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Some ideas get you an “A” on an assignment.
For Jimmy Hunt, an idea got him a three-day festival with 4,000 audience members.
Hunt is a 2009 Appalachian State University graduate and formed the idea for Music on the Mountaintop while in an entrepreneurship class.
“I always knew a large scale music festival would be great, [the assignment] was to create a business plan,” Hunt said. “I dropped the class, but the plan stuck.”
After creating the model for Music on the Mountaintop, the festival has grown over three years and will feature 35 bands throughout Friday and Saturday.
Behind the music, seven students have worked to ensure this year’s festival is more beneficial to the community than previous years.
Music on the Mountaintop donates a percent of all proceeds to a charitable organization—this year’s being Appalachian Voices.
Appalachian Voices brings people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, according to appvoices.org.
This year, seven interns have worked to complete the festival’s goal of being environmentally friendly.
Josh Bertram, senior commercial recreation and tourism major is a guitarist for The Native Sway and has been interning for Music on the Mountaintop, as part of the recycling team.
“For the first part of the summer, I was doing a lot of research on how to network and traveling to see how other events were put on,” Bertram said.
As part of the recycling team, Bertram has helped ensure the campground area is not littered.
“It’s cool to see how much of the campground work is directly related to resource management class, by creating the best possible way to make the least amount of impact on the land,” he said.
David M. Blackwell Jr., junior history and second education major, got involved with Music on the Mountaintop when Hunt, a friend from high school, needed help.
As part of his internship, Blackwell has been meeting with other interns almost everyday for three weeks.
Blackwell has been focused on creating the Ascent Series to “bring eight bands to four bars on King Street,” Blackwell said.
The event is today with shows beginning at 7 p.m. at Our Daily Bread with The Major Sevens against a surprise guest.
Story: MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON, Lifestyles Editor |
