festival

In 2002 the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival kicked off their inaugural edition with a lineup filled with the biggest names in the jamband world. Over the past seven years the ‘Roo has blossomed into arguably the best festival in the country thanks to diverse lineups, fan-first thinking and a comfortable setting where both artists and attendees feel at home.

While most music fans have their sights set on this year’s installment of Bonnaroo on June 11-14 in Manchester, TN – Superfly Presents president Jonathan Mayers already has his set on who he’s going to bring to the middle of the Volunteer State next year.

The extremely engaging and wry-witted Mayers recently took some time to speak with Hidden Track about his start in the industry, the fest’s booking process, their vast vault of performances, year two of Outside Lands, the future of Vegoose and much more in interview with Jeffrey Greenblatt and Scott Bernstein. With so much ground to cover we’ve split the interview into a special two-parter, so make sure to check back next Wednesday for the rest of the interview. In the meantime here’s part one…

Hidden Track: Can you tell us about your background, how did you get into the music industry?

Jonathan Mayers: Well I started in the adult entertainment business, I was… no that’s not true. Well, I went to school in New Orleans and I was always passionate about music, but I was also an entrepreneur and had all kinds of different businesses and stuff. So I went to school there and really got entrenched in the whole music scene down there and got inspired by it and then also, I had interned at the Jazz Fest when I was a senior in college. The New Orleans Jazz Fest is one of the best festivals in the world, it’s an amazing festival, and so I interned there.

READ ON for more on late nights, nabbing The Boss and keeping things fresh…