Metallica Hope Orion Music + More Opens the Door for New Talent

2012-06-25

Story by Charles Ken

Metallica’s James Hetfield says he hopes band’s inaugural music festival will help to nurture up-and-coming talent

Legendary metallers Metallica held their new annual music, arts and lifestyle festival this past weekend in New Jersey. Although the event, billed Orion Music + More, featured Metallica headlining both nights and playing their seminal albums, “The Black Album” and “Ride the Lightening” from front to back, the show also featured over 35 bands from a variety of genres: metal, alternative, indie.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday (June 22), Metallica frontman James Hetfield explained that the heart of Orion Music + More was to offer their fans the chance to check out music they might not otherwise experience.

“People come to a festival for the music, to hang with their friends, and soak up, hopefully, a different style of music,” Hetfield said. “We’ve got the best of different kinds of music. There’s quite a few bands on the bill that I’m not a big fan of but I respect the fact that they’re good at what they do and opening the door for someone who might enjoy that is part of it as well.”

Hetfield also hopes Orion Music + More will help to nurture up-and-coming talent in the metal genre and beyond. “There’s a lot of…metal bands that need the exposure,” Hetfield said. “We think they’re good and they need the exposure and we’re kind of doing our best to get them out in front of people. We’ve been blessed over the 30 years to have built up an amazing family and we’d like to share some of our family with some of these other bands.”

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.