Blue Tom Records, a student-run record company at the University of Memphis, is hosting its fourth annual Hear 901 Festival at The Bluff on the Highland Strip on Saturday to showcase artists the company is working with this year.
At the Hear 901 event last year, more than 600 people packed The Bluff, according to a Hear 901 press release. A portion of this year’s profits from the festival will be donated to the Memphis Urban League Young Professionals, an organization that helps promote, develop and empower young professionals in Memphis, according to the press release.
The music festival will showcase Haley Daniels, Shey Rose, Curtis Scott, Shawn Campbell, Jordan Dodson, Backpockets and Tiger Records artist Dylan Amoré.
Brittany Thomas, president of Blue Tom Records and senior music business major at the U of M, said she is excited about the female artists who will be performing and she is eager to see the talent.
“Every single year, we have amazing performers,” Thomas said. “I hope this year we can gain more fans and followers for our singers.”
Thomas said one of the performers, Haley Daniels, had a tremendous amount of success recently.
“Haley has had over 35,000 streams on Spotify this week,” Thomas said. “We are very excited for her to perform this weekend.”
Daniels, a senior music business major at the U of M, said the Hear 901 festival allows students to showcase their music.
“The Hear 901 fest gives students a chance to show off what they are good at,” Daniels said. “College kids are going to already be hanging out at The Bluff, so why not show them what their fellow students have been working on?”
Daniels said she has performed her whole life, and this is her third year performing in Memphis.
“This is my second year doing the Hear 901 fest, and I’m excited to perform at this one after just releasing a single on Spotify,” Daniels said.
Shey Rose, a music business junior at the U of M, said her goal after Hear 901 is to be more established in the music industry.
“I’ve been singing basically since birth,” Rose said. “But I’m excited to finally be given the chance to perform live with a band.”
Rose, who sings R&B, also had two singles recently put on Spotify.
“I really think this will all be a good platform to promote myself and everyone else performing as well,” Rose said.
Dylan Amoré, a junior sports management major at the U of M, is not involved in the music department on campus but is excited to show off his talent to a different group of students.
“I think this will be way more diverse than what I’m usually around,” Amoré said. “So I’m really happy I get to showcase my talent for a different crowd of people.”
Amoré said he hopes the Hear 901 festival will get his name out to more people, so he can further his career in music.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity on Saturday,” Amoré said. “Hear 901 seems like a really positive outlet for students to come together and perform different types of music.”
Tickets can be purchased online at www.bluetomrecords.com in advance for $8 or at the door for $10.
