Behind The Music Lineup
The Huntsville Traditional Music Association is pleased to announce our “Behind the Music” series. Each month, HTMA is planning a presentation of casual conversation and songs with some of our favorite musical artists hosted by our current HTMA President Mike Ball. We hope this series will provide an environment conducive to developing a deeper understanding among us of the power of music to promote connections to one another. The Behind The Music Series will be held at the new HTMA studio #1038 inside Lowe Mill.
Featured Performance: Kirk Jones
Wednesday, JANUARY 8TH, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
Kirk Jones is a semi-professional “FUNsician” who teaches beginner to intermediate ukulele lessons and performs in and around the Huntsville, Alabama area as well as around the United States. While Kirk is a talented musician and vocalist, his greatest gift is the joyful and entertaining way that he connects with his audience. He sometimes refers to himself as “Orangutan” or “Lion” because he loves being goofy but also recognizes that it is sometimes important to muster up to the courage of a lion to pull on the heartstrings.
Featured Performance: Kelly Abraham Joyner
Wednesday, FEBRUARY 5TH, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
“Ethereal and haunting” are two adjectives often used to describe the vocals of Singer/songwriter Kelly Abraham Joyner who has recently been performing throughout the Tennessee Valley region and beyond as the lead singer for the Americana Band Luna Koi.
Featured Performance: Mike Roberts
Wednesday, MARCH 5TH, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
Although Mike Roberts is one Huntsville's favorite singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, he has also been prominent across the Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida music scene for decades. Influenced by everything he heard, he began singing and making up jingles at an early age. The authenticity of Southern raising is prevalent in Mike's writing, performance, and the neighborly spirit that accompanies him everywhere he goes.
Featured Performance: Microwave Dave Gallaher
Wednesday, APRIL 2nd, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
HTMA is honored to welcome Huntsville’s own inimitable blues icon Dave Gallaher to the April edition of our “Behind the Music” series. He has been playing guitar before appreciative audiences since he was a teenager in the ‘60’s and hasn’t stopped. Each year, Huntsville celebrates Microwave Dave Day to raise funds to support the Microwave Dave Music Education Foundation in its efforts to promote music education in local schools. His fans include the acclaimed author Steven King, who wrote the foreword for his book, “I’m a Road-Runner.”
Featured Performance: Amber Schmidt
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
Amber is an indie-folk songwriter based in Huntsville, Alabama, known for her raw lyricism and intimate soundscapes. Her music blends delicate melodies with poetic honesty, drawing listeners into stories that are both deeply personal and universally relatable.
Featured Performance: Sylvia Dean
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
Sylvia Dean is a fiddler, singer, and songwriter who has been a part of the Huntsville music scene since childhood when she was a featured performer on Huntsville cable TV. She played with several bands at a variety of venues while earning her Ph.D. and teaching.
Featured Performance: Matt Prater
Wednesday, August 6th, 2025 - 6:30 PM - HTMA Studio #1038 at Lowe Mill
HTMA President Mike Ball is honored to host Matt Prater for an evening of conversation, music, and fellowship at the home of the Huntsville Traditional Music Association, located at Lowe Mill Studio 1038.
Matt Prater is an extraordinary gifted local singer-songwriter and soulful storyteller with Country, Honky-Tonk, Folk and Roots Rock Music influences whose songs are relevant across generations. He has had success in writing everything from independently produced solo projects as an artist, to custom songs for others.
"Picking up a guitar and learning to play is the easy part of songwriting. Stitching stories with a straightforward frankness and making it look easy is the tough part. Matt Prater aced both" -The Alternate Root Magazine"
There's plenty of love in his music, which centers around his stories, and his rich melodic voice. The stories are delightful southern slices of life, each one complete in its telling; his voice draws you in and makes you want to listen to every word. It's music that never gets old." -No'Ala Magazine
"Matt Prater is a breath of country fresh air...he is real music and real songs" -Jim Seales, Shenandoah
Matt has opened shows for several major artists and is often featured in rounds with hit writers and top shelf performers at songwriter showcases, music venues and festivals.
Enter Lowe Mill through Door #4 on the North side of the building and take a right at the 2nd hallway. Admission is free, but a donation to HTMA will be greatly appreciated to help pay the rent and compensate our guest. See you there.
Behind the Music of Matt Prater
Wednesday, August 6th, 2025, 6:30 PM
Recent Highlights
Behind the Music of Sylvia Dean
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025
HTMA hosted Amber Schmidt for an evening of conversation, music, and fellowship at the home of the Huntsville Traditional Music Association at Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment in May 2025.
Huntsville’s own inimitable blues icon Dave Gallaher was the featured artist at the April edition of the “Behind the Music” series.
Mike Roberts will joined HTMA President Mike Ball for the Behind the Music series at the NEW HTMA studio space at Lowe Mill on March 5th, 2025.
February 6th, 2025 Behind the Music - Kelly Abraham Joyner at the NEW HTMA studio space at Lowe Mill.
Kirk Jones joined HTMA President Mike Ball for the Behind the Music series at the NEW HTMA studio space at Lowe Mill on January 8th, 2025.
Ricky j Taylor performed during the Behind the Music series at the NEW HTMA studio space at Lowe Mill on December 4th, 2024.
Tim Cannon was the featured artist for the Behind the Music series at the NEW HTMA studio space at Lowe Mill on November 13th, 2024.
Jim Parler kicked off the Behind the Music series at the NEW HTMA studio space at Lowe Mill on October 9th, 2024
This program has been made possible by a 2025 Arts & Cultural Grant from Arts Huntsville funded by the City of Huntsville.
501C Ruling: The IRS has recognized the Huntsville Traditional Music Association as a tax exempt non-profit corporation, under section 501.c3 of Internal Revenue Code, effective August 25, 2006. Your charitable donations to help us continue our mission of maintaining a folk and traditional music presence in the Tennessee Valley are both appreciated and tax deductible.
Copyright 2025 Huntsville Traditional Music Association All Rights Reserved.