The Park Metropolis Track Summit, descending upon the Utah metropolis of its namesake September 7-10 of this yr, is a gathering for open-hearted troubadours, music followers, folks processing recoveries and traumas, and extra. It’s an occasion of radical honesty at its core, one which redefines what it means to be a musician and why so many artists battle with psychological well being points, addictions, and traumas that (for a mess of causes) go undiagnosed.
“I need this occasion to debate and convey normalcy and readability to points that for too lengthy have been swept beneath the carpet or spoken about in hushed voices,” occasion founder Ben Anderson says.
Due to the occasion’s distinctive perspective, Anderson discovered it crucial to construction it in a distinct, considerate approach. As a substitute of bands taking turns taking part in set after set, the Park Metropolis Track Summit is constructed round a variety of completely different applications. For instance, there are Summit Labs, which host artists in dialog with each other to debate subjects that always go ignored within the music trade.
In a single Summit Lab, Jason Isbell, Margo Value, Warren Haynes and Newport Folks’s Jay Candy will take a deep dive into the teachings of John Prine — issues like “social equality, humor, and preserving your soul intact whereas navigating the music trade.” Followers can buy tickets to every Summit Lab, which additionally embrace a dwell taping of Andrew Fowl’s Dwell from The Nice Room. The pioneering YouTube sequence showcases the inventive course of throughout a large spectrum of arts, with the occasion’s episode that includes Fred Armisen.
For followers seeking to rock out, there are many concert events which might be must-see occasions, like Father John Misty on Thursday with help from Bonny Gentle Horseman and Rising Appalachia. And since the Park Metropolis Track Summit has a deal with restoration (the charismatic founder himself is 15 years sober), the occasion offers a supportive setting that features sober inexperienced room area, guided yoga and meditations, day by day 12-step conferences and craft mocktails.
“There’s a approach for all concertgoers to coexist if we put intention to the method and hear,” Anderson says. “Some promoters and producers are very supportive, however I would really like it if extra of them would see the artist as an entire particular person and help them that approach.”
The occasion is as a lot a gathering floor for artists as it’s your typical festival-going expertise. It permits artists to elucidate their processes and dive into the trivialities of their work in a wholly distinctive approach. Alongside these intimate discussions, the occasion will host Songwriting Rounds, which permits the viewers to “hear the story behind their favourite songs from award-winning songwriters.”
The occasion has additionally paired with a variety of organizations that help its core mission. One such group, The Phoenix, suits in as an ideal help system for the Summit.
“The Phoenix is proud to accomplice with Stand Collectively Music to convey our programming to Park Metropolis Track Summit,” Scott Strode, Founder and Nationwide Government Director of The Phoenix, mentioned. “We consider that The Phoenix and Park Metropolis Track Summit share a novel objective: reworking the world by way of the ability of neighborhood. Our staff is thrilled to hitch PCSS as an on-site activation accomplice this yr, serving to facilitate the inventive journey of artists and attendees by way of quite a lot of psychological well being and wellness actions.”
The Park Metropolis Track Summit is above all, a approach for artists to precise themselves as human beings. Anderson believes that the viewers isn’t capable of see the souls inside artists usually sufficient, which may result in a scarcity of empathy. The Summit permits for artists to precise themselves each by way of their work and their personalities.
“We will maybe perceive and respect their music extra, however extra importantly, perceive and respect who they’re as people, their challenges, their successes, their failures,” Anderson says of his hopes for the occasion. “If our attendees can perceive the humanity that goes into music, we’d all be slightly extra conscious of each other and have the ability to coexist higher on this planet.”
