Music, Food, and Drink: Huntsville’s Restaurant Week, A Feast for the Senses

August 10, 2021 by Grace Treutel

Culture, Festivals, Food, Huntsville, Live Music, Musicians

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This Friday, August 13^th, kicks of Huntsville Restaurant Week, a “10-day celebration of [Huntsville’s] diverse local cuisine.” The North Alabama food festival features over 70 participating restaurants, all of which have crafted local specials for visitors and locals to enjoy during the extended week, and many of which feature our very favorite thing: live local music.

HuntsvilleMusic.com sat down with Pam Williams from the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau to find out what to expect during this year’s revelry, as well as Stephen Ryberg, General Manager of Rhythm on Monroe, to talk about live music and all the delicious dishes and drinks he’s rolling out for Restaurant Week.

“Everyone should be able to find something that they really can enjoy,” promises Pam of the food, drinks, and music happening during Huntsville Restaurant Week. And we know it’s true – we dug into Rhythm on Monroe’s snapper, tomato pie, and Strawberry Frosé, just to name a few, all while being serenaded on the rooftop bar by Rhythm’s featured artist for the night, Sara Johnson.

Check it all out above in our latest HuntsvilleMusic.com video feature.

For more details and a complete list of participating restaurants, visit Huntsville.org/restaurantweek. To follow the goings-on of Restaurant Week and share your own decadent dining, check out and tag @visithuntsvilleal on Instagram and make sure to tag your photos #dinehsv! Happy eating, Huntsville!

Grace Treutel

Grace is the Content Director of HuntsvilleMusic.com and lives in Madison, AL, which really isn’t that far, guys.

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Midsommar’s Festival: A Defiance and Celebration of Nature

June 25, 2021 by Grace Treutel

Festivals, Huntsville, Leigh Acres

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Midsommar’s Festival is a summer solstice music festival and day-long experience happening Saturday, June 26^th from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Leigh Acres – and you’re not going to want to miss this. The festival’s hosts encourage white and floral attire and, while libations won’t be on sale, it’s BYOB with camping spots available. The festival will be an all-night celebration revolving around four rock and metal bands though there’s far more than just music on offer. Bonfires, yoga, massage, a maypole, merchandise vendors, and more will be stationed throughout the festival grounds, and attendees are encouraged to bring their own acoustic music makers to contribute to the solstice vibe.

The summer solstice, also known as estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of the Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures and has been marked by festivals and rituals. Festivals themselves are unique to the human race – no other creature gathers for the sole purpose of revelry and celebration. Music is an integral part of this revelry.

Music Lineup

Obed Edom – Experimental, long form, trance inducing rock band

XY Spaces – Vaudeville meets metal

Dropdiver – Dirty rock-n-roll

Evelyna – Traditional metal

Over the last year, COVID has not only taken a toll on the physical health of humanity as a whole but has damaged our collective psyche. Now, we are all coming together to heal and celebrate as a unified force – to mark the beginning of summer, the end of isolation, and the rebirth of us all. There is no better personification of both humanity’s defiance and revelrous nature than through gatherings and music, a festival of metal. A Midsommar Festival.

“Music is a part of it but it is also an excuse to get out in the fresh air and have a good time,” promises Austin, one of Midsommer Festival’s orchestrators. Know Huntsville and HuntsvilleMusic.com met with him and Ben, both musicians with headlining band Obed Edom and the hosts of the festival, to find out their motivations for creating the festival and what we can expect to find there.

Buy Tickets Here

Festival Details Page

Grace Treutel

Grace is the Content Director of HuntsvilleMusic.com and lives in Madison, AL, which really isn’t that far, guys.

huntsvillemusic.com/

A Taste of Panoply’s Live Music

I think we can all agree that as 2021 progresses, things are seriously looking up – vaccines are rolling out, the weather is beautiful, and, best of all, Panoply is back on.

Panoply is Huntsville’s famous three-day arts festival that takes place every spring at Big Spring Park and is a round up of local artists, food and drink vendors, and awesome music that brings the community together. This weekend, Panoply’s back, and it’s going to look a little different – but one thing that remains the same is the presence of local musical talent.

We had the privilege of spending an evening with Lana White and her bandmate, Kira Hughes, of Lana and the Seekers, who’ll be performing in the coveted Saturday afternoon spot to open for Southern rock sound the Vegabonds. They gave us some insight on what to expect not just from their act but from the festival as a whole.

First, though, let’s dive into what this year’s Panoply will look like and why Arts Huntsville is referring to it as ‘A Taste of Panoply.’

‘“A Taste of Panoply,’ a scaled-back version of the annual three-day arts festival, will be held from April 23-25, 2021, in Big Spring Park in downtown Huntsville. This year’s event will look different from previous years while providing the community with an opportunity to safely interact to celebrate and support the arts community.” – Arts Huntsville

This means a few major changes, most of which focus on social distancing, increased cleanliness and sanitizing protocols, and a donation-based pay structure. Find out more details here at the Arts Huntsville Panoply page.

What this year’s Panoply isn’t scaling back, however, is music. Their weekend lineup is an astounding collection of local and national talent, outlined in detail by Arts Huntsville:
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FRIDAY APRIL 23

“The ticketed “A Taste of Panoply” Friday Festival Preview event kicks off with the Lamont Landers Band. Closing out the evening is Nashville-based headlining act The War And Treaty. The dynamic husband-and-wife duo were named emerging artists of the year by the Americana Music Association and were featured on the Today Show and at the 2021 Rose Bowl Parade Spectacular. The War And Treaty has previously performed with Mumford & Sons, toured with Jason Isbell and will be opening for John Legend on multiple tour dates this summer.
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SATURDAY APRIL 24

Saturday on the Showcase Stage features local and regional talent throughout the day including the following acts: Tyler A.K., Them Damn Dogs, WANDA, Joe Cagle, DMRSoul and Lana White. Saturday night, the Unique Live Band will open for the headlining act The Vegabonds, who will close out the evening with a night of Southern rock music. The Alabama-born, Tennessee-bred group of five musicians released their fifth studio album “V” in 2019 and have previously opened for acts such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the late Gregg Allman.

The Lamont Landers Band

The War & Treaty

Them Damn Dogs

WANDA

LANA WHITE

SUNDAY APRIL 25

On Sunday, “A Taste of Panoply” celebrates a day of Alabama Music, featuring a full-day lineup of artists from North Alabama with the following acts: Cotton and Clover, Alan Little and the Giants, Ally Cat and the Stray Dogs, Midlife Chrysler and The Beasley Brothers to the Showcase Stage.”

HuntsvilleMusic.com sat down with Lana White and Kira Hughes of Lana and the Seekers to talk Panoply, the Huntsville music scene, and women in music.

Lana and the Seekers is a Huntsville all-girl band comprised of Lana White, Kira Hughes, Canita Rogers, Alli Johnson, and Kim Coffey, all talented Huntsville musicians who play in other acts or solo but who are coming together with the shared vision of creating Huntsville’s own all-female rock group. And, for most of the band, it’s their first time playing Panoply – a fitting starting point for the 256 fixtures.

LANA AND THE SEEKERS INTERVIEW

They promise rock with intricate melodies, harmonizing, and ear-pleasing guitar riffs to kick off the Saturday evening lineup. I ask Lana about the band and their sound and she is, as always, easy to talk to, warm and open as if she’s an old friend and not someone I’ve only met once before. She and Kira have easy rapport and volley compliments back and forth with a genuineness that you can’t help but lean into, charmed by their earnestness.

“She’s the best drummer I know,” Lana enthuses at one point, as Kira, shyer by nature, affectionately shakes her head. Fewer than five minutes later, however, Kira’s giving it right back, describing how easy it is to put together a set list from Lana’s original music – “It’s all so good, there’s so much great stuff to choose from.”

And Lana and the Seekers will be playing their original music at Panoply, along with a few ‘girl rock’ power anthems to get the crowd singing along.

“We wanted to pay tribute to other all-female rock groups that have paved the way, so we’ve got the Bengals, the Go Gos, Heart,” Lana says, Kira nodding along as she speaks. This cohesion comes from years of knowing one another, though Lana and the Seekers haven’t gotten the chance to play together yet.

And we can think of a better stage to debut than Panoply’s.

Panoply arts festival will be happening at Big Spring Park this weekend, April 23^rd – 25^th, and will feature all manner of eclectic art from local and regional talent as well as good food, cold drinks, and fantastic music. Visit Arts Huntsville to learn more about ticketing, safety, and more – and we’ll see y’all there.

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Grace Treutel

Grace is the Content Director of HuntsvilleMusic.com and lives in Madison, AL, which really isn’t that far, guys.

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