Connecticut Emerge Festival re-emerging in West Hartford to promote CT music scene

The Connecticut Emerge Festival is back for a two-day, two-stage, 12-band festival at New Park Brewing on New Park Avenue in West Hartford on March 1 and 2.

Longtime local band booster Chip McCabe created the Connecticut Emerge Festival in 2013 to raise money to send Connecticut bands to the SXSW indie music festival in Austin, Texas. After three years, he had to move on to other projects, but the idea of holding big community-based concerts to both highlight and raise money for the local music scene remained.

Instead of travel expenses for SXSW, Emerge Fest will now keep the money in the community, raising funds for one act per year to spend time in a professional recording studio. McCabe approached Tracy Walton at On Deck Sound Studio in Northfield, which said the studio would match the amount raised and apply it toward more recording time.

One of McCabe’s other projects is running the Amplify Under 21 open mics shows in the Pratt Street Historic District in springtime. “I see so many talented kids who have never been in a studio,” he said. “So I started kicking around the idea of doing Emerge again.

“How do you make sure the next generation of artists have opportunities? If we had a way for more of them to go in a studio, that’s a good start.”

Besides festival admissions and donations, McCabe will also be raising money through a Kickstarter campaign.

Since the festival has just been rebooted, this year’s beneficiary of the studio recording has already been chosen. It is Ingrid Gibson, a 19-year-old singer/songwriter/musician from West Hartford whose local appearances have included outdoor jazz gigs at Parkville Market. McCabe said he was “blown away” when she played at Amplify Under 21 and made her the inaugural studio time winner.

In future years, a system will be in place for local artists to apply to play at the festival and be eligible for the prize.

Emerge Fest will pay all the artists playing in the festival, providing a performance opportunity those artists might otherwise not have had.

Besides Gibson, the acts for the festival include The BAP Pack, The Bargain, Riley Cotton, Michael Sanford Day & The Hard Feelings, The Miles Elliot Experience, Julia Autumn Ford, Hannah’s Field, Johnny Mainstream, Heather McLarney, Tracy Walton, and Ysanne.

“I’m incredibly grateful and excited to work with On Deck Sound Studio,” Gibson said in a statement released with the announcement of the festival’s return. “Singing is my passion, especially in the realm of jazz.

“Being part of Emerge and working with On Deck means the world to me — an opportunity to share my love for music and record in a space that fosters creativity.”

Tickets to the festival are on sale via the New Park Brewing website at newparkbrewing.com. Admission is $5 for one day or $10 ($8 in advance) for both days.