Music in the Hall, a self-proclaimed “grass roots music video series,” will host a concert in Water Valley on Saturday night. The show will feature music by Thacker Mountain Radio Hour executive director and singer/songwriter Kate Teague, Water Valley instrumentalist Kell Kellum as well as Oxford blues and country artist Anne Freeman.
Music in the Hall was founded in Oxford in 2008 and has since expanded its reach to Chicago. The show relies on donations and backers to provide its audiences with intimate concerts held in small and sometimes untraditional venues featuring local bands.
Daniel Morrow is the co-founder and producer of Music in the Hall. He explained that the project began in 2008 when he realized that, despite the presence of a thriving community of filmmakers and audio engineers in Oxford, many of his favorite local bands didn’t have anyone to help create music videos or host them in what he described as a “house concert setting.”
“The primary purpose of the show is to help the bands get some good video produced at no cost,” Morrow said. “We need a small, intimate space to do that, so we end up with a special listening experience for the audience. The bands have also been appreciative of playing in front of audiences who give them their undivided attention.”
Kate Teague, the executive director at Thacker Mountain Radio Hour and an up-and-coming musician in Oxford, will perform on Saturday. She said she feels happy to live in a place that supports its local artists.
She also explained the importance of trying new things, experiencing different environments and using that to support other local groups and businesses.
“When you make an effort to continuously change your environment, you learn to become more adaptable to your surroundings, which opens your eyes to new experiences and mindsets,” Teague said. “Also, having the opportunity to support other local organizations and businesses is important to Thacker, as I’m sure it is to Music in the Hall.”
Kellum is a musician from Water Valley who makes “instrumental and moody” music with a pedal steel guitar. Kellum will play music from his newest album “Adding to the Ashes,” which was released in May of this year, at the Music in the Hall concert on Saturday.
“Music in the Hall gives me a great place to share my music,” Kellum said. “It’s really dynamic. Sometimes it’s very quiet and sometimes it’s loud. Doing it in an environment like Music in the Hall helps get the music across more. In this day and age, with so much noise, whether it be literal noise or Facebook noise, it’s important to unplug from everything and not have to worry about the stress of what’s been going on.”
Kellum explained that, as an artist in today’s world, it can be refreshing to perform to a quiet audience that is there just to listen to good music together.
“I enjoy both performing and being an audience member in this kind of capacity much more,” Kellum said. “It’s more like a jazz club than a rock and roll concert. I’m in four or five different bands right now that are more like rock and roll. This is a good getaway from all that.”
The Music in the Hall concert will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ryan Pierce Furniture and woodworking shop in Water Valley. Admission is $15.
