Illustration by Estefania B. Alonso
Festival seeks to become an official Fiesta event.
By Grace Reyes
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
The music business program will host its annual Fredstock concert at noon April 23 in Lot 7 at Courtland Place and North Main Avenue.
The free festival will feature local bands such as Los #3 Dinners, Austin Forrest, Bob Charles, Mitch Webb and the Swindles, and Bombasta.
Along with the bands, there will be vendors, a wide variety of food trucks and even some of the college’s organizations promoting their clubs, music business Coordinator Donnie Meals said.
“The more, the merrier,” he said.
The Fiesta San Antonio Commission will review the festival the day of the event to see if Fredstock meets the criteria to become an official part of Fiesta.
“Usually, it pans out and they are approved. The application is stringent, and the site visit is just to view the event itself,” Amy Shaw, executive director of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, said.
The music business program at this college has organized Fredstock since 2010.
One of the requirements for being part of Fiesta San Antonio is to have held the event for at least two years. Events are eligible to be reviewed the third year, Shaw said.
Meals discussed what needed to be submitted to the Fiesta San Antonio Commission to be a Fiesta event.
“We had to tell them about our history, who was involved. We had to basically give them a general overview of what Fredstock is about,” he said.
Although Fredstock has been around for more than two years, the event was not ready to be a Fiesta event.
“I wanted to feel comfortable with it. I understand what I’m teaching, but managing an event is quite a daunting task,” Meals said.
Meals teaches MUSB 1371, Live Sound for Music Business, and MUSB 1305, Survey of the Music Business, classes while full-time Adjunct Julie Good teaches MUSB 2450, Commercial Music Project, and MUSB 2301, Music Marketing. Students in these classes run the event.
“I, as an instructor, guide them and teach them, but bottom line, they are the ones working sound, getting vendors and all the aspects of setting up a large-scale concert,” Meals said.
Fredstock was named after the late Fred Weiss, who founded the music business program at this college. He was a professor in the radio-television-broadcasting program for more than 20 years.
“It’s a chance for students to get hands-on experience on how to put together a music festival,” Jacob Peirce, assistant director of KSYM, said.
Before Peirce became assistant director, he was a music business student, and he helped put together Fredstock for two years.
“I did the promotional side of it one year, and the next year I did sound,” he said.
Peirce said the music business program wants to take part in one of the city’s biggest traditions: Fiesta San Antonio.
“It’s exciting. There’s way more exposure,” he said. “It boosts the promotional efforts that are already there.”
“I would like the event to pay for itself certainly,” Meals said. “But I don’t want it to lose its charm by becoming a money-making event.”
Each music business class has its own job to do. Students in the live sound class are in control of technical support.
“We are going to set up all the live sound systems, PA systems and all the things involved in that,” Alfredo “Ricco” Gonzales, music business sophomore, said.
“I’m looking forward to learning how to use this equipment so I can continue doing what I love, which is music,” Gonzales said.
For more information, call Meals at 210-486-1367. To be a vendor, sponsor or food truck at the event, visit www.fredstocksatx.com/contact/.
