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On a rainy Monday morning like this, why not look a head to (possibly) warmer weather and brighter skies, to a day you can spend roaming from venue to venue in Belfast, Maine enjoying the Free Range Music Festival? Performers have been announced for the Saturday, April 24 multi-venue event. Here’s the list: THE JAZZ MANDOLIN PROJECT, David Wax Museum, Brown Bird, Tiger Saw, The Free Seedlings, David Dodson, Mary Anne Driscoll, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Travis Lloyd Band, Wesley Hartley and the Traveling Trees, The Fofers, Luna Madidus, South China, Lazarus, Unbunny, Shawn Mercer and the Boondock Blues Band, Uke of Spaces, Cinder Conk, Good Kids Sprouting Horns, Gully, Caethua, Travis Cyr and the Strings of Calamity, Class Machine, Mahdi Army Orkestars, Calvin and the Free Will Agents, and Rural Electric. Looks like it went in a slightly more folky/acoustic direction than some may have previously expected (with a few exceptions such as Gully and the Class Machine) but altogether it sounds like a great idea not only to give yourself a reason to hang out in Belfast, but to check out 6 venues and 25 bands. Check out their website for more info! Choose wisely, friends. Christian Cuff (tonight, Slainte) Christian Cuff – Silo from Too Much Happiness on Vimeo. Kate Schrock (Saturday, One Longfellow) Dylan Bredeau (Saturday, Apohadion) Computer At Sea (Saturday, Geno’s) Cahalen Morrison (Saturday, Hogfarm) Don’t miss this video of Brown Bird performing on WRNI, Rhode Island’s NPR station. I love performance here and the quality of the video is just fascinating – I wonder if a DSLR camera was involved.
Brown Bird performs on WRNI from WRNI1290AM on Vimeo. Brown Bird (who aren’t technically a Maine band, but closely associated with our scene here) have a number of dates in the region coming up. They’ll be in town at SPACE on April 23, up at the Belfast Free Range Fest April 24, then back again at Mayo Street on May 1. Get their full schedule on Myspace. Not too many details yet, but they have a poster and a website for the Belfast Free Range Music Festival happening at multiple venues in Belfast, Maine on Saturday, April 24.
Things have been a little quieter here recently (thanks to a new job at SPACE Gallery and an increasingly busy freelance photography schedule) and this week they’ll go (almost) silent. I’m off in Austin, TX for the annual SXSW Music Festival (or rather all the free/unofficial shows that coincide with every band in the universe being in one place for it). I’ll be back on the 22nd with lots of stories and bands to try to lure back to Portland. See you then!
Two shows that are a bit of a change of pace were announced for Port City Music Hall today: Against Me! (pictured above in Brooklyn) on 4/28 and Isis (with Cave In) on 6/22! This is probably just the beginning, as we get closer to summer and more national acts confirm tours that bring them through our city. Keep an eye on the showlist for new show announcements all the time.
At last year’s South By Southwest music festival in Austin, I was assigned to shoot someone called P.O.S. I had no idea what to expect, but went to the show and was really impressed by his energy and blend of rap and rock styles (note: not “rap-rock”). The show went to an entirely other level when Astronautalis joined him on stage for a few songs. If you haven’t head the pleasure of seeing either of these artists before, than tonight is your chance, as they’ll be playing at SPACE Gallery along with Dessa. Getting tickets now is highly recommended.
According to their Myspace page (where you can listen to the track “Rum Runner”), Kaveldt is a “new band featuring ex-members of Conifer, Purse, Haru Bangs and Ruler Of The Raging Main. Debut show this March, 2010. Upcoming 12″ vinyl split record with AoK Suicide Forest in the works for this summer.” Sounds good. Check out their first two shows, 3/19 at Geno’s and 4/23 at Apohadion. The March First Friday is here, and though I’ll probably miss most of the fun due to other obligations, there’s enough good stuff happening in Portland that I just have to share. For the first time, Eternal Otter Records will be opening their Headquarters at the Building Of Song location (142 High St, Suite 513) and will be open every friday from 11am-4pm. This week they will be followed by a Building Of Song concert featuring Dominic Lavoie (of The Lucid – they’ve shortened their name from Dominic & The Lucid), Meghan Yates & the Reverie Machine, and Matt Lajoie (of Cursillistas). At SPACE Gallery, Greg Davis‘ Ocean Mind exhibit/sound installation kicks off, followed by a performance/concert at 9pm. The Dooryard debuts an exciting group show, Monsters And Robots “No Humans, No Masters” that – from the looks of what I saw the other day while the artists were putting it up – is not to be missed. Geno’s turns art gallery again, this time with Michael Batchelder’s music photos (15% of sales go to the musicians in the photos). The exhibit is followed by a concert with Aok Suicide Forest, Bora, and Roadshow (from Boston). As if I need to mention it, the 48 Hour Music Fest is Saturday. It’ll probably be huge again, rightfully so (though somehow there are 3 other simultaneous attractive shows that night). Check out the PHX article if you haven’t seen it yet and get tickets/show up early if you want to witness the randomness.
Last Friday (February 26) at the Hogfarm Annex in Biddeford, Dilly Dilly and Sontiago played their last show as a duo in Maine before Dilly Dilly left on her great trip west. She’s moving to LA via an epic drive with pal Becca Redman, and you can follow their adventures (and those of their not-always-trusty-steed, No Sexy) right here. At the moment they’re apparently camping in Abilene State Park, TX. We hope their journey goes well and that Erin (Dilly) finds great success out on the west coast. Read on for photos from the show, which also included Lady Lamb The Beekeeper (and thus a surprise return of Hairy Brass Knuckles, a year later!) and the excellent Pearl And The Beard from Brooklyn, NY. Fun fact: Jocelyn from Pearl And The Beard actually used a pair of the Ferdinand-created (for DraculaZombieUSA‘s Maine debut) hairy brass knuckles, as you’ll see below. Photos by Bryan Bruchman. |
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