'Music in the Middle' Brings Good Vibes to Middle Tennessee

By Joseph Stanford

            MURFREESBORO, Tenn.— Music in the Middle hosted the “Heady Vibes Mini Music Festival” at Main St. Live located at 527 W. Main St. on April 20, showcasing bands from the Middle Tennessee area.

            The “Heady Vibe Music Festival” offered live music with genres ranging from rock to funk, local art and merchandise vendors, and free food. The festival started at 6 p.m. and went into the early hours of the next day. Attendees enjoyed various shows on Main St. Live's upstairs and downstairs stages.

            “Music in the Middle” is a local music festival started by Cameron Sloan, a senior at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in Concrete Management, and Stephen Masterson, who currently attends Motlow State Community College, but plans on transferring to MTSU. Shortly after forming, Sloan and Masterson recruited friend Kelsey Klingenmeyer, a senior Visual Communications major at MTSU, to be their design and media manager and photographer. They, along with other friends they’ve enlisted since then, have already put on 10 events in preparation for their main festival.

             “We now have land, which is the most exciting,” Klingenmeyer said. “Our festival will be held Oct. 4 through 6 in Woodbury, Tenn., on enough acreage to hold 10,000 people comfortably. It will be a three-day camping festival. People will also be able to buy day passes.”

            The crew’s latest event, “Heady Vibes,” featured a few of the 250 bands eager to take part in this local music showcase. Funk-soul Sky Hi, indie-rock Dead Martinis, groovy Space Capone, reggae-rock Groove Cirquet, jam band A LA CARTE, and jazz-funk Smooth Dialects graced the Main St. Live stage Saturday night.

            In addition to the music, local business Enchanted Planet set up merchandise for people to browse, while a live artist created artwork outside during the show and vendors provided free pizza and wings.

            “We are trying to keep it as local as possible—beer, liquor, vendors, sponsors and artists,” Klingenmeyer said. “We also are getting a lot of help and support through MTSU. Especially from 88.3, our student-ran radio.”

            MIM incorporated social media throughout the night, projecting live tweets about the event on the wall near the main stage.

            “Our main goal is to help our local artists—music and art—to get exposure, and hopefully help some of them begin their journey to making it big,” Klingenmeyer said. “There is so much talent in Middle Tennessee, and we are here to help people hear the awesome music and art that is made here.”
          For more information about the event, visit https://www.facebook.com/MusicInTheMiddleArtsFestival .

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