2026 Musikfest Exordium: Part 1 - "Must See" Bands and Best Day of the Fest with Patrick Brogan

2026 marks our 5th annual Musikfest Exordium where we preview “must see” bands, weather predictions, enjoy some live music, and kick things off with “the first part”.In this segment, we spend time with ArtsQuest Chief Programming Officer Patrick Brogan to detail our collective "must see" bands and make our case for Best Day of the Fest.We each individually submit our top 10 bands we are most looking forward to, and it has to be a mix of 4 FestFavBands (meaning those bands who've appeared on our show before) and 6 from the remainder of the line-up.  Here's how that tracked:Patrick's list:- Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise- The Dracu-las- Slingshot Dakota- Ruby Dear- Insun Park & the Generals- Alysha Brilla- Nicole Atkins- Lilly Hiatt- SLAMB- Emily BrimlowPhillip's list:- The Flying Vees- Blair Crimmins & the Hookers- John Hollier & the Reverie- Koyal- Insun Park & the Generals- Amelia Day- Tabitha Meeks- Palmyra- Pretty Jane- Polaroid FadeDavid's list:- The Dracu-las- Blair Crimmins & the Hookers- John Hollier & the Reverie- Mike Lorenz- Insun Park & the Generals- Amelia Day- Coquettish- Wood Flower- Nicole Atkins- Rae the BandBest Day of the Fest:Patrick - Thu 8/6 (and also Fri 7/31)Phillip - Sun 8/2David - Sat 8/1We highlight several of the bands above and hope you enjoy!Text us your thoughts on this episode, and who should be OUR #NextFavBand...As always, our hope is to bring you "your next favorite band".  If you tuned in today because you already knew this musician - thank you very much!  We hope that you enjoyed it and would consider following us and subscribing so we can bring you your #nextfavband in the future.  And check out nextfavband.com for our entire catalog of interviews!If you have a recommendation on who you think OUR next favorite band should be, hit us up on social media (@nextfavband everywhere) or send us an email at [email protected] you to Carver Commodore, argonaut&wasp, and Blair Crimmins for allowing us to use their music in the show open and close.  It makes everything sound so much better!Let’s catch a live show together soon!#nextfavband #livemusic #music #musicinterview #musician  #singer  #guitar  #song  #newmusic  #explorepage  #instamusic #bestmusic #musicismylife #musicindustry #musiclife #songwriter #musiclover #musicfestival