UMS Over the Years: Youth On Record Teaching Artists
Since Youth on Record became co-owners of UMS in 2022, YOR Teaching Artists have found themselves playing many roles during the festival weekend: performer, stage manager, panelist, and even tai chi instructor–demonstrating to young artists the many ways to have a creative career here in Denver.
We caught up with two of the Teaching Artists, Babah Fly and Heather Hunt, to learn more about them and what they’re looking forward to most in celebrating #25YearsLoud.
As a bonus, we’ve compiled a playlist of Youth On Record staff and students gracing this year’s lineup.
As a Youth on Record Teaching Artist, Heather Hunt runs for-credit music programs for high school students, bringing “joy and music and empowerment into students’ lives.” As a musician, Heather performs as a solo artist and as part of the soul group DOGTAGS. Heather sees UMS’ commitment to showcasing talent of all genres, all ages, and all backgrounds as something special.
“[UMS] tries to do their best to recognize who has helped in this community, and who is new to this community, and who has a strong voice and artistry to be heard. They really do their best to make sure so many voices get heard, so many unique bands get played.”
Babah Fly, a Young Creatives Coach at Youth on Record and hip hop artist, has performed during a few UMS festival weekends. Babah has also supported Impact Days - the two-day music conference for UMS and emerging artists to build connections and access free creative professional development, including last year’s tai chi workshop led by Babah himself: “I remember the main act came [to do tai chi]... they were like, ‘I’ve never performed so well!’ so that’s cool that they felt grounded with the care they received [at Impact Days].”
Heather and Babah will both take the stage during UMS weekend this year.
When asked what she’s looking forward to the most about performing at UMS this year, Heather leans into community.
“The community is so strong and stays the same, so I’m glad to be reunited with that and inspired by that. But also seeing the different faces that will come through this year to UMS, possibly different venues, vendors, panels again this year - getting to network and being involved in the music community is something I look forward to every year.”
Babah Fly is also looking forward to the “community culture” that has grown in recent years. One newer development has been the Next Gen Showcase, with performances from former Youth on Record program participants. Reflecting on last year’s UMS, Babah shares, “We had a whole stage of Fellowship performers and that went really well… it created a curious culture in the festival, sparking more curiosity about ‘Who is this next person? Which artists should we be exposed to?’ That’s the theme around emerging artists.
