Huntsville is garnering national attention for its efforts to boost its local music scene.

Why it matters: Huntsville is the first city in North America to sign on a full-time music officer tasked with growing and developing the local music ecosystem: Matt Mandrella, who took the reins at Huntsville's Music Office in January 2022.

• 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."

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."

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NASA spends hundreds of millions of dollars per state on average annually through its scientific missions, a recent analysis shows.

Why it matters: The space agency's science efforts bear the brunt of the cuts in the Trump administration's proposed budget, down nearly 50% to $3.9 billion.

Zoom in: Data from The Planetary Society, a pro-space nonprofit, ranks Alabama fifth in NASA science spending, with an average $586 million spent annually.

• But the state's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Huntsville and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, ranks third among congressional districts nationwide, at $580.8 million.
• That funding drives an annual $1.6 billion in economic activity and supports thousands of jobs in the district.
• The University of Alabama in Huntsville is among the largest grant recipients, with a total of $272 million in active grants across fiscal years 2022-24 supported by NASA science spending, per Planetary Society data.

Yes, but: Senate lawmakers have introduced a proposal to add nearly $10 billion in NASA funding to the budget plan — a move commended by the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber — but it's generally focused on specific missions.

• That money would fund programs key to NASA efforts in Huntsville, including the largest piece: $4.1 billion to fund Space Launch System rockets for the Artemis IV and V missions.
• Another $1.25 billion over five years is earmarked for operations of the International Space Station, and $100 million is earmarked for facilities upgrades at the Marshall Space Flight Center, which houses the ISS Payload Operations Integration Center, NASA's primary space station science command post.

What's next: Answers on the pending budget proposal could come in the next few weeks, with Senate Republicans setting July 4 as the deadline to pass the bill and send it back to the House, per NPR.

The big picture: Science represents about 30% of NASA's overall budget and includes missions like space telescopes, robotic probes and satellites that gather data about Earth's changing climate.

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🚌 Huntsville's seeking input on merging public transportation and development along University Drive tomorrow at 5:30pm at UAH. (huntsvilleal.gov)

🏢 NASA is building a $45 million "Marshall Exploration Facility" at Redstone Arsenal. (AL)

🍞 Downtown Rescue Mission is facing a "critical shortage" of food items. (WHNT)

🛶 Born and raised in Guntersville, I moved to Huntsville in 2022 to be closer to family after my first daughter was born and to start working for Engineering News-Record. I've also worked for daily newspapers in Hendersonville and Asheville, North Carolina.

🦅 I graduated from Auburn in 2011, where I met my wife, Ashlyn. We live in South Huntsville with our two daughters.

🍅 When I'm not at my desk, I'm probably in the garden pruning my heirloom tomato and squash varieties, or I'm getting schooled by old friends on the disc golf course.

🍽️ Speaking of, send me your best squash recipes! I've stuffed them, grilled them, fried them, sautéed them in the pan and used them for spaghetti, and now I'm running out of ideas. (And I'm already offloading them on family and neighbors!)