Posts Tagged ‘ Aquabear ’

The Moose Is Loose: Episode One

Well, Brian decided it was finally time to make his own podcast and he is excited to present the results of the first episode of The Moose Is Loose! This podcast will focus on Ohio music and is named after the first ever compilation project he put together in 2003 (which you can download for FREE here). This episode showcases some of Brian’s favorite songs from the Aquabear online compilations and features music from The Franchise, The Makebelieves, Dragline Brothers, We March, Mike Elliott, Machine Go Boom, Washout Corporation, Neo Nothing, Casual Future, The Math Squad, Casiotone Orchestra, Men of Gentle Birth, Blackark, Matt Collander, and Small Object a. Not much talking in this one (Brian is still perfecting his smooth NPR voice) but you will get to hear our host babble a bit about his history with Ohio music. The first of many episodes to come. The Moose Is Loose: Episode One

CALLING ALL ARTISTS! What do you think an Aquabear looks like?

The Aquabear Legion is looking for works of art in a variety of forms and types depicting interpretations of our mascot and namesake, the mythical Aquabear. Other than that there are not many limitations or rules, we just want to see what you think of when you think about an Aquabear. We are hoping to gather all of these up for a big Aquabear art show in Athens in 2012, most likely during the 6th annual Aquabear County Fair on March 9-10, 2012. In addition, we hope to use this art to continue collaborating between Ohio musicians and Ohio artists by featuring it on our website and in other items to promote Aquabear Legion (pins, prints, t-shirts, handbills, etc.). Also, if you are so kind to donate your work to use (hey, we’re almost a non-profit now!) we are hoping to auction off or sell some of this work to raise funds. Please contact us at contact@aquabearlegion.com if you have any questions or to RSVP that you plan on submitting. All entries for this round are due by March 1, 2012 but this will be an ongoing project so entries are always welcome. Feel free to pass this along...

Aquabear Live at ARTS/West: Moon High, Time & Temperature, Dead Winds of Summer

Aquabear Legion’s Live at ARTS/West series returns TONIGHT (Friday, September 9) with a great lineup featuring Moon High and Time & Temperature from Columbus, Ohio and an opening set from Athens’ own Andrew Lampela’s project Dead Winds of Summer. Moon High come back to Athens after the July release of their new record Six Suns (buy it here online, or come to the show!) and play in what we are honored to know is one of their favorite rooms. They have been playing around Ohio too including stops in Cincinnati and Cleveland, and gave us the fantastic “Autumn Leaves” for Aquabear Legion Volume 4. Time & Temperature is Val Glenn and she writes and performs some great songs. Her new album Cream of the Low Tide is available for a free download from her bandcamp! People With Animal Heads says Val “has been able to create singer/songwriter music for people who are sick to death of singer/songwriter music”. That sounds good to us. Athens’ own Aquabear Legionnaire Andrew Lampela will open the night up with a set from his solo project Dead Winds of Summer. Get there early cause he likes to play before people come. Music starts at 8:00pm...

Aquabear in Columbus at Kobo THIS FRIDAY!

Aquabear Legion heads up to Ohio’s capital city this Friday, April 22 for a show at Kobo (2590 North High Street, Columbus) for a very awesome show… Black Owls (granville) Hex Net (athens) She Bears (columbus) Moon High (columbus) Alwood Sisters (columbus) Everyone will play in that order with Alwood Sisters kicking the evening off and Black Owls closing it. Doors at 9pm and music starts around 9:30! $5 for 21+ | $7 for 18+ Hope to see you there!

Aquabear Spring Break TONIGHT at Casa Cantina in Athens!

Attention Athenians! Our wonderful town is extra sleepy this week so come out an enjoy YOUR well deserved break from all the craziness of the students with an awesome FREE show of Ohio rock and roll at Casa Cantina TONIGHT (Thursday, March 24) at 10:30. We welcome Athens ex-pats In Silent Movies down from Columbus to join local acts The D-Rays (awesome loud and fast rock and roll, members of Speedknobs), and Poppycock (Athens legends who have returned for some awesome shows as of late). And if that wasn’t enough… we added a short set from Aquabear favorites the experimental/improv duo Weedghost! Hope to see you there.

I was very excited to come up with a list of my favorite music from Ohio this year, particularly because not too much on the national scene really blew me away this year. The following list however features some very, very good music and all of it comes at high suggestion for me. Great records from Megachurch, Super Desserts, Wheels On Fire, Sun God, This Moment In Black History, Whale Zombie, The Black Swans, Orchestraville, Manor Animals, Seascapes, and Weedghost. When possible we have included a link and where you could purchase a copy, though a few of these things may be out of print. I know I missed a few (sorry), and I am putting them in arbitrary order as I cannot possibly rank anything. But, I did limit it to 11, because 10 just didn’t work… Happy New Year from the Aquabear Legion! 2011 is gonna be pretty awesome. Megachurch, Megachurch GET IT: megachurch.bandcamp.com Super Desserts, Banjo Forever GET IT: banjoforever.com Wheels On Fire, Liar Liar GET IT: Bompstore Sun God / This Moment In Black History, The Paul EP GET IT: Smog Veil Records The Black Swans, Words Are Stupid GET IT: St. Ives and Secretly...

Aquabear and Blackout: Self Destruct Button, Hex Net, The Visitations, Valley Boys at The Union on 9/18/10

Aquabear Legion and Athens-based Blackout Booking are throwing quite a show TONIGHT (Saturday, September 18) at The Union in Athens. The show features old Aquabear pals and Cleveland natives Self Destruct Button, The Vistiations (who hail from the OTHER Athens in Georgia), and local boys Hex Net (members of Dragline Bros.) and Valley Boys (members of Whale Zombie). Doors open at 9pm and music starts round 10. See you all there…

07/10/10 – Aquabear Live @ ARTS/West with Moon High, Whale Zombie, Weedghost

Aquabear Live @ ARTS/West with Moon High, Whale Zombie, Weedghost When Saturday, July 10, 2010 8:00pm - All Ages Where ARTS/West (map) 132 W. State St. Athens, Ohio, USA 45701 « Back to the calendar

COUNTY FAIR PREVIEW: We March

Oh man, I cannot in any way at all think about my life without We March. When I came to Athens as an Ohio University freshman in 2001, We March was one of the first bands I saw down here and it made me feel instantly at home. These guys are the real deal. And we are honored to have them once again play their third Aquabear County Fair on Saturday, March 6th at The Union. Not only has We March seen most venues and towns the road has to offer, been written up in Maximum Rock and Roll, and broken bones while playing shows but they have been doing it FOR TEN YEARS plus. And they are still very, very good. Watch the video of them playing last year’s Blackoutfest from our friend Milo:

COUNTY FAIR PREVIEW: Chris Biester

Chris Biester is arguably the best damn musician in this town, so what better way to open up the Friday night Casa show then with a set from him? Chris hosts the weekly Wednesday Open Stage at Casa Cantina and melts all of our faces with the occasional Chickenpussy performance besides working as an artist at Passion Works Studio in uptown Athens. And of course, I cannot preview a Biester show without bringing up his former band, Athens legends Appalachian Death Ride. For those of you who have never heard ADR you should remedy that problem immediately. Watch Chris play solo and check out a great Appalachian Death Ride video for “The Serpent” put together by Mike Elliott below and come see Mr. Biester play himself FOR FREE at the Aquabear County Fair on Friday, March 5th at Casa Cantina.

COUNTY FAIR PREVIEW: Weedghost

There is one band that has played every Aquabear County Fair, and the even played the first Aquabear Showcase at The Wire in 2005. That band is Weedghost. They will be joining us at again at The Union on Saturday, March 6th. Comprised of Andrew Lampela and Kris Poland, Weedghost has been making and looping noise for over 5 years. These fine folks also help out a ton with Aquabear and have spent time playing in The Arch Villans, Collapse, Kid Panda Hands, Dinner of Swords and the 1,000 bands Andrew has been in. Weedghost has also been part of the group of Athens musicians who hosted and played at the regular (and now semi-regular) ARTS/West Noise Nights. At this year’s County Fair Weedghost will be playing short sets inbetween bands at The Union on Saturday, March 6th and it wouldn’t be out of the question to see them at Casa Cantina on Friday, March 5th. Watch the video below:

01/31/10 – Aquabear Pancake Breakfast and Noise Show – ARTS/West

Aquabear Pancake Breakfast and Noise Show When Sunday, January 31, 2010 1:00pm - All Ages Where ARTS/West (map) 132 W. State St. Athens, Ohio, USA 45701 Other InfoPancake Breakfast from 1pm-5pm followed by a Noise/Improv Show upstairs afterward! Support the Aquabear! « Back to the calendar

Aquabear Seeking Submissions and Contributors!

The Aquabear Legion is looking for folks to contribute to our website! Submit your writing, photos, videos, reviews, or anything else related to Ohio music, art, or film. Want to write but don’t have an idea? No worries, we have lots of those too. Send us an e-mail at contact@aquabearlegion.com if you are interested in becoming an honorary Legionnaire! In other and related news we have a few new volunteers around these parts that are keeping the ‘Bear moving along. So a big Aquabear welcome to Stephen, Zach, and Laura! And this is also a great chance to thank Emily, Dan, Sherri, Kris, and Andrew for helping as they always do. You guys are awesome.

INTERVIEW: She Bears

She Bears are releasing their new record, I Found Myself Asleep tonight at Casa Cantina. Aquabear had a chance to talk to Stephen Pence about the band, their new album, boats, getting drunk, record contracts, and a lot more. It should be noted that an original idea for the interview was for me to send Stephen questions and then he would get really, really drunk and leave me voicemails answering them late at night. I thought it was a great idea, but the logistics fell apart a bit after 13 voice mails and a lack of a good transcribing system. I am including some of the voicemail ramblings, which include contributions from: Stephen, Shea Stanley (a local hobo witch doctor who as of press time is not in the band), and Ryan (who is in the band). Other folks left some messages too sorry if you were left out, also not all of those messages are transcribed here.. Interview after the break….

Music Swap Meet at Stuart’s THIS SATURDAY!

Aquabear Legion and Stuart’s Opera House are teaming up for another Music Swap Meet this Saturday, October 10th in the Stuart’s lobby (52 Public Square in Nelsonville) from 10am-5pm! Lots of great LP’s, CD’s, Gear, and a whole lot more all for sale, and FREE ADMISSION! If you are interested in reserving a table please e-mail brian@stuartsoperahouse.org for details or call the Stuart’s office at (740) 753-1924. It’s always a good time, hope to see you all out!

Aquabear Puts Up Two New Comps FOR FREE! More comps to come this Fall!

Aquabear Legion Volume 2 and Aquabear Legion Volume 3 are now available for FREE DOWNLOAD, and three more compilations will be joining those shortly too. All in celebration of Aquabear’s 5th anniversary! 5 years = 5 new and free compilations. Add those 5 to the 3 already up and you got yourself a whole lot of free downloads. These two compilations were originally released as physical CD’s, and are available here for the first time. Two out-of-print Cleveland area compilations from years past will be put up in the coming weeks (including one from 1997 originally released on cassette, and the fantastic Refugee Records compilation) and Brian’s own first compilation The Moose Is Loose (which dates back to 2003 and pre-dates Aquabear!). Get them here.

PREVIEW: 11th Annual Athens Community Music Festival this Saturday

One of my favorite nights of the year is coming up this weekend, the 11th annual Athens Community Music Festival. This night is Athens’ own version of SXSW with 38 Athens bands playing at 6 venues around town. Other weekends of music throughout the year in Athens have wonderful music (Blackoutfest, Nelsonville Music Festival, and of course the Aquabear County Fair), but this night is ALL Athens, while all of the other mentioned bring regional and national acts in as well. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but there is something special about all of that great live music happening in one night. And seriously, a wristband for all venues all night is ONLY $10 or you can go one venue for $5 and passes and tickets are available at each venue. Proceeds go towards helping local musicians in need and music education. In fact there are far to many bands and amazing musicians playing it is impossible not to write an article like this and be able to mention everyone, just pick some at random to see or do my preferred method of bouncing from venue to venue as quickly as possible. Full schedule and more...

Aquabear Legion is hosting a screening of Fugazi’s “Instrument” DVD at ARTS/West. Thursday, April 9th at 7:30pm $2 suggested donation *cover space, anything extra benefits Aquabear Legion A collaboration between filmmaker Jem Cohen and the Washington D.C band Fugazi, the project covers the ten-year period from the band’s inception in 1987 to 1997. Far from a traditional documentary, the project is a musical document: a portrait of musicians at work. The film takes its title from the Fugazi song of the same name, from their 1993 album, In on the Kill Taker. Editing of the film was done by both Cohen and the members of the band over the course of five years. It was shot from 1987 through 1998 on super 8, 16mm and video and is composed mainly of footage of concerts, interviews with the band members, practices, tours and time spent in the studio recording their 1995 album, Red Medicine. The film also includes portraits of fans as well as interviews with them at various Fugazi shows around the United States throughout the years. The Instrument Soundtrack by Fugazi was released in conjunction with the film.

Aquabear Reader #3! Submissions and Advertisers Needed!

The Athens-based Ohio music, art, and film collective Aquabear Legion is starting to get ready for the third issue of our FREE magazine The Aquabear Reader and we need your help! The Aquabear Reader needs writers, photographers and anyone who wants to help to contact us. This is a 2,000 hard copy circulation magazine made right here in Athens and available all around town, in addition we also make the Reader available on our website as a .pdf. We are open to ideas for stories and features and also have a lot of our own if you need an idea. The Aquabear Reader remains a FREE publication because of support from our advertisers, if you are a local business or organization that would like to reach an audience from Athens and around Ohio while supporting a good cause and organization send us an e-mail to contact@aquabearlegion.com and we will send you information on our very reasonable advertising rates (starting at $50!). CONTACT US ASAP if you are interested we want issue 3 out before summer! You can also go take a look at the first two issues online here: http://www.aquabearlegion.com/aquabear-reader/ E-mail us for more information at contact@aquabearlegion.com or visit...

The 3rd Annual Aquabear County Fair March 5-7, 2009 in beautiful Athens, Ohio Thursday, March 5th Kickoff at The (Bruce) Manor with Russenorsk Dinner of Swords Battle Rabbit 7pm Friday, March 6th Night One at Casa Cantina with Brainbow Casual Future Five Deadly Venoms Weedghost 10:30pm Saturday, March 7th L’Aqua Porter Film Festival at ARTS/West Ohio films! 2pm Saturday, March 7th Night Two at The Union with We March Dragline Bros. Kaslo Flotation Walls She Bears Bram Riddlebarger and His Lonesome Self 8pm FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.myspace.com/aquabearcountyfair or www.aquabearlegion.com Based in Appalachian Ohio, The Aquabear Legion provides a community network for creative people. We are dedicated to supporting and enhancing independent music and art in our community and elsewhere. We focus on collaborative relationships to create opportunities for independent musicians and artists.

Aquabear Benefit @ Casa on Thursday, 2/12!

TONIGHT Thursday, February 12th at Casa Cantina in Athens, Ohio She Bears Tim Race (of Russenorsk) Zach Oden (of Sad Bastards) this’ll be a good one. we hope to see all of you there.

Aquabear Pancake Breakfast @ ARTS/West on 1/25

Aquabear Legion is holding a Pancake Breakfast in the basement of ARTS/West on Sunday, January 25th from 2pm-5pm. This is our big fundraiser for the Aquabear County Fair on March 5-7, 2009 and we want everyone to come out and support local music and art! Come eat all the pancakes you have along with coffee, juice, and maybe even a little bacon. Tickets are ONLY $5! You can get them at the door or in advance by e-mailing us at contact@aquabearlegion.com

Sat 12/27 Aquabear X-Mas @ ARTS/West with (the) Giants of Gender!

Come celebrate the holidays with Aquabear with an awesome show at ARTS/West. (the) Giants of Gender are absolutely amazing, if you are around Athens you have to check this show out.