TYLER (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - There will be more than just dancing in the street with this year's second annual East Texas All-Star Showcase.
Last year's event filled downtown Tyler with live music and comedy, but organizer Trent Spradlin is making this year's iteration even more robust with a more diverse range of musicians, displays by local artists and even some short films by local filmmakers.
The musical lineup includes newcomers Maegan Brooks, Sideshow Tragedy, Backseat Molly, The Young Ones, Manny and The Gringaderos and The Sixth String Boys. Returning acts include Ramoth Gilead, Something Blue and headliners Uncle Lucius.
"Sideshow Tragedy gets a lot of comparisons to The Black Keys, but they're two guys and they sound like a four-piece band. ... The Young Ones are kind of a punk rock group based out of Tyler. There's some really talented musicians in that group. Backseat Molly has really exploded in this area over the last couple years," he said.
One of the biggest standouts of the festival's newcomers, though, is Maegan Brooks, Spradlin said. Brooks' talents so highly impressed him that Spradlin rearranged the performance schedule and booked an additional stage just to make certain she'd have proper space to perform.
"This girl sings like nobody's business," he said. "If it's possible to fall in love with a woman just based on her voice, that's entirely possible with Maegan Brooks. This girl is amazing and she's from Lindale."
The art on display has been donated by local artists, with each piece being sold via silent auction to benefit the Liberty Hall Foundation. In addition, the short films will begin screening at 5 p.m. inside Liberty Hall.
But it's not just the talent that is a showcase for East Texas, Spradlin said he wanted to make sure that even the sponsors were a reflection of the region.
"There are no corporate businesses at all, and I wanted to keep that to go along with the theme of the East Texas All-Star Showcase. Everything from the contractors that we hire to the artists to the musicians, the filmmakers, the painters and sculptors, to, of course the volunteers, all are from here or have ties to East Texas," he said. "So when the show goes off and it's a success, which it will be, it's really a beacon that adds to the light of East Texas."
Last year's event was a satisfying success, Spradlin said, even with a relatively meager advertising campaign that was largely limited to social media exposure. This year, the push is even bigger, complete with a more fervent response from local sponsors.
"The sponsors came with little to no effort on the part of myself or my staff. They've stepped in and been really supportive," he said.
Given the evolution that this year's event will undergo in terms of pure content, Spradlin said he's looking to make this into one of Tyler's premiere arts and entertainment attractions and eventually hosting it as often as once a quarter.
"My ultimate goal is to have it to where we can have a full-on festival and not just take a portion of downtown, but open it up to something much bigger," he said.
One thing he is not looking to do, however, is to try and copy the content, programming or overall vibe of other festivals of a similar breed, such as Austin City Limits or South By Southwest, or even Tyler's own Festival on the Square. Spradlin wants the East Texas All-Star Showcase to form its own identity.
"If I made a comparison, it wouldn't make (the event) mine," Spradlin said.
The East Texas All-Star Showcase will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 14 in downtown Tyler outside Liberty Hall. Admission is $25 for tickets purchased online, $30 at the door.
For additional information, visit the event's Facebook at
www.facebook.com/etallstarshowcase.
