The 12th annual Montauk Music Festival will bring more than 90 performers to the hamlet for four days of music, starting at 6:30 Thursday evening with a party at the Westlake Fish House. The festivities include appetizers, cocktails, dancing, and music on three stages by 20 of the festival bands.
Thirty-five venues, among them 668 the Gig Shack, Duryea's, Gurney's Montauk, Inlet Seafood, Memory Motel, Montauk Brewing Company, Sole East, and the Star Island Yacht Club are hosting the shows, which will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and run past midnight.
The festival features a wide variety of musical styles, including alternative, rock, folk, pop, Americana, reggae, blues, jazz, bluegrass, flamenco, hip-hop, and country. Among the performers are Annie Trezza, Dalton Portella, Hot Club of Montauk, Jim Turner, Leon and the Peoples, Points East, Sophia S, and the Waylan Brothers.
A free two-part workshop, "Maximizing Your Potential as an Independent Artist," will be held at the Shagwong restaurant tomorrow. Part 1, from 11 a.m. to noon, will address distribution options, record labels and music publishers, what music companies look for, and the role of the artist manager.
After a free lunch, the second session, set for 1 p.m., will consider marketing and publicity, booking agents, and the state of the music industry post-Covid.
The workshop panelists are Jason Spiewak, president and C.E.O. of Noble Steed Music; Lou Plata, the North American A&R director for Sentric Music Group and founder of Hot Rats Records and Hot Rats Management, and Randy Nichols, a seasoned artist manager. The panelists will take questions after the second session.
Tickets for the opening night party are $60. Admission to Saturday's and Sunday's daytime shows, on the Montauk Green, is $15 for adults and $5 for children ages 5 to 12, good for both days. All other shows are free.
More information, including a complete schedule and a link for opening-night tickets, is on the festival's website.
