New rock music festival provides spotlight for upcoming bands, Gulf Coast

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Despite the cold and cloudy day, fans of rock music came down to Biloxi from across the country to hear their favorite band perform at Rockin’ the Sound.

The music festival was put on by The Sound 228, who says this is their first major festival they’ve organized.

“We kind of catered and designed what CPR does for CPR fest and they helped us out a ton with the advertising and publicity for it,” said co-owner Kevin Harris. “We were able to do it and build on it.”

The group put this festival on with two goals in mind: exposing up-and-coming bands to new fans as well as showing off what the Gulf Coast has to offer.

“We want to help those bands who are just starting out to get that notoriety and get their foot in the door,” said Harris. “We got people from Indiana and Ohio that have driven in and flown in to see these bands because they have a huge following a lot of these guys and we would really wanted to showcase what South Mississippi has to offer and what better place than to do it here,” said co-owner Jared Seymour.

Something that has fans from different states excited to see.

“I’m from Columbus, Georgia. I drove a long way to get here,” said Austin Hooper. “I don’t care if it was raining and there was no pavilion to stand under, I’ll be here. I didn’t have a jacket. I had to stop at the Dollar General to purchase a sweatshirt here. It’s keeping me warm and it’s good enough.”

“It’s been a great turnout so far and the community is supportive of this,” said Seymour. “Like Kevin said earlier, we want to bring bands maybe you haven’t heard of yet and put them in front of a large audience for bands that are national touring acts you have heard of. Cause the community is showing us that there is a demand and want for good rock music.”

Organizers send their thanks to those who volunteered at the festival. If you want to keep up with what’s next for Sound 228, you can follow their podcast.

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