originally published: 09/15/2021
(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- Philly Music Fest carefully considered various safety protocols, as well as vaccination and infection rates in the Philadelphia-area, and determined to continue with Philly Music Fest’s annual all-Philly band non-profit music festival. All shows will require proof of vaccination (a negative test will not be sufficient). Masks will be required at World Cafe Live, Milkboy and Ardmore Music Hall, while masks will be encouraged at Johnny Brenda’s and REC Philly. Philly Music Fest runs from October 6– 10, 2021.
As a non-profit, the decision to carry on with Philly Music Fest this year was not one of profit motivation. “Cancelling the festival would be cancelling music education. We’re not in this for profit, we donate all of our profits to music education programs that desperately need funding this year to stay alive," says Greg Seltzer, founder and producer of Philly Music Fest. "Not to mention, the bands playing Philly Music Fest need to make some money after the shutdown - and our venues need to generate cash flow, so we balanced the risks and decided to implement significant safety precautions, providing refunds to anyone that is uncomfortable, but carry on with Philly Music Fest and generate money for music education, our local musicians and our venues.”
In addition to vaccination and mask mandates, Philly Music Fest made the tough decision to eliminate vendors, reduce on-site media presence and eliminate food giveaways. “In addition to musicians, we love featuring local visual artists and the amazing crafts of our region, but this year we just need to limit the number of bodies in each venue," says Seltzer. "We’re examining every angle to reduce risk and keep people safe.”
Philly Music Fest runs from October 6– 10, 2021. As Seltzer often repeats, “Our Genre is Philly”, as Philly Music Fest features Rock, Jazz, Hip Hop, Punk, Country, Folk, Pop and Spoken Word. Over the past five years, PMF has featured 96 bands from Philly, and this year will host national touring artists such as The Menzingers, Alex G, Hop Along, Ivy Sole, Son Little, Spirit of the Beehive, Control Top, Queen of Jeans and Moor Mother, as well as emerging artists Moses Mosima, Barney Cortez, Irreversible Entanglements, Stella Ruze, Highnoon, Moor Jewelry, West Philadelphia Orchestra, Annonxl, Lunch and Kelsey Cork and The Swigs.
Philly Music Fest has made a considerable impact in the Philly music community, having donated approximately $200,000 to music education and grants to musicians and venue staff in need, after paying musicians to perform at Philly Music Fest each year (annual musician budget approximates $100,000).
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"Well, I certainly hope so, it seems like it is," laughed Blues Traveler bassist Ben Wilson as he discussed what the band has been up to and their preparations before they hit the road once again for a Summer tour. "The band has been quite active over the years through touring and we managed to continue to record some records. We've done two kinds of covers records, the first one was a blues record which actually got nominated for a Grammy which was pretty cool and the next one, we did some soul covers. That one wasn't quite as well received but it was sure fun to make. So, it's been really cool; you have this massive success for a decade or so and then you kind of dip below that cultural Gestalt line where you're just kind of bubbling below the surface and you can do just fine there even though you're not on the cover of "The Rolling Stone" and that's kind of what we've been doing. We've had a good run, it has been fantastic and these summer tours where we get together with these other kind of bands of similar eras with similar kinds of hits; we're very fortunate as kind of a neo-hippie jam band from that era that kind of bucked some of the trends that were going on at the time but we were lucky enough to have a couple of hits and that has allowed us to have kind of a different career than just the straight jam bands do; not that that wouldn't be awesome as well because obviously many of them are doing just fine but it's just a slightly different road but it has been wonderful. We didn't rehearse a whole lot because we've been playing together for 38 years but things are good and we're stoked for this upcoming tour."
