Gasparilla Music Festival Executive Director Ty Rodriguez talks about the two-day annual event, including how bands are chosen for it (plus dos and don’ts), lessons learned, being a fan, and a number of artists he has seen in concert more than 50 times each, including one who was his escape from New York following the 9/11 attacks.
“We’re all fans. I think that the reason why we all got involved was because of the music, about bringing an event into the community.”
“I do feel as if, for me in particular, (not being a musician) is the reason why I love music so much, the fact that I can’t sing and I can’t play an instrument, but I can go to music and get releases and I can go to music and understand that this person has a gift and they’re sharing it. And for those particular reasons I’ve always ended up really kind of gravitating to those moments in music and live music and even at home that particularly resonate within me.”
“We do not want to be pigeonholed into one genre of music. Diversity has worked for us. I think it’s one of the key components of what Gasparilla Music Festival is.”
“The festivalgoers’ experience is absolutely at the prime of everything we do.”
“We would never feel as if anybody was competition, we would embrace that.”