Category: Weekly Wrap Up

We have, as of right now, 28 hours left on our Kickstarter, which will fund our new comp. In 30 days, we have raised an amazing $1,015 dollars from 37 awesome people. If you want to join these fine folks, you have mere hours to do so! There are sweet gifts at each giving level, from a shout-out on this here website to the ultimate collection of Aquabear items including Jed Collins original artwork for the cover of Aquabear Legion Volume 4. If you can donate a couple bucks, we’d be ever so grateful, and you’d get some sweet shwag.

Check out Aquabear Brian’s review of Southeast Engine’s latest effort, Canary. It’s a fantastic album, but maybe you should see what Brian has to say about it instead of reading a crappy summary from me, yeah?

ACRN’s week-long 40th birthday celebration is gearing up for the weekend with a show at the Union featuring The D-Rays, In Silent Movies, Whale Zombie, and Scubadog. That’s a solid bill, friends. We’ll see you there, right?

So, we have 8 days left to go in our Kickstarter campaign to fund our new comp, Aquabear Volume 4, and we have raised 124% of our goal. That’s a whopping $935 from 33 donors. Needless to say, we are floored, humbled, and amazed. Thank you so much.

Todd and Brian have begun work on the comp, having received the awesome artwork from our friend, Jed Collins and songs from nearly all of the 30+ musicians and bands involved. It’s quite an undertaking, but we cannot wait for you to see (and hear!) the finished product.

• The industrious young men that make up Southeast Engine have released a real gem of a record this week, Canary. This week only, you can listen to the full album over at AOL Music Spinner. You can catch SEE in LA tonight at Spaceland, and tomorrow in San Diego before they begin to wind their way back east. Full tour dates can be found here.
• Athens’ own Duke Junior and the Smokey Boots are battling it out to be named the best band in the Midwest by Billboard. Give ’em a hand by voting, and make sure to spread the word!
• Aquabear ex-pat Justin Noga reviews Wheels on Fire’s Cherry Bomb EP, shares tales of an afternoon in a Seattle public library.
• It’s April, which means Blackoutfest is coming. If you know anything about the music scene in Athens, you can appreciate how very exciting that is. Zach’s excited.
• Athens DIY dudes Cop Hugger now have their last album up on Bandcamp, and we just learned that they’re releasing a new album in May! Check it out, good tunes for cheap!
• Next week is ACRN Week. For an explanation, go to ACRN.com.

Is tonight really the last Dance or Die? I smell April foolin’, but we’ll have to see. Make sure to keep your Sunday afternoon clear, and come out to Casa for the Benefit to End Alzheimer’s. Christ Biester, Rattletrap, and Mike Elliott (yesss!) are playing an early afternoon show and collecting donations for the Alzheimer’s Association. We’ll see you there.

Whoops, I accidentally took most of March off. Sorry about that.

Not wanting to rest on our laurels, we launched the Kickstarter for our upcoming comp, Aquabear Legion Volume 4. As I write, we are at 114% of our goal. AMAZING. On that note, please know that the more money we raise to produce this comp, the more comps we’ll be able to produce! It sounds redundant, I know, but this is a really great opportunity to get the word out about a really excellent group of Ohio musicians.

In other Aquabear news from the past couple weeks:

• Check out Todd Jacops’ videos from the Aquabear County Fair on our YouTube channel
• Laura McMullen took a trip out to Marietta to check out local letterpress studio justAjar Design + Press
• Sometimes the Bear Eats You: Episode Deux. Join Kris and Noah as they talk about Cleveland, listen to music, and say alarmingly funny things.

And news from Ohio bands that we’re fond of:

• The always-lovely Super Desserts have released a video for their song, Wicker Chair AND they’re opening up for Here We Go Magic this upcoming Tuesday at The Wex. Sweet!
• Southeast Engine are getting their Tom Joad on, and making their way West on tour in support of their new album, Canary, which is being released March 29.

Fact: I can never remember what this post is called. I will type “Weekly Update” into the post field and stare at it for a minute before I realize that’s not right. Time for a catchier name. Something like ReBear.. but not dumb.

Holy shit, it’s Aquabear County fair week, finally. I get that we’re a little biased, but it’s one of our favorite weekends of the year in Athens. Four days of totally solid bills at venues all over town? Yes, please. Last night, we kicked off the fair at The Union with Zoobombs (honorary Ohioans from Tokyo!), Wheels on Fire, Valleyboys, and The Pleasure Domes. It was awesome, and thanks to everyone who came out.

There was a time that existed before the Aquabear County Fair, and here’s what happened during that time:

• Aquabear Andrew reviewed Orchestraville’s Poison Berries, calling it “fantastic collection of songs, by people that still give a shit about writing real songs.” True.
• ACRN previews nights one and two (tonight!) of the County Fair
• Aquabear Brian also previews each night of the County Fair (one, two, and three. Look for the preview of the Sunday sometime tomorrow afternoon. Hey, if you’re going to go to a rock show, it’s good to come in prepared.

To be honest, I’m in full-on County Fair mode and I only know what’s going on right here in Athens. Come out to Casa tonight to catch She Bears, Whale Zombie, and Narrow & The Brights (former members of Russenorsk). It’s going to be an amazing show, and there’s no cover (!). We will be taking donations, however, to cover paying bands throughout the weekend, so we highly encourage you to pitch in if you can.

We’re heading back to the Union on Saturday night for a marathon of awesomeness. Weedghost will be kicking the night off and playing in between bands from the booth throughout the night. Also, they have brand new tee-shirts that are extraordinarily comfortable. I am still wearing the one I put on yesterday, due to the fact that I just woke up. I can vouch for its greatness. Following that will be a brand-new Zach Oden project, Left Hand Shake. I can’t wait to see what it’s all about. Things are going to get a little face-melty when you watch Scubadog, Chickenpussy, Hex Net, and Megachurch. So. Stoked.

On Sunday, make your way up to ARTS/West once you’ve peeled yourself out of bed. Adam Remnant (of Southeast Engine), Brian Harnetty, and Super Desserts will be playing  a matinee show to wrap up the County Fair. It’s a donation only show, and a potluck. So come and hang out for a few hours on Sunday, and catch some great bands. And bring a covered dish to share.

If you’re not totally zonked by Sunday night, I heard Seascapes, Spooktober, and Valleyboys are playing downstairs at The Union. My goal is to make it there.

Aqubear County Fair 2011!

Forever.

The Aquabear is running at full steam right now. We’re less than a week out from the 5th Annual Aquabear County Fair, pummeling through the paperwork in our quest to become a non-profit organization, and pulling together our latest comp, Aquabear Legion Volume 4 along with a Kickstarter (more on that very soon) project to fund the comp. Whoa!

Speaking of the comp, did you catch the sneak preview of the cover? Our friend and NYC comic artist, Jed Collins, did the illustration, and it’s definitely awesome. In other comp-related news, it was really nice to come home today to an Alwood Sisters CD, sitting in our mailbox. The Alwood Sisters are joining about 30 other Ohio bands on Volume 4.

This week in Ohio music:

• We were stoked to debut our very first podcast, Sometimes the Bear Eats You, courtesy of Kris Poland and Noah Andrews. Listen as Kris and Noah say exceptionally funny things and play some great Ohio music. It’s our goal to make this a somewhat regular addition to the site; let us know what you think!
• Cinci trio The Seedy Seeds released a new album, available at Bandcamp and Shake It Records! Also, catch them tonight in Akron at Musica!
• Columbus’ The Kyle Sowashes released a new video for “Blast From the Past”. And it’s sweet. Those guys will be playing Casa in Athens on St. Patty’s Day; we can’t wait!
• Is your band interested in playing at MidPoint Music Festival in Cincinnati? Starting today, you can submit a request for showcase consideration via Sonic Bids.
• Athens pop veterans The Jarts are releasing their second album this Saturday at Donkey Coffee and Espresso in Athens. Check it out!
• Athens Rock and/or Roll caught this SuperTape performance last Friday at Casa

Athens friends, you might need to bounce back and forth between Casa and The Union tonight. Casa is hosting a benefit for Athens Rock Camp for Girls, which is slated to take place later this spring (the camp, that is). You can catch the likes of Spooktober, Cop Hugger, Snarlas, and more in a somewhat rare bar appearance. It should be super fun, and it’s for a great cause. Also tonight is a super sweet show at the Union- Whale Zombie, Sport Fishing USA, and Flotation Walls! It’s gonna be seriously awesome.

Columbus, make sure to head to Bourbon Street on Saturday night to catch Athens’ own Whale Zombie and Spooktober. Tonight, Kobo features Old Hundred, Maza Blaska, and Winter Makes Sailors.

Cincinnati, head over to Southgate on Saturday to check out The Seedy Seeds record release party, featuring among a ton of other bands, Flotation Walls. Looks like a solid show!

There’s so much going on this weekend, and definitely way more than we could fit in this space. Get out there and support Ohio music!