Ten years is a lifetime in the music business. But as technology makes our day-to-day digital and speeds up change, what you’ve just heard, what you’ve just experienced, is already becoming obsolete, a useless artifact.
That alone would make the GroundUP Music Festival, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary at the Miami Beach Bandshell March 13-15 remarkable.
How it got here makes it one of a kind.
(Courtesy GroundUP Music Festival)
Michael League and Paul Lehr, co-founders of GroundUP Music Festival.
“We're trying to shine a light on great artists who aren't already very, very well known,” said Michael League, leader of the enterprising 20-member jazz collective Snarky Puppy.
League, a five-time Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, arranger, and songwriter, is the co-founder of GroundUP Music, a project that includes a record label, an annual music festival, and the non-profit GroundUP Foundation.
"I mean, sure, we've definitely had some artists on the (GroundUP) label at the festival with slightly bigger names,” said League, “But for me, the heart of the festival is the artists people haven't heard of when they come, but then can't stop talking about when they leave. Rather than a place to go to hear the people that you're already a fan of, we try to make this festival a discovery point for people.”
Headliners this year include Snarky Puppy, which performs every night, including a full “Family Dinner” set, in which the band accompanies featured performers; multidisciplinary musician and filmmaker Flying Lotus (aka Steve Ellison); pianist, keyboardist, composer, and producer Patrice Rushen; singer and songwriter Rickie Lee Jones; singer, songwriter and producer Bilal, guitarist Isaiah Sharkey, vocalist Arooj Aftab; guitarist Julian Lage; multi-instrumentalist and singer Alain Perez, and flutist and vocalist Varijashree Venugopal.
(Photo: AstorMorgan)
Two-time Grammy winner singer and songwriter Rickie Lee Jones performs a full set Friday and joins Snarky Puppy for Family Dinner on Saturday at the GroundUP Music Festival.
The festival takes place on the main Bandshell stage and in the surrounding park area, including the adjacent UNIDAD Senior Center. The program also includes workshops and encounters such as “Artist to Artist”: Patrice Rushen interviewed by Nigel Hall; “The Legacy of D’Angelo”: Isaiah Sharkey interviewed by Bilal; Rickie Lee Jones on “Creativity in Popular Song”; and “Mind Games: Mentality in Music Production” with League.
“When I was CEO of YoungArts, we ran similar programs,” said Paul Lehr, CEO of the GroundUP Music Foundation and co-founder of the festival. “That was where I formed the idea of doing small workshops and master classes, keeping things intimate. In general, my colleague and I are not huge festivals fans. So, we decided not to follow the standard festival model. Normally, when you see the same artists on all the lineups, it's because they have strong social media numbers and they're routed through the area.”
It was important for League and Lehr to have the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, where both were born and raised.
(Photo: ravismits)
Grammy-winning musician, composer, and producer Arooj Aftabwill perform at the GroundUP Music Festival
“Every time Michael and I do interviews together, the reporter always says, ‘Why are you in Miami Beach?’” said Lehr. “And Michael just points at me and says, it is Paul's fault. Yes, I have insisted we should have it here. This is my home. I want to do everything I can to support and expand the cultural opportunities here.”
Lehr credits League for the curation.
“He is one of the most phenomenal musicians on the planet, featuring the best artists most people have never heard of,” Lehr said. “We have just a different approach from the artist selection standpoint.”
Accessibility to the artists is another plus, said Lehr.
“Usually, artists will come in, go to their trailer, go to the stage, play, go back to their trailer, and be gone. With us, the artist stays the entire weekend. That breaks down the barriers between the artists and the audience. You can go up and talk to Isaiah Sharkey or Bilal or Flying Lotus or whoever else because they're sitting there watching the other shows – and that changes the experience.”
(Courtesy GroundUP Music Festival)
Singer, songwriter, and producer Bilal, known for collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, and Beyonce, is part of the GroundUP Music Festival line-up
The tone was set from the start, in the early editions of the festival, with memories of the late David Crosby, calmly wandering about with an amused look before his set, waiting for the next performance, or watching Cuban singer and guitarist Eliades Ochoa, of Buena Vista Social Club fame, enjoying a quiet moment with his family, having an ice cream. But the setting also encourages unplanned musical moments, and spontaneous collaborations.
Rushen was intrigued by the idea of GroundUP and will be appearing for the first time in South Florida with her septet.
“It’s actually in keeping more with what it was supposed to be: a community of people who share their interest in the music and have an opportunity to spend time in an environment where the focus is the music, whether you're a player or you are a fan,” said Rushen.
(Courtesy GroundUP Music Festival)
Pianist, keyboardist, composer, and producer Patrice Rushen will perform at the GroundUP Music Festival.
Ten years ago, talk around the GroundUP festival of creating a community around a shared platform, notions of a generous, globally reaching diversity, and creative musical ideals sounded commendably idealistic – but also likely to crash with the bottom line.
Yet a decade later, GroundUP is thriving. As musicians' livelihoods face brutal challenges ranging from the economics of streaming services to political changes and the threat of AI, developing, and nurturing an alternative business model built on higher values, networking, and community might not be so unrealistic.
That said, the attacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion are not parlor discussions but have dire, practical consequences, especially for an event that "over the 10 years, almost 70% of our audience have come from 50 states and 55 countries,” said Lehr.
“We are about community and diversity, and our audience comes from all over the world,” Lehr said. “Many literally fly in for this. It's a small, intimate event. But when you turn around, this person is from Spain, this person is South African, this one is from Australia, and this one came from Ohio. It’s a diverse community united by music and camaraderie.”
League reflected on how the festival started like a fun proposition.
“The idea of just calling all of your musician friends and getting them together in the same place is a dream for anyone who plays music,” League said. “Now, this was before COVID, before all of the political upheaval in the U.S., and before this kind of oligarchical takeover. It started as just a fun thing that we were all interested in doing.”
League said now it’s different.
“It feels a little more vital, especially as the music industry is crumbling in many respects,” he said. “Live music is emerging as the one pillar, the last thing we'll have if everything else goes. I think the festival sticking around is a statement.”
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IF YOU GO
GroundUP Music Festival
Miami Beach Bandshell
7275 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
March 13-15