Festival
Hartbeat Festival 2020 also pioneers unique collaborations between disparate local acts. The funk fusion foursome Zillawatt will tangle with the multifaceted hip-hop artist Tang Sauce. Hannah’s Field adds the soul, jazz and R&B stylings of Mr. Qwes to their “modern hippie rasta folk” agenda. The festival’s host band, Professors of Sweet Sweet Music, take on four guest artists for their set: Miles Elliot of the aforementioned Miles Elliot Experience, guitarist Jeff Howard of McLovins and Barefoot Truth fame, singer/songwriter Erin Roccapriore and Sunday Vinyl frontman Robert Alarcon.
All the bands are playing their own original songs. In the case of Professors of Sweet Sweet Music, the songs are also brand new. The band that created the Hartbeat Festival goes into overdrive, with all new material, a different guest collaborator for each song, and the biggest set of the festival.
The collaborations were shot live at Riverside Park late last month.
“We popped up at the park, set up the equipment and patched together the bands,” Henrichon says. “It was really community oriented.” In most cases, he says, the collaborators didn’t know each other before they were thrust together musically.
Riverfront Recapture is still the event’s main sponsor, and other Riverfront locations besides Riverside Park make appearances in the collaborative videos.
Other Hartbeat constants: as it has been
since it began, the concert is free and family-friendly.
“This is all about the community vibe of the bands,” Henrichon says. “Everybody was on board for this.”
The 2020 Hartbeat Music Festival will be webcast Sept. 12 from 4 to 8 p.m. on the Riverfront Recapture Facebook page. More information can be found at facebook.com/ HartbeatMusicFestival.