Sunday at the Nelsonville Music Festival was always the best. I think most of my personal memories relate to happy Sundays, when you got to soak it up for one more day and the greatest work was behind us. It felt like I could relax a little bit. I wanted to make sure to put one of these episodes out on a Sunday, and I encourage you all to sit outside on this beautiful day and play this. This episode is PACKED. Lots of great music and a couple special guests drop by to intro their songs! And we have lots of personal NMF memories too. Heron Oblivion! William Tyler! Drakkar Sauna! Weedghost! Endless Boogie! This one is solid. I hope you enjoy!
Heron Oblivion (2016) Blueprint (2018) Thee Oh Sees (2019) William Tyler (2013) Kurt Vile & The Violators (2014) WYD – Gladden House Session (2019) Nick Tolford & Co (2013) Drakkar Sauna (2011) Wheels On Fire (2013) The D-Rays (2013) Akron/Family (2008) Flor de Toloache – Gladden House Session (2019) The Flaming Lips (2015) Twain – Gladden House Session (2018) Mary Lattimore (2018) Larry Yes – Gladden House Session (2018) Michael Nau – Gladden House Session (2018) Weedghost (2011) Endless Boogie (2013)
The Breeders at NMF 2019, Photo by Danielle Petrosa
(photo by Danielle Petrosa) Happy NMF! I know, I know… no one expected to be stuck in our houses this weekend and not enjoying the best four days of the year in Nelsonville, Ohio, but much like so much these past few months we have to miss the festival. This weekend would have been the 16th installment of this beloved gathering produced by Stuart’s Opera House (also equally beloved as a community cornerstone and non-profit historic theater and performing arts center) with over 50 bands, camping, food, drink, and most importantly community. NMF is a perfect capsule of every single thing I love about living in Athens County, and every single person and place I hold dear to my heart. I miss it so much right now. This would have been my first civilian Nelsonville Fest, after working for Stuart’s from July 2007 (my first day of work was the 3rd NMF and last one-day fest) to June 2019 (my 13th festival) I left to head back to school. I was still planning on being as involved as they would let me be, but now much like all of you I am spending the weekend at home. Not in the field. Not in the campground. And not with all of my friends seeing the best music. There is a magic there on those grounds that I used to think I could not explain… but now I can. It’s perfect. It is a perfect combination of people, community, music, art, and sustainability, and it is how I wished life was all the time. We all need that feeling after a few months. I know I do. So my response was to jump into a bit of a last-minute action, and this week I decided to do two episodes of my podcast with all NMF songs. From across the years and stages. Spend two hours today and two more on Sunday, June 7th with this on and I hope it feels like you are there even a little bit. Also, I hope the people who make this event happen can enjoy a few hours of sampling all that has happened there. This is the tip of the NMF iceberg, but it is a great start. Oh, most importantly… go give a donation to Stuart’s Opera House if you can, NMF is their biggest fundraiser and it would be a huge help to support them now. Click here to make a donation in any amount. Enjoy!
Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires (2016) Parquet Courts (2017) The Cactus Blossoms (2017) Shovels & Rope (2014) Bill MacKay – Gladden House Session (2018) Orkestra Mendoza – Gladden House Session (2019) Mattson 2 – Gladden House Session (2019) Shannon Lay – Gladden House Session (2018) Michael Hurley (2017) Hex Net (2013) Wesley Bright & The Honeytones (2017) The Makebelieves (2013) Built To Spill (2015) Wooden Shjips (2018) Julia Jacklin (2019) A Hawk and a Hacksaw – Gladden House Session (2018) Tank & The Bangas – Gladden House Session (2018) The Other Years – Gladden House Session (2019) Charlie Parr – Gladden House Session (2018) Adam Torres – Gladden House Session (2015)
Another amazing Nelsonville Music Festival (produced by Stuart’s Opera House) just finished up and we thought it made sense to have an NMF episode of The Western Reserve! Episode 17 brings you some of the wonderful Gladden House Sessions hosted by Josh Antonuccio and presented by Ohio University School of Media Arts and Studies, WOUB Public Media, and the Nelsonville Music Festival. Lots of Ohio artists and folks with Ohio connections in this show, but a few non-Ohioans too. Music from Saintseneca, Cloud Nothings, Adam Torres, Zeb Dewar, Justin Gordon, J.D. Hutchison, Big Thief, and many more. Enjoy an audio visit to Robbins Crossing and the sounds of NMF. Check out all the videos here!
Saintseneca – “Happy Alone” (2014)
Cloud Nothings – “Stay Useless” (2017)
Swarming Branch – “All I Wanna Do Pt. 22” (2017)
Adam Remnant – “California” (2014)
Zeb Dewar – “The People’s Republic” (2016)
Justin Gordon – “Close Quarters” (2014)
Tim Easton & Megan Palmer – “Crazy Mother from Shelby Ohio” (2015)
Adam Torres – “Where I’m Coming From” (2015)
Big Thief – “Capacity” (2017)
Joan Shelley – “Stay on My Shore” (2016)
J.D. Hutchison – “If I Had Possession” (2014)
Ben Stalets – “Bound To Go” (2015)
Mike Elliott – “The Rebels Are Coming” (2015)
Steve Gunn – “Old Strange” (2014)
Sometimes the Bear Eats You Too is back and better than ever with three episodes from the 10th annual Nelsonville Music Festival! We begin with some of the great bands from Thursday night. This episode includes songs from D-Rays, unmonumental, Charles Walker and the Dynamites, Supernobody, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, Jason Isbell, and Saint Paul and the Broken Bones. You’ll also hear from some of the most influential names in Athens rock and roll: Scotty Hedrick, Brian Koscho, and Andrew Lampela. All that and the occasional quip from me, Kris P. Enjoy, and be sure to come back soon for more.
Jam-packed with more music than you can handle, it’s day two of the 2014 Nelsonville Music Festival. This episode features performances by Village of Spaces, Lily and Madeline, Shaky Graves, (Aquabear County Fair 2014 artist) WV White, Grupo Fantasma, Steve Gunn, Quilt, The Total Blam Blams, Kurt Vile, Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Dinosaur Jr, and The Men. We also have some brief interviews with the mama who’ll cause you trauma Emily Prince, the foreign legionnaire Rick Dodgson, and everyone’s favorite Tim Peacock. This date was perhaps the most rockin’ day in NMF history. Have fun, and come back again for our final festival roundup episode.
Dealing with a bit of festival fatigue, a flat tire, and a fair amount of driving, I didn’t capture as much of the last two days of this year’s Nelsonville Music Festival as I wanted. Nevertheless, there is gold to be heard here. Crank this episode to hear sets from Motel Beds, Lucius, The No BS Brass Band, Saint Rich, Hiss Golden Messenger, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Valerie June, more Wooden Indian Burial Ground, and Shovels and Rope. You’ll also hear more from Andrew, Scotty, AJ’s beard, and Snowville Creamery’s own Warren Taylor. What more could you ask for? Songs from more bands probably. Maybe next year. Until then, enjoy the music. I’ll see you at the Aquabear Legion Pancake Breakfast and County Fair!
“It’s finally here! Highlights from the final day of this year’s Nelsonville Music Festival await your ears only at aquabearlegion.com. This episode features Supernobody, Jerry David Decicca, Field Report and Cotton Jones. Special thanks to Warren Taylor for the interview and Brian Wiebe for all of his help and recording expertise. Enjoy!”
Lots of great shows happening here in Athens around the holidays, we’ll be talking about some of them in the next week here on Aquabear. Sunday, December 16 features four of the finest songwriters around all on one stage at Donkey Coffee: Matthew Milia (from Michigan’s Frontier Ruckus) and Michael Nau (from Maryland’s fantastic Cotton Jones, who will be playing this year’s Nelsonville Music Festival) will join Athens’ own Adam Remnant (Southeast Engine) and Athens’ own/Oregon’s current own Justin Gordon (Hoover Administration). Don’t miss this one folks. $7 at the door, show starts at 8:00pm.
I am biased when it comes to the Nelsonville Music Festival and Stuart’s Opera House because I work there. But nevertheless, the Nelsonville Music Festival has grown to be one of the finest festivals around over the years and has been a big supporter of Ohio music. The have hosted everyone from Flaming Lips, Willie Nelson, and Guided By Voices to a huge list of Ohio bands from Wheels On Fire to Weedghost. Now in its 9th year, the 2013 Nelsonville Music Festival will take place May 30-June 2, 2013 and will no doubt be another amazing weekend of music. It’s almost halfway to this year’s fest, so Stuart’s is throwing a big party at Athens’ own Rollerbowl Lanes (28 Palmer Street) to celebrate on Saturday, December 1st!
The party will feature live music from Nick Tolford & Company (Columbus) and The D-Rays (Athens) and more along with beer, bowling (2 games are included with admission), a silent auction featuring lots of sweet stuff, and even some lineup announcements for next year’s Nelsonville Music Festival. Proceeds from the show and silent auction will put right back into the festival to continue making it awesome. Tickets are only $10 in advance or $15 at the door and you can get them online right here.
And if you are feeling like halfway is still to far… go take a listen to the Sometimes the Bear Eats You coverage from the 2012 Nelsonville Music Festival.
Nelsonville! Woooo! This year’s festival kicks off with a free party for all to enjoy. Listen to live performances from Weedghost, Angela Perley and the Howling Moons, Mike Elliott, State Park, Nathan Moore, Southeast Engine and Hex Net. Check back soon for more episodes, more Nelsonville Music Festival, and more fun!
Stuart’s Opera House has announced the headliners for the 7th annual Nelsonville Music Festival on May 13-15, 2011. The Flaming Lips (saturday), George Jones (friday), and Neko Case (sunday) were all announced last night at the “kind of halfway” party at Casa Cantina in Athens. The festival always has a great spread of Ohio bands too, so look for those in the coming month or two and last night Athens bands Scubadog, Whale Zombie, Duke Junior and the Smokey Boots, and Chris Biester were added to the May lineup after playing the Casa party.
Weekend passes go on sale (with a limited number at ONLY $60) this Monday, February 7th and you can get them at www.nelsonvillefest.org or by calling (740) 753-1924.
Dead Winds of Summer is the solo project from Andrew Lampela (Weedghost, Kid Panda Hands, Goodbye Goats, SacLunch, Wizzard Beasts, and 9 million more). Dead Winds is equal parts improv, loops, and atmosphere and just like Andrew’s other projects in those veins this one hits the mark right on.
Unfortunately there are no Dead Winds of Summer videos to be found, but here’s part fo Weedghost’s set from last year’s Nelsonville Music Festival (right before Mudhoney!)
