To celebrate our partnership with the Emerging Artists Series at Summerfest 2016, 88Nine hosted the Emerging Artists Series Launch Party at Studio Milwaukee on Wednesday, June 1.
The party was free and open to the public and featured No No Yeah Okay, Ray Nitti and Kyle Feerick.
Check out a recap and photos from the event below:
Emerging Artists Series provides new opportunities for local musicians Written by: Karlie Miller, 88Nine intern
Just one year shy of its 50th anniversary, Summerfest is one of the world’s largest music festivals and has become a cultural staple of Milwaukee. For ten years, the Emerging Artists Series at Summerfest has been showcasing local and national talent, providing up-and-coming artists the opportunity to share their sound with a larger audience.
During all daily performances, audience members can vote for their favorite artists via text. The artists with the most texts will receive an “Emerging Artist Series Care Package” loaded with gear and merchandise valued at around $3,000.
Kyle Feerick, Ray Nitti and NO NO YEAH OKAY who performed at the Emerging Artists Series Launch Party, are three of the five local musicians that will be representing Milwaukee at Summerfest.
“It’s humbling. It’s a huge festival and it’s cool to be a small part of it,” Mark Gage, producer for NO NO YEAH OKAY said.
Having access to such a large musical platform not only gives these local musicians the opportunity to share their unique sound with people from all over the world, but it also gives them a chance to share their messages.
Ray Nitti, local hip hop artist, sheds light on inner city issues such as lack of proper education and poverty through his lyrics. Being a part of the Emerging Artists Series gives Nitti the chance to promote awareness and ignite a conversation amongst a larger group of people.
“They hear about the violence going on but that’s just an effect of a lot of different things; the poverty levels, the lack of proper education and stuff like that,” Nitti said. “We want people to become more aware that these things are real issues that people are living through everyday. We use that platform to tell these stories and start the conversation to begin the process of healing and then we can begin the process of diminishing that stigma.”
Other Milwaukee artists that will be performing in the Emerging Artists Series include Space Raft and Eagle Trace alongside national artists such as Diane Coffee, Cavewives, The Young Wild and Air Traffic Controller.
To discover new music at Summerfest, stop by the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage daily and vote for your favorite artists. The full 2016 Emerging Artists Series lineup can be found at Summerfest.com.
The Summerfest Street Team presented by Subway and CITGO Fueling Good was on site to provide a FREE weekday admission ticket to everyone in attendance.
More about the Emerging Artists Series:
Summerfest 2016 will welcome back the Emerging Artists Series presented by Full Compass Systems and 88Nine RadioMilwaukee. For a decade, this series has highlighted up-and-coming local and national talent during daily performances that not only showcase great live music, but also engage the audience by allowing patrons to vote for their favorites. Some artists in past series have gone on to become nationally known, including The Mowgli's,WALK THE MOON, Nathaniel Rateliff and X Ambassadors.
This year, the series will take place every day of the festival on the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage with Blue Moon Brewing Company and88Nine RadioMilwaukee.