LOCAL FOCUS
Drive Out Doubt festival showcases ABQ musicians
For months, Drew Herig has worked diligently in planning an Albuquerque music festival.
This would be like no other in that it would showcase Albuquerque musicians.
The hard work is coming to fruition, with the inaugural Drive Out Doubt Music Festival beginning at noon Saturday, Sept. 22 , at The Sandbar.
“We’ve had amazing support from the artists,” he says. “And our team with Drive Out Doubt has been amazing in getting it all done.”
Drive Out Doubt LLC, formed in October, is an organization aiming to give back to the community through music events.
It is run by Herig, Kaelin Brennan and Mike Mares.
Herig reached out to Albuquerque musicians — and they answered his call.
The lineup for the event features The Noms, Reviva, Dylan Huling, Bosqo, Kevin Herig, Wyatt Lawson, Nate B., Kuhnizer, Qwhyit, Sadé Munirah and The Riddims.
“All of these people share the same vision and want to help us change the narrative,” Herig says. “It’s Year One, and we’ve got an exceptional lineup of Albuquerque musicians. Moving forward, it’s going to be a great building block, and hopefully we can change the Albuquerque music scene.”
Herig and crew also wanted to get music into another part of the city.
“Downtown has its own vibe and is heading in the right direction,” he says. “We want to bring the music out to a different area. We’re also excited to have performers that a lot of people haven’t seen perform live. We’re putting all this talent together. It’s not genre-specific. The music runs the gamut.”
In addition to keeping the music local, Herig says, it was important that the festival give back locally as well.
In fact, some of the proceeds will go toward Albuquerque Public Schools’ fine arts program.
“Our goal is being able to give back to the city that gave to us,” he says. “All three of us want to give back to the programs that helped us in arts. The program is always struggling with funds, and hopefully we can help them with a little bit of money. We have yet to decide exactly what the proceeds will benefit, and the program knows exactly what they need.”