Hilly Town: The Portland Maine Music Blog

Final HillyTown Week Show Tonight At Empire!

Hilly Town — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:09:20 +0000

Tonight is the last of our week of HillyTown fun, and we’re closing it out with a big night of music at Empire Dine & Dance! Details below!

FOAM CASTLES + HIGGINS + JEFF BEAM + DJ Kurt Baker before and between the bands! Doors at 9pm, $6, 21+. See you there!

HillyTown Week Halfway, SPACE Tonight!

Hilly Town — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:07:10 +0000

I almost can’t believe there’s still a few more days left to this week. We’ve been so happy with/excited about everything already, and can’t wait to see how the rest comes together. Tonight’s a big one, returning to the venue that easily takes the title of favorite/best/most amazing place in the universe (sure I’m biased, but maybe you agree anyway), and including a headlining set from the one and only Phantom Buffalo, who wrote the song that this website is named after (also preview their new one, Tadaloora, in video game format right here). The spectacular Farthest Forests will mesmerize, and Maine-via-Brooklyn polished folk popsters Time Travelers will charm you, all with bits of Artie Appleseed planted conveniently between bands (check out this recent PPH review). See you at SPACE Gallery tonight.

Some sights and sounds to wet your palate for the show are below:

Unstoppable Death Machine by artie appleseed

Vacationland EP by Time Travelers

The Lil’ Dusty EP by The Farthest Forests

HillyTown Presents, Tonight At Geno’s!

Hilly Town — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:59:54 +0000

According to the internet rumor mill, tonight will be the last Mango Floss show ever. They’ve been a favorite Portland band of ours for the past year (I believe we dubbed them our “house band” because we just kept booking them a few times in a row last Fall), so we’re sad to see them go. They’re joined on the bill with AWAAS (who we saw at Free Range and were mega impressed by their epicness), Whip Hands (whose EP on Bandcamp has been keeping us up at night), and a duo version of the Waldos, due to some sickness (feel better, Mark!). Just to push it over the top with fun, DJ Cutlass will be playing the jams between bands for you.

See you 9ish. Event details/rsvp if you’re into that here.

And a “goodbye present” video from Mango Floss.

Tonight, And What We’ve Seen So Far

Hilly Town — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:06:42 +0000

First things first: tonight, we’re presenting a free show at Slainte Wine Bar. Kicking off with Rural Ghosts, then Max Carcia Conover, Even Parker (if and it), and Greg Jamie (o’death/Blood Warrior, with Jeremy Robinson). See you there at 7pm?

Bonus: it’s already been a few very busy days, but at the end of this ride we’ll have tons of photos for you to see. For now, here’s a shot of one of our current favorite Maine acts, Coke Weed, joined by Micah Blue Smaldone, taken during our Free Range Fest Afterparty on Saturday night.

Coke Weed and Micah are on tour, with a stop in NH tonight before continuing on to NYC. Here are their upcoming dates:

Monday, April 30 – Portsmouth, NH @ The Red Door w/ Micah
Tuesday, May 1 – Providence, RI @ AS220 w/ Micah, Tig & Bean
Wednesday, May 2 – New York City, NY @ The Cake Shop w/ Micah, Steve Gunn
Thursday, May 3 – Williamsburg, Brooklyn @ Cameo Arts w/ Micah, A>G>E, Sun Watchers
Friday, May 4 – Northampton/Amherst, MA @ The Montague Bookmill w/ Micah
Saturday, May 5 – Hudson, NY @ The Spotty Dog w/ Micah, A>G>E
Sunday, May 6 – Boston, MA @ Gay Gardens (Allston) w/ Micah

Week Of Fun Underway. Free Range Fest Today!

Hilly Town — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:05:20 +0000

Last night we kicked off a week of Maine shows with What Cheer? Brigade (photo above), Callers, The Milkman’s Union, and Nogar Family Band at the Dirigimus space in Portland. Now we’re heading up to Belfast, Maine for a full day of great music, thanks to the Free Range Fest (including the two headliners from last night). Don’t miss our festival afterparty at Three Tides, kicking off at 10pm. Get there early to make sure you can get in the show to see Great Western Plain, A Severe Joy, and Vistas at this free party! Full schedule for the day is here.

Don’t forget to get the sampler we put together for the Fest!

Warehouse Party with What Cheer? Brigade and more TONIGHT!

Hilly Town — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:42:39 +0000

Call it an Arbor Day Party. Call it a pre-Free Range Fest Party. Call it Friday. We’ll see you there. Doors open and music starts right away at 7pm (that’s 20 minutes from now, for the record). Details here.

Dilly Dilly – “How To Be Loved” video

Hilly Town — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:48:28 +0000

Here’s a new video from Dilly Dilly!

Free Range Fest 2012 Sampler!

Hilly Town — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:47:20 +0000

Much like last year, we’ve compiled tracks from bands playing this year’s Belfast Free Range Music Festival (April 28) into a free digital sampler for you. This time we’re featuring 19 tracks from bands such as Spirit Family Reunion, Callers, Coke Weed, MV & EE, The Curious Mystery, A Severe Joy, and more. We’re really excited about how this came out, and are looking forward to seeing all of these bands live in Belfast next weekend. The full schedule is available here – including our second annual Free Range Fest Afterparty at Three Tides, which will feature performances by Great Western Plain, A Severe Joy, and Vistas (who killed it with a DJ set last year, so we had to have them back!) Enjoy.

2012 Free Range Fest Sampler by HillyTown

See you in Belfast! (and then, you know, back in Portland for that mini festival of shows at different venues that we put together).

Dinosaur Feathers In Town

Hilly Town — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:15:07 +0000

Not familiar with them? That’s cool. But check this out:

This Brooklyn band played the What Blog?! party we threw during the CMJ Marathon in NYC back in October, and they’re finally making their way north for a show at Empire tonight. Between then and now they signed to Ernest Jenning Records, got their van stolen (and subsequently put together a fundraising album with friends), and went to SXSW (where this happened). Point is, they’re cool, check them out.

To add to the awesomeness, Phillie band Grandchildren (who I caught at The Oak + The Ax one night and really enjoyed) and Dead Man’s Clothes (who are thankfully still/once again a band) round out the solid bill.

If you’re looking for something in a bit more of a punk direction, there’s also a killer show at Mathews. You can’t go wrong tonight with either of these.

the Sun + the Moon, Top of the World!

Hilly Town — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:13:51 +0000

Will Ethridge always goes out of his way to produce really fantastic events, and this May 5 is no different. Check out the video below to learn a bit about the celebration at Top of the World Park and Zero Station.

Get full details on the event and order your tickets and maybaskets (provided by Rosemont Bakery) here.