Danny Brown of West Bloomfield, left, talks with Cole Rabenort of Ann Arbor, right, during an exercise during the Fresh Water Music Fest at the Neutral Zone in Ann Arbor on Saturday afternoon.

Joseph Tobianski I AnnArbor.com

Budding musicians had the chance to learn about the music industry from professionals today at the inaugural Fresh Water Music Fest, which took place at the Neutral Zone in downtown Ann Arbor.

Experts in publishing, art direction, booking, self-producing and more offered workshops to more than 50 teen artists and musicians.

"A lot of people want to make music but don't realize all the complexities that go into it," said musician Fauster Kitchens, who was there to learn about the visual arts relationship to musical art.

"We have a really good place for musicians and artists to grow here," said musician Oren Bregman.

"There are tons of kids coming through the Neutral Zone who want to produce albums and get more fans," said Alia Persico-Shammas, one of the organizers of Saturday's event. "We want to unite youth artists with people in the music industry."

Persico-Shammas said that growing up in Ann Arbor offers people a lot of access to free and affordable music-related resources.

For teens at the Neutral Zone, one of those resources is Youth Owned Records, which started right after the venue opened in 1998. Ingrid Racine coordinates the record label and all the Neutral Zone's music programs.

"The whole idea of today's summit is to create an environment for local musicians to become part of the music community that already exists," said Racine.

One of Saturday's drawing cards was Invincible, a graduate of Community High School, who is a successful hip-hop artist now living in Detroit. She was the keynote speaker and stressed the importance of building authentic relationships in the music industry.

"You have to listen to your gut instinct," she told the audience. "The hardest thing as an artist is finding your own voice. Do everything with as much creativity and intention as you put into your music."

Invincible moved to Ann Arbor at the age of 7 and spoke no English. She learned the language and all about the culture through listening to hip-hop music. Invincible started writing lyrics when she was 9. Now she owns her own label called Emergence.

"The music taught me how to express myself," she said.

She stressed the importance of combining music with the social justice movement and strongly advised the young musicians: "Don't let anyone mold you or your music and get turned into something you're not."

At 7 p.m. Saturday, the Neutral Zone will host a concert that includes some of the day's presenters. The Music Fest was funded by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs' "New Leaders Art Council of Michigan."