The 10th annual Secret Stages Music Discovery Festival took place in Birmingham, Alabama last weekend, August 6th and 7th.
After having to cancel last year’s 10 year anniversary, Secret Stages returned to the Avondale Entertainment District with its usual swath of upcoming, underground, and local artists. Taking over Avondale Brewing Company, Saturn, and an additional outdoor stage with a diverse selection of sounds from indie rock, underground hip-hop, americana, and more. WEGL was able to cover all 31 artists who performed over the two days.
Day one kicked off at Avondale Brewing Company with Rude & True, a Birmingham indie soul duo with a charm like no other. Mixing together great songwriting, keys, ukulele, xylophone, and more. Simultaneously, listeners were hit with resort realism’s psychedelic instrumental set across the street at Saturn. The day would then open up with hip-hop acts, singer/songwriters, and rock bands. Some notable sets were Oxford Con’s (an Auburn alumni), Mad Mike Martinez, Nick Shoulders, and Waltzer.
The next day, after what felt like a very short break from the music, festivities kicked back off with Ryan Sobb and the Dead Mall at Avondale. Day two brough some amazing acts to the stages, from S.G. Goodman’s electric folk/rock set at Avondale to billy wood’s and EUCLID’s closing set as Armand Hammer at Saturn late that night. WEGL got to catch Rose Hotel, who we previously covered opening for SUSTO at Standard Deluxe as well as fellow radio DJ Jackie Lo’s set with her band Dree Leer.
Overall, there’s no festival out there doing quite what Secret Stages does. We got to speak with the promoter of the festival, Sam, and he’s someone you just know if passionate about music. The festival is able to bring in such a wide array of music from a diverse group of artists from all around the country. You can walk from seeing Thelma and the Sleaze, a gritty true to self rock’n’roll band from Nashville, to Cipherella, a lyrical hip-hop performer based out of New York City.
WEGL is a variety station, so this festival was right up our alley. We’ll definitely be headed back next year. Who do y’all want to see in 2022?
Here’s the Secret Stages lineup, check out a couple of these acts! We’ve bolded a few that we particularly loved.
Rude & True (Birmingham, AL) – indie soul
resort realism (Birmingham, AL) – psychedelic, instrumental
The Monastery (Birmingham, AL) – rap duo
Oxford Con (Nashville, TN) – RnB, alternative
Zach Austin & the Stepdads (Birmingham, AL) – country, americana
Big Lo (Pensacola, FL) – hip-hop
Mad Mike Martinez (Asheville, NC) – indie, soul, hip-hop
Mel. Crozby (Birmingham, AL) – hip-hop, rap
Nick Shoulders (New Orleans, LA) – country, folk
Allie Baby (New Orleans, LA) – hip-hop, rap
Katie Toupin (Nashville, TN) – singer/songwriter, rock
DeeOhGee (Nashville, TN) – Appalachian rock
Ian Noe (Beattyville, KY) – country, americana
Waltzer (Chicago, IL) – indie rock
Ryan Sobb and the Dead Mall (Nashville, TN) – rock
San Alexander (Charlotte, NC) – hip-hop, rap
Kate Teague (New Orleans, LA) – singer/songwriter
Thelma and the Sleaze (Nashville, TN) – rock’n’roll
Cipherella (New York, NY) – hip-hop
S.G. Goodman (Murray, KY) – folk, rock
billy woods (Brooklyn, NY) – underground rap
Versailles The Everything (Charlotte, NC) – hip-hop
Thad Saajid (Florence, AL) – RnB, soul
John Hart (Nashville, TN) – singer/songwriter, rock
GT (Birmingham, AL) – hard rock
R.A.P. Ferreria (Nashville, TN) – rap
Becca Mancari (Nashville, TN) – singer/songwriter, indie
Rose Hotel (Atlanta, GA) – indie rock
Dree Leer (Birmingham, AL) – rock
Banditos (Nashville, TN) – alternative rock
Armand Hammer (Brooklyn, NY & Washington DC) – underground rap duo
Stay tuned on our website for more coverage from Secret Stages 2021.
Pictured: billy woods, Oxford Con, Thelma and the Sleaze. © Dylan Basden Photography.
