Catching up with Huntsville music officer Matt Mandrella

Zoom out: The effort grew from a music audit with Sound Diplomacy, a consulting firm that provides research for cities, developers and other organizations to help them place music and night-time economic strategies in development plans.

• Folks are noticing. Huntsville earned the No. 1 ranking in the economic development category in Fast Company's 2025 Most Innovative Companies rankings.

Axios Huntsville sat down with Mandrella June 11, fresh from his trip to New York City for the Most Innovative Companies Summit and Gala, to catch up:

What does a music officer do?

"We are the music-related economic development arm of the city, both helping to oversee city investments, like the hundreds of millions we put into the Orion Amphitheater, combined with upgrades to the (Von Braun Center), and with recruiting businesses to come in. We're the first city government to actually recruit C3 Presents to develop a festival in their market. They're the biggest music festival player on the continent; the same team doing Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits."

"We're not trying to be the same as Austin or Nashville, but we're trying to be in that same conversation about uniquely awesome North American music cities that people should put roots down or travel in."

What's Huntsville's sound?

"It's not just a city with you know, people holding guitars, singing songs. The vocal talent that the North Huntsville, (Alabama A&M University), Oakwood corridor produces is definitely world-class. You can put that among the best in the world in any conversation. The singer/songwriter scene is deep here. There really is something for everybody: Everything from R&B to country to rock to spoken word."

• Huntsville is something of a theater kid community, Mandrella adds, with good school programs that expose kids to the arts early, something that translates into the adult market.

"People are really passionate about theater ... our symphonies do great, and so you know, it's just kind of a smorgasbord, I think it's awesome and there's just something for everybody."

What has surprised you the most about Huntsville's music scene?

"Just how much talent was already here. I have this weird theory that it stems from just the overall intelligence of the community. You know, the smartest people in the room are always the quietest and most humble people who just listen and take things in, and when they speak, there's a lot of gravity to it. And that was definitely the case with our music scene."

• Mandrella notes that Huntsville has produced Grammy-winning artists and producers, and artists that tour all over the world, but "they're not on top of Monte Sano screaming about how awesome they are and trying to be flashy." That's the Music Office's job.

"There's such an underbelly of talent here that's just waiting to emerge."

What's in the works that you're most excited about?

"Everything from just the continued growth of our current facilities to getting a new and improved Apollo Park opening right next to the Orion, more venues coming into the market, more partnerships and growing the partnerships that we have with C3 Presents, with South Star (Festival)."

What's your advice to someone visiting Huntsville who wants to check out local music?

"Huntsvillemusic.com. We have a whole team behind that calendar. That was a big gap we noticed in the market when we started the Music Office. There was not a comprehensive website where all music events were posted, so we started that. We do our best to capture everything that's happening there as like 'What's going on tonight?' aspect."

• Mandrella is also a big fan of the city's repurposed venues, like Campus 805, Lowe Mill and Stovehouse.

"If you can't find a particular genre to your liking, for some reason, on the calendar, there's probably going to be some great sounds and sights happening at those kinds of places."