INTERVIEW: The Road to Solid Sound: Alex Crothers of Higher Ground
06/26-06/28 @ Mass MoCA, North Adams MA
Photo by Jared Herman
“There aren’t any other festivals where the band and their various side projects can all appear on the same bill.”
From June 26–28, Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA will transform its grounds for Solid Sound Festival, curated by none other than Wilco and featuring an array of their side projects, one-off performances, living legends and up-and-comers. Both the lineup and experience are incredible, so we thought we’d take the opportunity to give it a proper spotlight. Today, we are launching “The Road to Solid Sound,” a series of interviews with artists up and down the bill, staggered throughout the month, taking us all the way to festival weekend. To kick things off, Jonathan Patrizio chats with Alex Crothers, founder of revered Burlington, VT venue Higher Ground, and one of the folks responsible for bringing this festival to fruition.
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It wouldn’t be hard to argue with considering Wilco one of the last great American rock bands. While they’ve never reached the commercial heights of stadium bands, their staying power is only outdone by their catalogue and critical acclaim — having albums that are considered some of the best of all time. With that credibility, they have built an extremely loyal fanbase that allowed them to take a risk in creating one of the first artist-curated festivals in 2010, with Solid Sound. Of course, they couldn’t do it alone, and when the first iteration was being spoken into existence, they reached out to none other than Alex Crothers, founder of Burlington, VT venue Higher Ground.
Founded in 1998, Crothers has been at the helm of Higher Ground since its inception. What started as one of the preeminent venues in Vermont has turned into an independently run behemoth that has survived through recessions and pandemics. It made it a no-brainer for Wilco founder Jeff Tweedy and company to turn to him for assistance with creating Solid Sound. The initial idea was to have a festival that was outside of the box — bucking the typical trend-chasing of festivals of its size and having it located somewhere unexpected, especially for a Chicago-based band. It has become a festival of discovery, expression, and, at its core, an eclectic music experience, as Crothers tells me:
[Wilco] is made up of six very interesting musicians who are from very different musical backgrounds, which has led to them being such an interesting band. So now you have these six musicians choosing what bands and artists they’d like to play at the festival, in this very organic and democratic way, and it makes it such a unique experience.
With an initial dry-run at Tanglewood in 2008, there wasn’t a mutual interest in them hosting something in full capacity. Up to that point, Tanglewood wasn’t doing a lot of contemporary acts. Wilco sold 10,000 tickets on a Tuesday, making it a widely successful show, but that’s where the talks ended. This led to an unsolicited email to Mass MoCA by Crothers, and within a few days, he and Joe Thompson, who was executive director at the time, were touring the space.
“He flew his tiny little plane up to Burlington, picked me up, and brought me down for a site visit. We talked about the concept, and it felt like a match made in heaven.”
A match it was. Now in its ninth edition over the past 17 years, Solid Sound has grown along with Mass MoCA into a journey in and of itself. With acres of rooms, hallways, and exhibits, there have been NPR syndications, live podcast recordings, astrophysicists, live falconers, and things that happen that aren’t even advertised. It’s all part of the magic, Crothers tells me.
“If you just happened to be in the right place at the right time, you might end up in one of those buildings and turn the corner to a pop-up show that you’re witnessing with only 40 other people.”
It's this kind of outside-the-box thinking that has kept Solid Sound so fresh and special, especially for the host band, Wilco, who try to do something they’ve never done before every festival year. From cover sets, to audience chosen setlists, they have covered a lot of uncharted territory. This year, they will be playing their Mermaid Avenue album — a project that saw the band and collaborator Billy Bragg create melodies and instrumentals to Woody Guthrie lyrics — in its entirety.
“It’s fallen into a nice rhythm of every other year, which gives the band time to recharge and also pursue other projects outside of Wilco, which play the festival as well,” Crothers notes. “There aren’t any other festivals where the band and their various side projects can all appear on the same bill.”
There’s a reason why fans are coming from 48 states and 13 different countries. From these special sets and moments, to supporting artists like The Breeders, Gang of Four, comedy sets from the likes of John Hodgeman, Jo Firestone, Demi Adejuyigbe, and Jordan Klepper, film screenings, special art exhibits, yoga, and even nature hikes, Solid Sound continues to find ways of keeping it fresh and relevant.
For more information on the festival, visit www.solidsoundfestival.com
