Thao with the Get Down Stay Down at Cafe Montmartre on 9.20.2008 for Forward Music Fest.
Mason Jennings at the Majestic Theater on 9.20.2008 for Forward Music Fest.
Tune Yards at The Project Lodge on 9.20.2008 for Forward Music Fest.
Neko Case at the Orpheum Theater on 9.19.2008 for Forward Music Fest.
The Box Social (acoustic) at the Majestic Theater on 9.19.2008 for Forward Music Fest.
Leslie & The Lys at the Majestic Theater on 9.19.2008 for Forward Music Fest.
Check out FMF photos (or deposit your own) at our Flickr Photo Pool.
Download and print your tiny FMF guide here.
09.10 Early Bird Ticket Sales End Today
Early Bird tickets are on sale only until today (Wednesday, September 10) at which time tickets will increase to the standard price of $40 for a Two-Day General Admission Wristband. One-Day General Admission Wristbands will be made available for either Friday or Saturday for the low price of $25 per day. A limited number of $10 VIP upgrades will still be available for headline showcases.
Physical wristbands and badges are on sale starting today! If you've already purchased your wristbands/badges online, you may pick them up at the same locations and times:
Monday 9/15
4pm-8pm: The High Noon Saloon [701 E Wash Ave]
4pm-8pm: The Frequency [121 West Main St]
Tuesday 9/16
Noon-2pm: Mad City Music Exchange [600 Williamson St]
4pm-8pm: The High Noon Saloon [701 E Wash Ave]
4pm-8pm: The Frequency [121 West Main St]
Wednesday 9/17
4pm-8pm: The High Noon Saloon [701 E Wash Ave]
4pm-8pm: The Frequency [121 West Main St]
Thursday 9/18
4pm-8pm: The High Noon Saloon [701 E Wash Ave]
4pm-8pm: The Frequency [121 West Main St]
Friday 9/19
8:30am-Midnight: The Overture Center Rotunda [201 State St]
Saturday 9/20
8:30am-10pm: The Overture Center Rotunda [201 State St]
Artist: A Catapult Western
Website: www.acatapultwestern.com
Regional Connection: Based in Madison
Showcase: September 20, 2008 at Cafe Montmartre
Co-Performers: Gentlemen Auction House
The performance at Forward Music Fest will be the last for Madison's own A Catapult Western. Jason Nyberg will be moving to Austin Texas to give their booming music scene a shot. If you haven't tasted their lullabies of shut-ins and dark beer, Cafe Montmartre will provide the perfect atmosphere. It's bound to be bittersweet and unforgettable.
A Catapult Western - Back Up To The Wall (mp3)
[Cross posted at www.JustSayinIsAll.com]
09.03 FMF2008 PREVIEW: Stars Like Fleas
Stars Like Fleas - I Was Only Dancing (mp3) [Cross posted at www.JustSayinIsAll.com]
Artist: Dex Romweber Duo
Website: http://ruraltone.com/dex/
Regional Connection: Recently signed to Chicago’s Bloodshot Records
Showcase: September 19, 2008 at the High Noon
Co-Performers: Blueheels, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Detroit Cobras
You may not know him by name, but you if you are a fan of the Black Keys or White Stripes, you need to be introduced. Dexter Romweber, former member of the seminal “psycho-surf-rockabilly-garage-punk” combo the Flat Duo Jets, is a noted major influence on everyone from Neko Case to Jack White. Specifically, White recently said “Dex Romweber was and is a huge influence on my music. I owned all of his records as a teenager, and was thrilled at the fact that we were able to play together recently on tour. His attitude towards music is remarkable. His songwriting, along with his love of classic American music from the south, be it rockabilly, country or R&B, is one of the best kept secrets of the rock n roll underground.”
Romweber is the focus of a new documentary titled Two-Headed Cow. Also out this year is a David Guggenheim documentary about three generations of “guitar virtuosos” titled It Might Get Loud. The film traces a dialogue between Jack White, Jimmy Page, and the Edge and one segment reflecting on White’s influences features the Flat Duo Jets.
Romweber recently signed on with Chicago’s Bloodshot Records and will be kicking off a national tour as the Dex Romweber Duo starting at the Forward Music Fest. Joining him as the other half of the “duo” is Dex’s sister Sara who may be better known for her time spent pounding the skins with acts like Lets Active and Snatches of Pink. Below is a short documentary telling the story of how the brother and sister duo came to play together after spending so many years in separate bands. That video is followed by a segment from MTV’s Cutting Edge in 1984 documenting the Flat Duo Jets and a very young and eccentric Dexter Romweber.
Artist: Mr. Gnome
Website: http://www.mrgnome.com/
Home City: Cleveland, Ohio
Regional Connection: Recent album mixed by Beau Sorenson at Madison's Smart Studios
Showcase: September 19, 2008 at the Frequency
Co-Performers: Skintones, Knuckel Drager, Drunk Drivers
mr. Gnome is the duo of Nicole Barille and Sam Meister. Formed in 2006 this act already has four national tours under their belt and a growing following in Madison due to a number of stints at The Annex. They will be passing through Madison to play the Forward Music Fest on a tour supporting their new release Deliver This Creature. As a duo they only utilize a drum and guitar, a combination that has become so common in indie circles it is teetering on the edge of becoming nothing more than a gimmick, but mr. Gnome defy tumbling to the other side by combining quirky gothic undertones that would normally be associated with a band like the Dresden Dolls with the ferocity of the early years of Sleater-Kinney and a dash of metal mayhem. Don't take my word for it, this is what the rest of the blogosphere has to say about the bands debut full length. Sound clips and video follow.
What They Are Saying
Aural States
The airy, quirky vocals of front-woman Nicole Barille anchored in these haunting, dystopic fantasy soundscapes instantly channeled an image of a vocal student of Bjork and Joanna Newsom fronting a band obsessed with the more expansive aspects of prog metal, punk and generally just rock at large. But arrestingly enough, mr. Gnome are actually another in the long line of indie duos that pack a big wallop, forgoing the bass and just delivering guitar+drum musical goodies.
Sometimes Nicole Barille’s voice is haunting and will lead you into a false sense of security until she belts out and jars you out of that comfort zone…accompanied by the excellent drumming of Sam Meister it is a great combination indeed! There are some other great tracks on here as well- some more metalish than others but each one a cracker- it’s not often that you get an album with no sleepers on it at all.
Deliver This Creature doesn't dabble in trendy genre-mixing for the hell of it, its experimentalism is well-measured and unwaivering in its effectiveness. So what does Mr. Gnome sound like? Well, take ethereal Fiona Apple-tinged vocals, add a dash of Pelican, and throw in a bad case of schizophrenia, and you're on the right track.
With spooky Yeah Yeah Yeah vocals and an overall musical approach that sits well between stiff and puncturing Glass Eye and the esoteric ebb, flow, and noise swirl of the Angels of Light, this is arty without being overtly postured and pretentious, even a bit spiritual ("kiss the sun/set me free/open heart whole"?), without falling prey to freak folk platitudes.
Audio/Visual Department
mr. Gnome :: Pirates
mr. Gnome :: Rabbit
Cross Posted at dane101.com
The fun part of attending a music festival is customizing your own experience. And at only $25 for two days of music (over seventy performances at eight venues) - there are hundreds of ways to tailor an incredible experience at Forward Music Festival. The official festival schedule has been announced, so let the planning begin.
Note: With the exception of VIP badge holders for headling showcases, all performances are subject to venue capacity limits and attendace will be first-come-first-serve.
Preview the music of Forward Music Festival with our MUXTAPE, an online mixtape thats even easier to share than your cassette collection. Give it a try.
Neko Case, Giant Sand, Bob Mould, Killdozer, Leslie and the LYs, Dan Deacon, Dillinger Four, Detroit Cobras, Dex Romweber Duo, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Blueheels, Star Fucking Hipsters, Monotonix, Pale Young Gentlemen, Decibully, Headlights, High Places, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Stars Like Fleas, Box Social, Chinese Telephones, Dead End Rejects, Scared of Chaka, John Statz, Josh Harty, Jeremiah Nelson, PWRFL Power, Nick Jaina, the Dials, Bongzilla, Droids Attack, The Alarmists, Daredevil Christopher Wright, Apparently Nothing, Rock Plaza Central, A Catapult Western, Helliphant, Brutal Knights, Dick the Bruiser, Heroin Sheiks, the Gomers, Grampall Jookabox, Crane Your Swan Neck, Coco Coca, Mute Era, VO5, Jentri Colello, Riddle of Steel, Things Fall Apart, Screamin' Cyn Cyn and the Pons, Vid Libert, Nan Warshaw (co-owner of Bloodshot Records) DJing as Stand By Your Nan, Aleks and the Drummer, His and Her Vanities, Red Romero, and Tune Yards.
Checkout these awesome videos produced by Beeple for Forward Music Fest:
Forward Music Fest is excited to feature a showcase of music from Chicago's Bloodshot Records on Friday, September 1 at the High Noon Saloon. The Detroit Cobras, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, the Dex Romweber Duo will be performing along with special guests the Blueheels. In October of 2006 I interviewed Rachel Nagy of the Detroit Cobras prior to their appearance here in Madison for the collaborative blog Dane101. A handful of VIP passes are still available for this show.
Personally, I'm a fan of rants and divergences during conversations, that's why this interview with Rachel Nagy of the Detroit Cobras has earned itself the top spot on my list of favorite interviews of all time. When I originally wrote up my questions I had planned for a 15 minute interview, but thanks to Nagy's rocket fuel drenched brain and stream-of-consciousness way of speaking, we were on the phone for a solid half hour. I wouldn't trade a second of it.
We unintentionally covered everything from how she copes with road rage (she was on her cell phone in Detroit traffic), moving back to Detroit from San Diego, hot dogs, digging up a former soul musician from a crack house, and why you should never come at an ex-butcher with a broken bottle...and lots more.
The Cobras rework soul music from the 50s and 60s into rollicking rock and roll. They defy the title of cover band as anything they touch they make their own. And even the biggest stick in the mud would find it hard to resist the urge to dance and shake at one of their live shows. Cobras Fact: The band's one original song "Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)" was inspired by UW-Madison alum Chris Martel's website "WatchMeEatAHotDog.com."
RN: We're about to have a beautiful thunderstorm...
D101: You're in San Diego, right?
RN: No, I'm in Detroit. I had been in San Diego for probably...I don't know...a good six to eight months and that was a relationship thing and as we know relationships have a tendency to end. Especially when you leave for tour and just don't bother to come back.
D101: Well, I imagine the atmosphere in Detroit is better for the music you do.
RN: Yeah, and my mental health, strangely enough. It's like, "oh hi, I live on a boat in this beautiful pristine bay looking at seals jumping in and out of the water and the occasional dolphin. We live right across the street from Sea World, so you can hear all of the animals making their noises and every night at 10 o'clock we got to watch fireworks from Sea World. We just go outside, didn't even have to do any special maneuvering...just go outside on the deck of the boat and watch your fireworks every night."
Yeah, it was a terrible life. And of course, having a business that we built together, doing really well with that and driving around on our motorcycles, 75 degrees everyday.
Yeah, it was horrible. So after all that Detroit is better for me.
D101: Right, right.
RN: When you're born in Detroit you're fucked from the beginning, man. They must put something in our skulls or brains, that's it, it's all over.
D101: Does everyone always end up back there?
RN: You got it, you can't escape and we love it, because we're sickos. Very, very strange phenomena, I should get someone with a research team from U of M to study the can't get out of Detroit phenomena.
D101: I wanted to start off actually asking you about Hot Dogs. I'm an acquaintance of the guy who started the site WatchMeEatAHotDog.com. So I sent him an email telling him I would be interviewing you and asked if there were any questions he wanted me to ask. One was where's his check?
RN: (laughing) Yeah, more like where's ours for free advertising.
D101: Then he told me to ask, and he said you would know what I was talking about, do you prefer Lafayette Coney Island or American Coney Island?
RN: (laughing) Ahhh...Lafayette of course.
D101: So they are hot dog stands in Detroit that are right next to each other?
RN: Its the funniest set up. They are right there. They're Coney's, hot dogs with chili on them. People will actually get violent about their preferences. It's the strangest thing...it's like...its a freakin' hot dog! It's lips and assholes. As long as it hasn't been left in the sun rotting or its really horrible or its made of all assholes - its like, it's a hot dog! Get over it!
D101: People are really passionate about hot dogs.
RN: Well, as the song says, I can eat one or three, but that's about it.
D101: The Detroit Cobras do a great service by mining the stacks for long forgotten songs from the 50s and 60s, I was wondering how you go about deciding the songs you want to perform.
RN: Well, obviously you like what you like and it's almost that natural thing where you put something in your mouth to eat it and you're like "Yum!" and you eat some more or you're like "Yuck!" and you spit it out. Then there are things that are in between, you know if I have to eat it I will. There is a lot of that in soul music, too. There's a lot of formulas that are very much the same. You can find the same song over and over again. You have to be careful for that. And you have to be careful because some things are sacred. And we also don't want to be a Motown Revue, you know.
That's the funny thing when people call us a cover band, it's like, if we're a cover band, I bet you don't know any of these songs. Usually cover bands are at the corner bar playing Creed. And songs everyone knows and wants to sing along with. Usually people are pretty amazed, even those that are very deep into their music, They're usually pretty surprised to find out what songs are what.
The snooty critics will be like "Oh yeah, they do the version of blah, blah, blah by blah, blah, blah" and they'll get it wrong. Its like ah-ha, you asshole!
D101: That's the thing about that music is it is so hard to find out who actually wrote it. Like a lot of that Stax Records stuff and things like that, you'll hear one version and think that is who the original artist is and then a year later find out you are totally wrong.
RN: There's been a lot of cases where there will be a version of a song where the original will be good, but then a girl group will do their take on it and it's even better, you know? That's kind of cool.
With us, sometimes we try to be very faithful but other times we take extreme liberties. But usually it always becomes something completely different, it definitely always becomes ours. It's another thing that sets us apart from a Motown Revue.
D101: Is that pretty much all you listen to at home? 50s and 60s music?
RN: yeah, I'm terrible, if it wasn't for a guy was seeing I wouldn't listen to anything new. But thanks to him he's turned me onto some bands lately. I've been listening to the Bronx, I think they're out of L.A. and Drive-By Truckers, they're pretty interesting. Another great one, The Sword.
D101: I've heard of them but I've never heard them. They were in town a few months ago.
RN: You should have gone. We went and saw them, I am not even kidding it was the best show, best live show I have seen in I-don't-know-when. Not cause of anything crazy or special that they did, they just rocked. We danced our asses off and it's like heavy metal. Just really, really heavy, dark ya know - chucka, chucka, chucka, chucka - and it is just wicked, awesomely great, but you can dance to it. You can totally rock to it. I used to be a metal fan, like Metallica and Slayer, there is still a soft spot in my heart for that stuff and they just do a great job of it. So melodic, tough as hell, but it's got a beat and I can dance to it.
D101: I'll have to add them to my check out list.
RN: You should definitely do that - AWW!! Come on buddy! You're going to be an asshole! Thanks! Fuck you, too! Yeah, FUCK YOU!
D101: Are you driving?
RN: Yeah, fucking prick! There was a wide open space, wide open, as I'm getting over he speeds up. So now - this is why I will never own a new car because I like the option of going - BAM!!! Ya know?
Yeah, you need to watch it when you're driving your brand new Volkswagen, there you asshole! I could fuckin' run up your ass and not even care, you're gonna care when your fuckin' fender crumbles...sorry...a window into the violence of Rachel. Whoopsie...I mean "God is Love!"
D101: (laughing) No problem, carry on, have a nice day.
RN: (laughing) Here, have a cookie!
D101: I read that you met Jackie Del Shannon, have you ever met any of the other writers of the songs you do?
RN: We have...we've gotten quite a few responses. The guy that wrote "Hey Sah-Lo-Ney" he loved it. He loved our version, we call it "Hey Sailor" on the record and he actually differed to us and said "I love your version of 'Hey Sailor" also known as 'Hey Sah-Lo-Ney." He actually sent us some more music that he had written. Unfortunately there was a reason it was a one hit. We were excited, we were like "Yes! We just hit the gold mine!" but it was more like 'oh' - fast forward - 'oh' skip - 'oh' skip.
We were bummed, Then he died and his brother tried to pull a fast one, He wrote us and said "It was really me who wrote 'Hey, Sah-Lo-Ney' and I got some more music for you."
Then we were like never mind. The compliment was great in the beginning but then we were being stalked by the original artist and his brother!
But...yeah, there's been an amazing amount of...and of course now I can't think of them...but the best one I love the most, of course, because she's my God...Irma Thomas...supposedly,- it was somebody that we know who she is apparently acquaintances with one of Irma Thomas' best friends...o-kay this is how shit ends up in the Enquirer, people talking like this...but she said that Irma Thomas had heard some of our songs and actually liked it. Now I don't know if this is actually true, but in my heart of hearts and in the small little voice in my head I believe it's true, it has to be true. That would be the best thing in the world for that to be true. I would quake in her presence, it would be like meeting God or your biggest hero.
D101: Have you ever tried to reach out to any of these people to collaborate or anything?
RN: No. Our old bass player got into that, a long time ago when he was still in the Cobras he had a thing for Nathanial Mayer, who's from Detroit. Back then, when we still played "Village of Love," we started hang out in this bar on the east side, a really bad part of town and...cause we would just do that go into old crappy bars cause it's out town...
D101: They have the best character.
RN: Exactly. Dusty, she's a bartender...she was a spark man, a little firecracker...then one day out of the blue Jeff starts talking about Nathaniel and she was like "Awww, shit, that bum, he's my cousin." And he was cracked out and fucked up and everything and Jeff had this huge obsession even before she said that, cause he almost shit himself when she said that. he had this thing like "I'm gonna find him, I'm gonna get him to play again and I'm gonna be in his band."
So he's going to go into these crack houses and shit and it's like "O-kay Jeff, whatever, dude. This guys gonna say yes to whatever you want to hear and he's gonna rip you off. He's gonna want money and he’s not going to do anything for you."
And she basically told him the same thing, "Look baby, you don't want to fuck around with those people, he's hanging around with bad people."
But I guess in the last year or two he found him and started playing with him. And I guess they started putting out a record and everything. It's pretty funny, but, yeah, Nathaniel’s pulled some fast ones, because he'll go off and smoke crack, not show up for the gig and Jeff has to give him all sorts of money - so pretty much everything we said was going to happen - except Jeff never got beat up, I don't think.
D101: But they're still playing?
RN: I think they may have actually put out a record, on Fat Possum even. I think, but I'm not certain.
(Jeff Meier and Nathaniel Mayer put out the album "I Just Want To Be Held" in 2004 on Fat Possum)
D101: You've been doing this for nearly a decade. how do you deal with all of the line-up changes. How do you and Mary keeping grinding out the material and putting on amazing shows.
RN: Ahh...yep...cause we're insane.
It's weird, every time we get it together and its perfect and everything is going swimmingly, people will quit or have a stroke or have a baby. It's hard to get five people's lives to line up. We're not kids. It's a hard thing to do. The thing is there is no shortage of people who want to play with us, but they have to be right. People think, "Oh, there covers it's easy, what's the problem?"
It's actually harder. When people are playing original songs they have the freedom to fuck up. They can change something. With us it is something very specific that we're after. Its someone else's thing and we want you to do it in a very exact way.
Other people, they may love the music, but when they start playing it - sometimes they realize it and sometimes only we realize it unfortunately - they don't understand it. They don't understand what makes it work.
D101: They don't have the heart.
RN: Yeah, some people just don't have soul. Or drummers that don't have swing. And it definitely is. I mean, people think Mary and I are nuts when we talk, but it is a lot of intangible stuff that you can’t put down in words or speech and say, "Yeah, those are the right notes, but you got to...swoop..." I've gotten into, by no choice of my own, into interpretative dance. Just because I have to show people, physically with my body, what I want the music to do. it started with “Baby” on the last record. Mary is actually encouraging me, so now they have come to depend on me. I look over and they are all watching me and I’m like, “oh great, now I have to do the dance.” But you know what, it works. It expresses exactly what’s needed.
D101: Can we see some of that when you come to Madison?
RN: (laughing) I don’t know.
D101: I’ll be yelling “do the swoop dance!”
RN: You know what, if you do that Mary probably will kiss you.
D101: So what can we expect when you come to town this time?
RN: I don’t know, what can you expect? Hopefully a little tighter of a band, just expect a good time..oh, look, someone is nice! How nice of you.
D101: In the car?
RN: Thank you!
You know it’s funny in the last interview I did the person asked “What’s one of your biggest pet peeves?” And the first thing that popped in my mind was when you let somebody in or you do something minor to disadvantage yourself, for someone and they don’t give you the wave or a nod or acknowledge it. That always pisses me off. So I always give a nice hearty wave.
D101: Or on the opposite end a very hearty middle finger?
RN: Oh yeah, I scream and people. I fuckin’ get into it. It’s funny one boyfriend I had a while back, he was like “God, just settle down.” You don’t see me road raging though. I yell, I get it out of my system and it’s over. I don’t cut someone off, I don’t get revenge. I just yell at them and its over. I think my way is much more effective.
The best thing though, you may have heard, I used to be a butcher. And you carry your knives with you in a tool box. And then one day, I didn’t even cut this guy off ,and I got in and we got off this exit and this guy steps to me. He actually gets out of his car. he’s yelling “fuckin’ bitch, blah, blah, blah.” And his girlfriend gets out with a bottle. She breaks the bottle and starts coming towards me. All I do is I flip the latch on my toolbox. I look down and I see two really nice scimitars, you know those nice curved ones?
D101: Yeah.
RN: And I roll down the window, held them both up and I say, “I’m a butcher mutha fucker, wanna go?” And they both just went turned around and got the fuck in their car and ran the red light.
D101: That’s classic.
RN: It was, it was great, it was such a gratifying moment. You want to step to me, I know how to cut you apart in 16 different ways. I can make filet out of you mother fucker. You want to step to me with your manhood and a broken bottle.
Mason Jennings is a Minnesota-based pop-folk singer-songwriter whose songs balance the insightfulness of a poet and passion of an activist. He has performed with Jack Johnson, Guster, the Jayhawks, and Modest Mouse.
Flosstradamus is a Chicago duo comprised of J2K (Josh Young) and Autobot (Curt Cameruci) who have been dominating the party scene nationwide with their tag-team DJ sets (3 turntables, 2 mixers) and their unique mixes of Baltimore club, hip-hop, house, obscure remixes, and juke. They've performed at SXSW, CMJ, Pitchfork Festival, Pop Montreal and with Clipse, Common, A-Trak, Kid Sister, and Rick Ross. And now they will appear at the Majestic Theater in Madison on Saturday 9/20 for Forward Music Fest.
Forward Music Fest is excited to add the following artists to the festival lineup:
Giant Sand, High Places, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Star Fucking Hipsters, Monotonix, Pale Young Gentlemen, Decibully, Headlights, Stars Like Fleas, Box Social, Scared of Chaka, John Statz, Josh Harty, Jeremiah Nelson, PWRFL Power, Nick Jaina, the Dials, Bongzilla, Droids Attack, A Catapult Western, Helliphant, Brutal Knights, Dick the Bruiser, Blueheels, Heroin Sheiks, the Gomers, Grampall Jookabox, Crane Your Swan Neck, Dex Romweber Duo, Riddle of Steel, Things Fall Apart, Screamin' Cyn Cyn and the Pons, Vid Libert, Nan Warshaw (co-owner of Bloodshot Records) DJing as Stand By Your Nan, Aleks and the Drummer, His and Her Vanities, and Red Romero.
For more information on these artists, see ForwardMusicFest.com/lineup.
It's 11:58 on the eve of our first announcement. Forward Collaborative has had an exhilarating last six weeks or so. Since our last blog entry, we've sculpted a lineup that's worthy of the verb "sculpted." It's not an exaggeration to say we took every last detail into account. As Forward Music Fest evolves, we'll be building on this lineup carefully, adding more national acts with roots in the Midwest and molding local and regional talent onto existing bills. Early Bird ticket sales begin Saturday, June 21 at 10 a.m., with both General Admission wristbands and VIP Badges for guaranteed access to shows of your choice. (Don't forget that a portion of the proceeds from Forward Music Fest will be donated to organizations in Madison that help preserve the music.)
We're infinitely fortunate to be working so closely with Madison's dedicated venue owners and managers (Cathy, Darwin, Matt, Scott, Bricco, Rich) and record label personnel (Jake, Ricky, Terrin, Nan from Bloodshot), all of whom have provided invaluable advice and guidance thus far. We have had the privilege of collaborating with the talented and humble guys (Mike and Beau) from Smart Studios, and the savvy crew at the Onion (Scott, Jeff, Erin, and Rachel). We've got stellar graphic design from Sam at Firecracker, and Chris doing a bangup job on the website. We're grateful for the buy one/get one guitar picks at the High Noon Saloon during happy hour, where many a meeting has been held. We're grateful for the quirky old movies that project upon the wall of the Orpheum Lobby, providing the bizarre backdrop for even more meetings (we're also grateful that both the Orpheum and High Noon have internet access).
This might be an appropriate place to insert a cliche like "The past year of planning has been an invaluable learning experience" but honestly we are still learning. Learning that there are actually agents that work on Sundays. That ad deadlines can preempt date night. Did you know your little brother was a huge Bob Mould fan? Yeah, me neither. But we're learning that the bottom line really has very little to do with money-- it's more about giving people the music they love, in the places they love, so they can experience it with the people they love (along with a whole bunch of other people they probably don't love, at least not that way).
As with the theory behind any evolution, there will be those who believe and those who don't. To those who believe, we thank you and extend an invitation. Collaborate with us as we move forward. This effort is DIY and the more Ys the better. To those who have already emailed us at forward.collaborative@gmail.com to help with logistics and outlying et ceteras, we look forward to working with you.
You've just entered the website for Forward Music Festival (FMF). In the next few days/weeks/months we plan on unveiling a lineup that will rock your world, even if you live deep in the heart of the Midwest. Electronica? check it. Rock? rock on. Indie? always. Pop? goes the weasel. Punk? if you can handle it. Forward Music Fest will bring the best of the Midwest's artists, agencies, record labels, and fans together for one weekend with the common agenda of enjoying good music with the good people of the good old heartland.
But it's not just a festival. Forward is an ethic based in Madison, Wisconsin, where we famously surround our utopia with reality. This movement doesn't just seek to lift up the scene, it intends to have a hand in creating it. If you have an idea, a contact, a connection, we want to hear from you. Let's make it happen together. Our "profits" will not go to pockets, they will go to potential, with our charitable partners keeping the Madison music scene solid by providing instruments and lessons to schoolchildren and planning neighborhood festivals that foster music awareness and enjoyment to all.
