A two-day festival at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will host visual and performing artists in every venue available, Sept. 13-14.
EMERGE FEST is presented by UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center and its partner institution across 10th Avenue, UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts.
The festival weekend starts with a free, outdoor season kickoff party featuring Tank and the Bangas at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13. It will close with headliner and hometown favorites The Brook & The Bluff of Birmingham at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14; tickets for that show are $10. For all other performances in EMERGE FEST, admission is free. Food trucks and cash bars will be available. Call 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org for information or to purchase tickets.
The EMERGE FEST lineup Saturday, Sept. 14, will include:
- Early James and the Latest, 3 p.m., Alys Stephens Center’s Odess Theatre.
- Alabama Ballet, 4 p.m., UAB’s AEIVA.
- “Chamber Music @ AEIVA,” in collaboration with the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music and Birmingham Art Music Alliance, 5 p.m. in UAB’s AEIVA. The concert will be curated by Laura Usiskin with music connected to the AEIVA exhibits "Quentin Morris," Christina West’s “Unscene” and Mary Frances Whitfield’s “Why?”
- Clinton Babers, 6 p.m., Alys Stephens Center’s Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall.
- Kim Scott, 7 p.m., Alys Stephens Center’s Sirote Theatre.
- The Brook & The Bluff, 8 p.m., Alys Stephens Center’s Jemison Concert Hall. Tickets are $10. Established in Birmingham and now based in Nashville, The Brook & The Bluff is a four-man alternative rock and indie band traveling and recording music since late 2016. The group is front man Joseph Settine, drummer John Canada, guitarist Alec Bolton and bassist Fred Lankford. The guys have quickly become recognized for their evocative blend of instrumental talent and vocal harmony, elements readily apparent in the band’s first single, “Masks.” Released in September of 2016, the song has helped spur the band forward in their musical pursuits. From charting on Spotify’s United States and Canada Viral 50 Playlists, to performing at the National Association of Music Merchants shows in both Nashville and Anaheim and selling out shows in Atlanta, Birmingham and Nashville, the band had an exhilarating 2017. The Brook & The Bluff opened for Judah and the Lion at last year’s Kentucky Derby. Their top influencers are vocalists including Kacey Musgraves, John Mayer, Frank Ocean, The Beatles and Bon Iver. The band won 2018 Best of Birmingham “Best Local Band,” beating out St. Paul & the Broken Bones.