterella’s on the day of the event, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Bo Roberts Memorial Music Fund. (www.boroberts music.com). Bo was an amazing songwriter and blues organist and also a great friend and fan of the Mobile music community. “His untimely death left a great big piano shaped hole in the world,’’ said Steve Barnes, also a Mobile musician. “We love him and miss him dearly.’’ Balthrop said he would also like to promote a Deep South Music Festival, complete with camping, tubing and other water activities, on the Styx River in the spring.

“That would be in addition to the fall festival at Oysterella’s and probably be a multi-day type event,’’ he said. Burnin Syyrnans Logging in over 30 Festival performances in in the past two years, The Burnin Smyrnans strive to gain national recognition with a music style that is, in the band’s words, “Diverse, Festive and Organic.” The band formed in 2002 when multi-instrumentalists Jeff White and Jason Wigley started playing acoustic guitars for friends at parties. After throwing hand drums in the mix, they found instant chemistry.

They played with various rhythm sections until Jeff switched to Bass. They recruited Anthony Diaz on drums in 2004, and everything fell into place. Burnin’ Smyrnans have been touring constantly to establish their grassroots following and promote their latest release, “Travelalong.” The current line-up has 400 plus shows behind it and also features Jason Rogers on guitar and Eric Christian on sax and back-up vocals. The band has performed over 400 shows with this lineup.

Juice For over 12 years, Juice has lived, preached and spread the musical traditions of New Orleans to all corners of the U.S. Combining elements of New Orleans funk and R&B, second line, blues and rock, Juice has performed over 1100 shows nationwide, gaining a reputation for their musical dexterity and all night jams. They’ve been compared to their musical influences - the Meters, Dr. John, Little Feat - and New Orleans contemporaries the Radiators and Galactic. Long established in their hometown, they are 24/7 musicians who keep New Orleans funkin and rockin year round.

Lowdown Throwdown Balthrop and Keith Williams make up the improvisational and song oriented acoustic duo, Loose Cannons. And they enlist the energy and dynamic abilities of Brian Mattei on bass and Sean Sullivan on drums for the full band sound that is Lowdown Throwdown. Performing almost 300 shows a year since late 2002, Balthrop and Williams create a blend of music that can be described as Beachbilly. Balthrop’s background is rooted in Alabama Southern sould, but he also pulls from his years living in the Virgin Islands.

His songs are sometimes comedic, sometimes thought provoking, sometimes drink provoking, In turn, Williams’ spent nights playing blues on Beale St. while studying Jazz at the University of Memphis. Tyler Champion Fairhope’s own Tyler Champion plays a unique blend of rock, country, blues, and folk. He formed his band with brother-in-law James Kurisko, and they won a battle of the bands contest at South Alabama and opened for Sister Hazel.

After many band changes, they now have the talents of a family friend and great musician Adam Whatley. The band has one CD of a live performance and will soon release their first CD of original music. DSF Schedule Jerusulum High (12- 12:45) BUST (12:45-1:45) Richard & Brandy (1:30-2:30) The Common Thread (1:45-2:30) Hank Becker (2:30-3:15) The Dig (3:15-4:00) Swamp Wampus (4:00-5:00) Wes Loper (4-4:45) Microphone Messengers (5:00-5:30) Grey Matters (5:00-6:00) Phunk Blue Moon (5:30-6:00) Lowdown Throwdown (6:00-7:00) Mob Towne Revival (7:00-7:30) Tyler Champion (7:00-8:00) Subject Matters (7:30-8:00) Juice (8:00-9:30) DJ Fragment (9:30-10:00) Burnin’ Smyrnans (10-TIL)

Categories: Mobile
Tags: alabama music festivals, mobile deep south festival