Black music has had such a major and often overlooked impact on culture. While these days, it’s often more associated with Hip-Hop and modern R&B (which have influenced almost every current genre in itself), Jazz and Rhythm & Blues have put a major impact on music as a whole and the Black artists within that genre have provided the background for what we now know as the “vibe”.
While we joke that Elvis stole rock and roll from Black artists, the last few decades have seen rock music associated with a different demographic for both artists and fans alike. Enter the Black & Loud Festival coming to Seattle, WA. The Afropunk movement is set to be celebrated by Black-fronted bands set to show out in Seattle on September 10th starting at 3 pm at the LTD Lounge.
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As far back as the 1930s and 1940s Sister Rosetta Tharpe lit the torch of rock and roll, bringing distorted electric guitar first to Gospel music and then to rock and roll. Influencing everyone from Chuck Berry to Bo Diddley to Little Richard to Carl Perkins to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, her fire still burns to this day. Moving forward in time, the Pacific Northwest has a rich history in Black rock and soul bands many of which were finally honored in the documentary Wheedle’s Groove.
As recently as last year, Seattle finally honored Tina Bell who was an incredible pioneer for Black women in punk rock that eventually influenced the grunge scene many white rock bands emerged in the 1990s from the PNW.
In this spirit, two young Black artists hailing from the Pacific Northwest – Cameron Lavi-Jones of King Youngblood and Anthony Briscoe of Down North decided it is high time that Black artists fully reclaim rock music. Lavi-Jones, whose band is described as Alt Rock/Afropunk, and Briscoe, whose band is decidedly Punk Soul Rock have founded the aptly titled Black & Loud Fest.
Lavi-Jones and Briscoe are bringing an army of alternative Black-fronted bands and artists together for the inaugural Black & Loud Fest on September 10, 2022, at LTD in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. Thanks to the event sponsor Jack Daniels, this event is free to attend.
Featuring incredible stage, lighting, and audio production, this event, open to the 21+ public, will also be a film shoot for the forthcoming Black & Loud documentary.
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Black & Loud Fest celebrates the long lineage of Black artists that have strapped on a guitar and raised their fists to the sky across America with a spectacular lineup of Pacific Northwest Black artists.
The 2022 Black & Loud Fest lineup:
Down North
King Youngblood
The Black Ends
Jaiden Grayson
Miles Harris & The Deep Cuts
Earnie Ashwood
SUSU
Jamaar Smiley
DJ Cherubim_Tha_Multitude
Many more PNW Black-fronted bands and artists will be interviewed for the documentary. The music-loving brand Jack Daniels is the proud title sponsor of Black & Loud Fest 2022 as the official whiskey of the Festival. Expect a plenitude of specialty Jack Daniels whiskey-based cocktails celebrating the Black artist legacy of rock and roll.
Jack Daniels has a long history of supporting popular music in America and has always wanted to bring its brand to broader audiences celebrating Black-fronted music in alternative genres beyond Hip Hop and R&B.
Says Lavi-Jones, “the story has never been fully told about Black artists’ musical roles alternative genres in rock and roll. The organization AfroPunk has been the best at bringing Black musical diversity to the forefront but the Pacific Northwest often gets overlooked with the assumption that there isn’t that large a black alternative music community here. We are putting on Black & Loud so that there is no longer a question of the tour de force of Black artists working outside stereotypical Black genres hailing from the PNW.”
Adds Briscoe, “We are so into this that concurrent with the Festival, we are working with the Seattle-based Dreaming in Color Production Team and LA-based Brave Road Productions to produce a documentary for theaters and streaming called Black & Loud; Forging a Movement From the PNW. The Black & Loud Fest is a musical celebration but also a huge call for audience members to be loud and proud in the documentary. Everyone is invited.”
