Thursday, August 13, 2009

Storyhill finally gets around to releasing Deerwood, Minn., festival details

Storyhill, the acclaimed acoustic/pop duo made up of Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson (covered extensively over at my archive blog), today announced the line-up for their inaugural Storyhill Fest Midwest. Cliff Eberhardt and Antje Duvekot will be joining Storyhill as the headline artists for the two-day festival held at the Presbyterian Clearwater Forest Camp in Deerwood, Minn., Sept. 5-6.

Focused on original singer/song writers, the festival’s lineup includes 10 artists. Other artists showcased during the festival include: Casey & Joe, Jake Armerding, Mother Banjo, Ben Kyle an d Luke Jacobs of Romantica, Peter Larson, Joanna Jahn Band, and Brenda Weiler.

Cunningham and Hermanson, who originally are from Bozeman, Mont., based Storyhill Fest Midwest on their successful festival held in Montana for the past four years. Designed to be an intimate, interactive event for their fans, Storyhill Fest Midwest is a unique music and camping experience with multiple offerings and activities for all ages and interests, including guided kayak trips, nature hikes and a cribbage tournament.

“When thinking of expanding our Storyhill Fest to other locations, Minnesota was the natural fit,” said Hermanson. “We grew up in Montana, but Minnesota has been a second home to us and has helped inspire our music.”

The Presbyterian Clearwater Forest Camp is located in the Brainerd Lakes area, which is one of Minnesota’s most popular and beautiful recreational areas. In addition to the site’s conveniences that make for an easy camping experience, like multiple camping options and permanent bathrooms, it is home to an astonishing variety of plant and wildlife species, including 200-year-old pine trees, Lady Slippers, bald eagles and more. Most of Clearwater Forest’s 1,016 acres of forest and 3.5 miles of lakeshore are pristine and undeveloped.

“The original festival, held in Montana, was created as an event to bring people together in a beautiful setting to relax and enjoy great music together,” said Cunningham.
“We are excited to bring that experience to the Midwest and have Minnesota’s north woods as our back drop for Storyhill Fest Midwest.”

This summer, festival-goers will be treated to sneak peeks of Storyhill’s newest songs. They currently are working with Grammy Award-winning producer Dan Wilson on a new album slated to be released in 2010. 


Storyhill Fest tickets are available online at www.storyhill.com/fest2. Full festival camping passes include camping/lodging, full camp access, all performances and activities. Group and individual day passes also are available.

For more information about Storyhill Fest, visit http://www.storyhill.com/fest2/front.html.

~Information courtesy Storyhill's people

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Matthew McCounaghey's Biggest Fans? Duluth's Dink Tank!

I'm glad this is getting the recognition it deserves -- funniest thing I've seen on YouTube not involving unicorns and Candy Mountain! (Reminds me of the time Jes and Bri from Best Friends Forever made me don a dinosaur mask for "Jurassic Park III"....)

Monday, August 3, 2009

The most horrible joke I've ever felt compelled to share


Courtney Love didn't kill Kurt Cobain, this did.

A-Trak + Armand Van Helden = Duck Sauce!

A-TRAK AND ARMAND VAN HELDEN UNITE AS DUCK SAUCE, RELEASE EP THIS FALL

"GREATEST HITS EP" OUT OCTOBER 5th ON FOOLS GOLD RECORDS


Arguably one of the more formidable DJ/producer collaborations in recent memory, the creation of Duck Sauce by world renowned DJs A-Trak and Armand Van Helden promises to deliver what could easily be the the most refreshing dance music in years. Individually, the New York-based duo are among the reigning names in dance music, past and present; earlier this year, they teamed up to produce tracks destined to become instant anthems. Having found it easy to work together through similar musical backgrounds and viewpoints, namely creating house music through a hip-hop filter, Duck Sauce was born.

Reviving classic mid-90s formulas that became Armand Van Helden's signature sound along with the filtered French Touch era of labels Roulé and Crydamoure, Duck Sauce reinvents effortless disco house with a sonic quality and aplomb suited for the DJs sets of today. Over a span of 5 days A-Trak and Van Helden mined their disco loops with the prime objective of "intentionally making party monsters." The result was several overwhelming, feel-good tracks, two of which became the massive summer sing-along "aNYway" and "You're Nasty", a high-energy dancefloor bomb built around a quirky half-bar sample and a screeching keyboard. Quickly turning into one of the most anticipated releases of 2009, "aNYway" has been receiving tremendous support from DJs worldwide, including airplay from Radio 1 (Zane Lowe, Annie Mac) and Power 106 (DJ Reflex). These 2 songs, as well as other disco gems, can be found on the upcoming Fool's Gold EP entitled Greatest Hits.


Behind-the-scenes interview with A-Trak and Armand Van Helden on the making of Duck Sauce:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhD_rUVT1I


"This was massive." - AEROPLANE

"Can I put this out on my label?" -- DIPLO

"Armand and A-Trak chopped those perfect beats to make us do some yoga moves on the dancefloor. Party bangers guaranteed, full support from the whole Ed Banger crew. Will hammer it at Space this summer. BONZAI!" - BUSY P

"["aNYway"] sounds like rollerdisco'ing with the crew from Central Park through a flashing neon rainbow while drinking a milkshake." - THE FADER


For more info:
http://www.foolsgoldrecs.com
http://www.myspace.com/ducksaucenyc

~Information courtesy Biz 3