2026: The year Huntsville's music scene gets personal
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Thad Saajid at Boardman House. Photo: Courtesy Huntsville Music Office.
As AI-generated artists rack up streams and top charts, musicians are leaning into intimate in-person shows while investors focus on smaller venues.
Why it matters: Huntsville's efforts to build up its music scene and industry paid dividends in 2025. And in 2026, the city is looking to create more opportunities for fans and musicians alike.
This year, the focus is on getting back to grassroots — not just the arena shows with thousands of fans at venues like the Von Braun Center or Orion Amphitheater.
What they're saying: "I believe we're the first municipal government that's intentionally putting effort into supporting and developing a house show culture," Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella, the country's first municipal music officer, told Axios.
Catch up quick: House shows aren't new, but major acts like the All-American Rejects and Machine Gun Kelly have embraced the format, Mandrella notes.
- In Huntsville, venues like Common House and Boardman are giving local musicians and fans the house show experience — and it's not necessarily the "house party" vibe.
- "I think the house shows are especially attractive because it lets the artists create their own listening room," Mandrella said, adding that it allows them control of the ticketing and performance experience.
- It also provides economic opportunities for artists locally and touring opportunities for those artists at house shows in other cities.
Driving the news: The Orion Amphitheater opened in 2022 as part of a music strategy created in partnership with research firm Sound Diplomacy. But the missing link in Huntsville's market remains the mid-sized venue.
That may soon change. MidCity announced sweeping expansion plans last month that include a 3,000-seat venue, and Back Forty Brewing Company is mulling a similar size venue at its Huntsville location.
- "It's a really, really exciting time in Huntsville, because you have several people that are very interested in actively looking to fill that hole," Mandrella said. "I believe wholeheartedly that our market is ready for a 3,000-capacity venue and can sustain one."
Zoom in: Mandrella says Huntsville is becoming a city musicians want to visit and perform in, instead of a "city we might play."
- He also expects to see other cities or states bring on music officers who can allow them to combine efforts to promote musicians across city or state lines.
Case in point: Huntsville's live music calendar logged 2,200 live music events last year, an increase of about 400 over 2024.
The bottom line: "This year for the Music Office is going to be more of a year where we're not introducing as many new concepts," he said. "Our big focus is going to be ... making what we're doing or have started even better."