Marshall Hugh poses in front of Seattle City Hall after a meeting with the Human Services, Labor, and Economic Development Committee on April 17th, 2026. (Photo: Sonny Svay)

By Andrew Barrett

This marks the second installment of Converge Music’s six-week series spotlighting the Seattle Music Commission’s newly appointed commissioners making waves in the Emerald City’s music scene.

For an artist to break out, it’s all about being recognizable.

For Marshall Hugh, performing on a jelly bean-shaped parade float through the Seattle streets certainly built that brand.

Hugh, founder of Seattle’s weekly summer music and culture festival Fremont Fridays, is one of the city’s new music commissioners elected to the Seattle Music Commission, a council of trailblazers working together to actualize Seattle’s potential as a haven for musicians and community.

Hugh’s love for music started at an early age, growing up with a family who, according to him, “used music as a soundtrack to any activity.”

“Whether it was every Sunday we had to clean the house, my dad was playing funk and disco, or when my mom cooks, she's playing the Eagles or the Chicks and other rock bands. Music has always been a soundtrack,” he said.

As a young adult, sports was Hugh’s creative outlet, starring as a three-sport athlete at Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington. His skills landed him an opportunity to play both football and basketball at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

His love for music blossomed in Pittsburgh, finding joy in creating music with one of his basketball teammates and roommates.

“We started sitting down and truly composing songs together, and that's when I just got the bug. I fell in love with it. I was acting like I was taking notes in class, but I was really just writing rhymes in my book,” he said.

From there, Hugh interned at the Seattle radio station KUBE 93.3 over the summer, choosing not to return to Carnegie Mellon his junior year to pursue music in the Pacific Northwest.

Hugh pointed to his experience at the station as the reason he found so much success as a musician and festival organizer today. He developed hustle from promoting the station’s events, specifically putting up flyers to gain traction.

“If I'll do this for someone else's brand, this is the bare minimum of what I should be doing for my own brand,” he said.

Marshall Law performs with Marshall Law Band on the SS Jelly Bean through the streets of Seattle at the WALKDONTRUN Festival on September 18th, 2025. (Photo: Sonny Svay)

COVID may have put a damper on social life in 2021, but it represented an opportunity for Hugh and his band, Marshall Law Band.

Finding it difficult to safely host shows and events with pandemic restrictions in full effect, he decided to call upon the Fremont Arts Council for assistance. They provided him with an unexpected tool: a parade float.

Named the SS Jellybean, Hugh and his band rode the massive float on public streets all across Seattle performing and advertising their music.

“You gotta be a little crazy to ride around on a trailer hitch parade float, but if you've got enough crazy people that are around you to do it, it's definitely effective,” he said.

The band’s drive paid off; parking their float and performing at the LTD Bar and Grill in Fremont, they struck gold.

“People just started flocking to [the SS Jellybean] like moths to a flame, coming out of their house, like, ‘oh, is that music?’” Hugh said.

Coincidentally held on a Friday, Hugh heard the calls for his band to return the next week, which they consistently began doing.

Fremont Fridays started to blossom from there, starting with Marshall Law Band performing on the SS Jellybean and slowly hosting more and more stages each year.

Hugh (center) performs with his band, Marshall Law Band, at the Fremont Friday finale on September 11th, 2026. (Photo: Xanna Ortiz)

Five years later, Fremont Fridays culminated in an immensely successful year in 2026, complete with a nine stage season finale that shut down 35th Street on September 11, 2026. Hugh reported over 3,000 attendees, with the festival partnering with large brands like Zumeiz and Rainier.

For Hugh, keeping Fremont Fridays full of artists from the Northwest is a must, as is holding events where musicians of different cultures are highlighted on the docket.

Fair wages is another policy Hugh sticks to. Every dollar he gets is returned back into the festival series, a model that helped him properly pay over 200 artists for his concert series last year alone, he said.

“To help the economy in Fremont, and to help the artistic economy and the music economy, we have vendors there as well. That's what I'm probably most proud of, is that there's real economic impact as a result of an idea,” he said.

Cost is never a barrier for these festivals, as Hugh specifically chooses to keep admittance free and ensures there are artists and activities for all ages.

“If people want to donate, they can, but I want to make it free and accessible so that people don't have a barrier, and they can just walk in and experience Fremont Fridays, experience the Seattle music scene, and hopefully down the road, that turns them into lifelong advocates for Seattle music,” he said.

A crowd gathers at Fremont Friday on September 11th, 2026. (Photo: Xanna Ortiz)

Hugh now sits as the co-chair of the Seattle Music Commission’s Youth and Community Committee, a role centered around helping the Seattle music scene get youth involved in the culture.

He pointed to his work with Fremont Fridays as an extension of his values for the Committee.

“I want to be able to give young kids, high schoolers, early college students, a safe place to go and really invest in the Seattle music scene and be excited about it,” he said.

His main goal for his tenure as commissioner is to “establish fair transparent living and workable wages for musicians across the city.” He also hoped to spur attention to the Seattle Music Commission, making the public aware of its existence and generating even stronger applicant pools for future commissioners.

“Who knows [who] we can get on the commission? Maybe Sir Mix-a-Lot or Macklemore or someone wants to join the Music Commission. Now we can really make some things shake,” he said.

The Seattle Music Commission work to elevate different facets of the city’s music scene, whether it’s helping musicians earn more for their work or connecting community to the power of music. Learn more about the Seattle Music Commission here.

Learn more about Fremont Fridays at fremontfridaysseattle.com

Conversations with a Commissioner: Marshall Hugh and the Rise of Fremont Fridays

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