The 2024 Park City Song Summit officially launched Thursday night with multi-Grammy Award-winning singer Mavis Staples and the Grammy-nominated Cuban musician Cimafunk at Canyons Village.
Staples set the musical tone with her brand of inspirational, gospel-infused blues that included the songs “I’m Just Another Soldier,” “Handwriting on the Wall” and “This World.”
The singer, who celebrated her 85th birthday in July, couldn’t help but fill with emotion as she sang “Friendship,” the last song penned by her father, Pop Staples, before he died in the winter of 2000.
“We bring greetings from the Windy City,” she told the standing-room only crowd during a break between songs. “We bring you joy, happiness and positive vibrations.”
The crowd responded with cheers and continued dancing when the band — fronted by longtime guitarist Rick Holmstrom — dove into the upbeat tempos of “Sha-Na-Boom-Boom” and a sing-along version of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”
Cimafunk, born Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodríguez, and his band continued the party and added some Afro-Cuban spice with songs from his new album “Pa’ Tu Cuerpa” that will be released Aug. 23.
Before the music started, Park City Song Summit Founders Ben and Paige Anderson took the stage to welcome the attendees to the event’s kick-off celebration.
“Thank you all for being here,” Ben said. “If it’s your first time being at Song Summit, thank you. Hopefully it won’t be your last. And if you’re regulars at Song Summit, (you know) we set out here to do something that was so different — to intersect wellness and music and to be disrupters in the industry.”
The goal of the Park City Song Summit, which runs through Saturday, has always been focused on helping musicians stay physically and mentally healthy, and it does that through the Song Summit Foundation, the charitable arm of the Park City Song Summit, according to Paige.
“At the foundation, the heart is the transformative power of music for wellness,” she said. “We do that through supporting mental health, addiction recovery, social equity inclusivity. And you will see that throughout the weekend here.”
In addition, the Song Summit Foundation has given young musicians from Cuba the chance to perform over the weekend at the Park City Song Summit, Ben said.
This opportunity was made possible by Trombone Shorty Foundation’s co-founder Bill Taylor and Collin Laverty, president of Cuba Educational and one of the producers of Getting Funky in Havana, he said.
“They have done an amazing job of this cross cultural programming between music students in Havana and music students in the New Orleans area,” Ben said.
Ben also thanked Stand Together Music, a nonprofit that strives to make changes in social impact, addiction recovery and educational reform.
“They have been our founding partner since day one,” he said. “They work with artists in their camps to create new forms of opportunities for these artists. And they look for ways to connect around some of these very important issues in our society. They are doing amazing things, and we cannot thank them enough.”
Stand Together Music is also presenting various panel discussion labs throughout the Song Summit, Ben said.
Some lab topics include addressing artificial intelligence in songwriting and other forms of creativity, supporting musicians in underserved communities and keeping healthy while on tour.
“If you haven’t been to a lab, you are in for a real treat.,” Ben said.
In addition to the labs, the Song Summit offers morning yoga, meditation and sound baths.
“Hopefully people will come and see the difference and keep coming back,” Ben said right before he thanked Park City Mountain, Canyons Village Management Association and Pendry Park City for hosting the Song Summit.
“Thanks also to all who are on the Foundation board, donors and sponsors because we can’t do this without you,” he said. “We set out with the goal of changing the music industry starting in Park City and the Salt Lake area (by being) more inclusive. We have more women on stages. We have more people from our BIPOC community on the stages, and more people from our LGBTQI+ community are being heard, being seen and being promoted and supported. We’re in year three, and we’re just getting started.”
For information about the Park City Song Summit, visit parkcitysongsummit.com.