Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Psychedelic Pill"

     Early in the year, when I heard that Neil Young was recording with Crazy Horse again, I felt a mixture of skepticism and hope. Ever since 1990's truly great Ragged Glory, the band has suffered through too many lukewarm affairs and left-field oddities. If you cherry-picked the best songs from Sleeps With Angels, Broken Arrow, and Greendale, you might get an album length playlist, maybe. Americana, the album of folk standards that came out earlier in 2012, was no exception for me. One might have better luck extracting from the two or three live albums that have been released in the interim. Even though some of those performances might be weak, ( but a true gem is the 13 minute, quasi-doom metal "Danger Bird" on Year of the Horse)  they're still decent examples of what Neil & Crazy Horse do best: gargantuan, lumbering rhythm section, Neil's Old Black guitar spewing fractured, free-form leads, all weaved into a tapestry of sonics that sound equally trashed-out garage and spiritually-enlightened outdoor amphitheater.
    Psychedelic Pill is a sprawling, brilliant mess of a record, it's mess being part of it's charm. It resembles the roaming and exploring Crazy Horse that is their live m.o. If they're a jam band, they're from a different order. It has nothing to do with technical (and, as is often the case, sterile) virtuosity but pure, unvarnished transcendence. The path they choose is full of struggle and fury. Lyrically, Psychedelic Pill can be hokey, redundant, or so off-the-cuff that verses spill over. Yet, it doesn't matter. The music speaks the loudest.
   "Driftin Back" is a daunting opener for an album, as it clocks in at about 27 minutes. After awhile a texture of sound emerges that's enthralling. Neil is beyond disillusioned with the world, to the point of detached intonation. He half-mumbles about corporate greed, art as commodity, and the poor quality of mp3s, to the point where he declares he's "gonna get a hip hop haircut".
       Another epic is "Ramada Inn" which tells a story of a couple held captive by memories and alcohol. That's unimportant, once again. The twilight, skyward guitar passages are the forefront. While Neil's singing is a necessity,  like an anchor to the extensive jamming, I don't pay much regard as to what he's actually saying. Yet the repeat line "he loves her so" feels warm and impassioned.
      .The shorter tracks here give the album contrast. On "Born in Ontario", Neil's spirit seems a bit brighter, yet he offers "when things go wrong, I pick up a pen, and scribble on a page, try to make sense of my inner rage". That chunky barnyard sound could've been lifted from side 2 of Harvest. Two versions of the title track are represented here, the proper one being the most effective, in all of it's fader-drenched glory. "Twisted Road" is the nostalgia-themed song Young has written a handful of times, but somehow never gets old. "For the Love of Man" is a sort-of eulogy and from the title you can probably guess what it's all about. He's written similar (and better) songs like this as well. "Mother Earth" from Ragged Glory and "Natural Beauty" from Harvest Moon come to mind.
      Just when things seem to be winding down, "Walk Like a Giant" blasts forth with so much titanic, head-rush intensity, that the first time I heard it, my skin turned cold. An enormous wall of sound pushes deep into the red and Old Black unleashes it's final, visceral attack. Anyone else lamenting the death of 60's ideals would seem cliche as hell these days, but, on this song, I buy it wholeheartedly without blinking an eye. Yet, it's also a reclamation of those ideals. The line "I used to walk like a giant on the land" alternates to "want to.." This is the one track here where Young's words hold as much weight as the music. The song slowly disintegrates and, after 12 minutes, devolves into neanderthal plodding followed by a minute of full-on dissonance. "Walk Like a Giant" is a new Crazy Horse classic, as good as anything they've done in the post-Danny Whitten era.
      Psychedelic Pill is audacious and unapologetic in every way, for it's unhinged tone and theme, length, even track sequence. It almost feels like a smug response to fans, as if Neil's saying. "You want a real Crazy Horse album? Well, here it is!" Those people will not be disappointed. Neophytes to this side of the Young equation could find more accessible entry points. But if you must, shuffling the song order might help. "Walk Like a Giant" feels like it was tailor-made to be an album opener. ****

Patterson Hood-"Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance"

       

    If Autumn is a time for reflection, then Patterson Hood's Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance is a record for the season. Music that sounds appropriate for a rainy, overnight road-trip alone. It has a low-key, quiet vibe, in comparison to the down-tuned twang 'n' roll of Hood's primary band, but that's not to say it's any less intense.
    Hood is one of the major forces behind Athens, Georgia's Drive-By Truckers .I must make a personal declaration in that no modern band of the past eight years has impacted me more than the Truckers. Despite the grim name, their music is deep. From 2002 to 2006, when the band featured the singer/songwriter/guitarist triad of Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell, no other band could touch them in the world of raw roots rock/alt country/whatever, period!  Lineup changes and a couple of uneven records has made my interest wane just a hair in recent years, yet I always root for them and anticipate new material. DBT are seasoned road warriors and, to this day,  still capable of decimating live venues across the world    Hood dubbed the musicians on this record the Downtown Rumblers which, at it's core, is just four of the other five Truckers, with the fifth one still showing up to play banjo on two tracks. Yet, a whole host of other musicians float in and out of the sessions; CentroMatic's Will Johnson; a phenomenal fiddle player, Scott Danborn; Hood's father, David, a veteran of classic Muscle Shoals sessions, sits in on bass for two songs.
   The album opens ominously with "12:01" as Hood ruminates on the end of a relationship torn apart by all-night drinking and jamming with "these friends of mine-a bunch of lost cases just marking time". This is perhaps a time in Hood's youth, before DBT's conception, when he was first seduced by the mistress of music to the detriment of any women in his life. In the second track, "Leaving Time", and the last track, "Fifteen Days(Leaving Time Again)", he addresses sort-of that same issue, but in the present. Hood, now a husband and father, must leave for yet another tour, in spite of his family's dismay.
   . Then it gets moody. "(untold pretties)", is a spoken word piece set to music, an excerpt from Hood's unpublished novel, Slam Dancing in the Pews. It feels like a random page. I can't get a complete hold on what the song is actually about, Memories of a high-school sweetheart melt into memories of his grandfather's funeral. But it doesn't really matter. Sometimes, Hood's brilliance is in the images he creates-"the sky was as grey as an open chord and as plaintive as fog in black and white"-and those curious little details-"where that lady from the Sunbeam bread wrapper was killed head-on back when I was little". I can get lost in this, and I can't wait until he finishes his novel..
    "Come Back Little Star" is another highlight, a song co-written by Kelly Hogan and dedicated to the late singer/songwriter, Vic Chesnutt, who took his own life in 2009. The back-up vocals from Hogan are a definite plus, but it's that d-tuned, lumbering guitar riff toward the end that sends it to the stars for me.
    The title track is the cornerstone. I love this: "the old oak's gone and the house is falling down, But the ghosts are a comfort to me, Ghosts of my family and time that's moved on, The changing of the old guard to new, Standing here in the days final light, Strong beside you". This is good too: "the night slowly creeps by as I hold myself together, Somewhere between anguish and acceptance". Those lines speak for themselves. Nuff said.
   Hood has never written songs this personal for the Truckers, at least not this many on one album. Yet, he doesn't spell it all out, and I think that's an advantage. There is some lighter fare as well. Still, Heat Lightning is haunted by the past (lovers, dead friends, innocence) but there's an uneasy reconciliation and eventual movement towards contentment. These days, it seems like every serious artist has to make a "dark" record to gain credibility. But I wouldn't say Heat Lightning dwells in darkness.On it's own terms, it shows you the way out. ****

 (Catch Patterson Hood with the Drive-By Truckers Oct. 21st at the Bluebird in Bloomington.)
   

Down on the Killin' Floors: Bob Dylan's "Tempest"

 "These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me. Judas, the most hated name in human history! If you think you've been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way equitable to betraying our Lord and delivering him up to be crucified. All those evil motherfuckers can rot in hell."
                                                                                  - interview with Mikal Gilmore
                                                                                     Rolling Stone, Sept. 27th, 2012

 
        "I'm tryin' to love my neighbor and do unto others, But, oh mother, things ain't goin' well", Bob Dylan intones on "Ain't Talkin'", the last song on 2006's Modern Times. It's a float through some deserted landscape, and Dylan seems resolute to shun humanity and all it's wickedness, and just. keep. walkin'. Yet, later in the song, he says, almost whispers "If I catch my opponents ever sleepin', I'll just slaughter them where they lie".
         Dylan's been in renaissance-mode since 1997's Time Out of Mind, a stark meditation on love, regret, and mortality seemingly made by a man at his wits end with the rat race of life. On 2001's Love and Theft he began producing himself and employing in the studio his live band well versed in Western swing, Dixieland jazz, and rockabilly. He introduced a lyrical thread filled with wicked fire-and-brimstone judgement against wrong-doers and sneering kiss-offs to former lovers that felt both caustic and comedic.  How about "I'm gonna baptize you in fire so you can sin no more, I'm gonna establish my rule through civil war" or "I'm preachin' the word of God, I'm puttin' out your eyes!"?
        Things still ain't going well on Dylan's new album ,Tempest, an absolute stunner of a record that feels like the proper follow up to Modern Times. ( 2009's Together Through Life seemed weak and out-of-place, but in retrospect, a stop-gap detour). The same themes are present, but Dylan really ups the intensity. His voice is as ragged and damaged as ever. "Duquesne Whistle" begins the record innocently, maybe the sweetest thing on here, but, after that, things get brutal really quick. "This is hard country to stay alive in, Blades are everywhere, and they're breakin' my skin, I'm armed to the hilt, and I'm strugglin' hard, You won't get out of here, unscarred" he belts out on "Narrow Way", over a white-hot, honky tonk rhythm. Time seems skewed in the modern Dylan universe; Biblical worlds bump up against the present. He's a judge and the judged in an impending apocalypse, a hangman and the hanged in the post-apocalypse. Those threats keep coming! Over the standard-stop-start blues beat (think "Hoochie Coochie Man") of "Early Roman Kings", Dylan spits "I can strip you of life, strip you of breath, Ship you down to the house of death". "Pay in Blood" contains more savagery per line than any Dylan song ever, too many to mention. At his most bile-throated yet, he practically barks the recurring line "I pay in blood, but not my own". Even the mellow waltz of "Soon After Midnight" hides treachery:"Two-timing slim, who's ever heard of him, I'll drag his corpse through the mud". On "Long and Wasted Years", the most Dylan can muster is smug admonishment to a woman of his past. The way he belts out "Oh baby, you just might have to go to jail someday" makes me chuckle.
        There are two wild cards on Tempest. The last track, "Roll On John", about the slain former Beatle might seem out of place. But it's a nice respite from the blood-spilling that preceeds the record, a possible lament to or plea for a purity that was lost. The title track is a 14 minute, 40-odd verse rumination on the sinking of the Titanic. Critics have made such a big deal about the fact that it's not historically accurate. Fact, fiction, myths, even movie characters all fall into the sea. It's basically Dylan's version of a traditional tragedy song. It is grueling, and indulgent, yet not unlistenable.
       So, what does all of this mean? Sure, the violence is probably the most noticeable and jarring thing on the record, but it's shrouded in what seems like revolution. There's a brilliant thinly-veiled topical line in "Early Roman Kings: "I was up on black mountain, the day Detroit fell, they killed 'em all off, and they sent 'em to hell, Ding dong daddy, You're comin up short, Gonna put you on trial in a Sicilian court; and "Pay in Blood": "I'll give you justice, I'll fatten your purse, Show me the moral that you reversed". Yet, I don't think this is a protest record, nor do I think it's a religious record, although both themes are prevalent. I've never been one to over-analyze Dylan. I'm ok with it being simply about not taking shit from anyone! .I still can't help but wonder if some of it is playfully directed at his detractors. There's very few artists that have caused as much public/critical scrutiny and hostility. Perhaps, after 50 years, Dylan is finally getting his vengeance. A "pen is mightier than the sword" sort-of thing, maybe? But it's done with humor, even if it's pitch black.
       . Dylan has made yet another uncompromising  masterpiece! At 71 years of age, the man refuses to become a nostalgia act. Let's cherish that! ****1/2
       
      

       
      
     
    

The Avett Brothers "The Carpenter"

     

      It's been awhile since I've had such an ambivalent reaction to a new record. Sometimes I think about music too much and that can be a blessing and a curse. In this case, probably the latter. I just can't absorb music in any surface way, especially when it comes to the Avett Brothers. I've got to stay true to myself and give an honest perception. I'm not going to hype music as commodity. I can't and  won't do that.
       I came to the Avett Brothers late. I'm talking within the past year or so. They'd been on my radar for years. I had read many articles/reviews, even half-assed listened to them a few times. But I just wasn't truly ready for them until an enthusiastic fan gave me the download code to his vinyl copy of Emotionalism, released in 2007. It was then that I surrendered and I grew to love that record, even more so the follow up, 2009's I & Love & You.
      You can call their music country, folk, Americana, etc, but I think all of those labels are merely incidental, at least to their sound these days. It describes more the instrumentation than their style of music. I would say the Avetts are foremost a pop band who write love songs, primarily. Yet, it's what they do with those songs that absolutely astounds me, imbuing them with a vulnerability unheard in anything. Lyrically, it's as if they're transcribing an internal dialogue that most people never verbalize. They embrace the totality of life..and death...and the bitter-sweetness of it all. Themes of lonleliness, heartbreak, paranoia all emerge within their songs but not in a morbid way. It's life-affirming. The Avetts are brave souls. The whole thing could just fall into complete sentimental drivel at any moment, yet they still walk the line of brilliance. I've got to admit that there are times when I listen to them that I feel that, as vast as my musical tastes are, I'm venturing into uncharted territory. But, in an age saturated with irony, it's very refreshing to hear something earnest that doesn't feel contrived. It's not something that I can casually listen to any old time, but when I'm in the mood, it's all I want to listen to.
      That being said, I've gone to hell and back with The Carpenter. Most of the way through the first listen, I thought it was good, not mind-blowing, but would probably grow on me over time. Then, on the second listen, I thought they were just going through the (e)motions. My impression now, after a week of listening, falls somewhere in between
     "The Once and Future Carpenter" is a warm opening track, like an old friend who's returned after a long absence. That line "if I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die" comes to the forefront. "Live and Die" is catchy, but more style over substance. With "Winter in My Heart" the music takes a somber, yet more exciting turn.  There's plenty of great lines in almost every song; "Febuary Seven" ("And as the last of breath was drawn from me/ the light broke in and brought me to my feet"; "Down with the Shine" ("Things change and get strange with the movement of time/ It's happening , right now, to you"); and "Life"( "Wouldn't it be fine to stand behind the words we say in the best of times?")  "Through My Prayers" is the real tearjerker on the record and I'll admit I got misty-eyed. Yet, I feel conflicted about it. Part of me thinks it's great, but then it feels at times like Avetts-by-numbers. 
     The one truly abhorrent song is "Paul Newman vs. the Demons". First of all,  The Avetts have been known to "rock" occasionally. Sometimes that contrast has been awesome and much-needed. But this track was just horribly abysmal and actually made me hostile. It would fit seamlessly in rotation between Seether and Three Days Grace on any modern rock station.. But if you're a fan on those bands, or specifically Incubus, then I'll shut up.
    I think my main problem with this album is that the actual music just isn't that interesting to me. I miss the drawn-out, high drama of I & Love & You, where the songs sort of dipped and peaked. I wouldn't say they stripped their sound down, or went backwards. It's like they dulled down the edges. It sounds kind of flat. And for every great lyric line there seems to be a whole lot of word-filler.
   . I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me. Maybe I expected too much. Maybe asking for nothing short of brilliance from the Avetts is unrealistic. Compared to their last two (or 3 or 4) records, a merely good Avetts record feels mediocre. Whatever it is, I think I need to get some distance from The Carpenter for awhile, let it marinate some, then come back to it. Right now, on a scale of 1 to 5, I'll give it a 3. Maybe it will grow on me. I'd like to revisit this record later on in some forum, perhaps at the end of the year, and let you know if my opinion has changed. Meanwhile I'll continue to listen to it when the mood is right. Autumn is slowly unveiling itself, and the Avett Brothers are appropriate for that season.
    

In Defense of Trampled By Turtles

          I first heard Trampled By Turtles roughly two years ago on Louisville station WFPK. The song was "Help You". It caught my attention amidst the roster of indie/alt-country flavors that can sometimes melt together and become indistinguishable.While the music was great, it was the vocals that really got me: direct, cracked around the edges, and not a hint of twang for the style of music.  Shortly thereafter I investigated where the song came from-2010's Palomino, a fully-realized record predominately filled with frenetic barn-burners ( It's a War"), a few of which are instrumental ("Sounds Like a Movie") and as well as more somber cuts, which intrigued me the most ("Bloodshot Eyes"). While most of the songs seemed explorations of love and all of it's hang-ups, I was detecting a real forward-thinking lyricism to others. A novelty, Trampled By Turtles were not. The music betrayed their goofy name.

         Formed in 2003 in Duluth, Minnesota, Trampled By Turtles was formed by singer/guitar player David Simonett from ashes of various rock and speed metal bands. Simonett had his music gear stolen from his vehicle but was left with an acoustic guitar. Perhaps disillusioned with the experience, he formed TBT as a strictly acoustic act and recruited like-minded newcomers: fiddle player Ryan Young, bassist Tim Saxhaug, mandolin player Erik Berry, and Dave Carroll on banjo.

       I would say Trampled are a progressive roots band, encompassing bluegrass, country, and folk. They've been labelled everything from newgrass to jamgrass to thrashgrass. Some of those tags might be accurate descriptions of at least certain sides to their sound, I'm just not into micro-labelling. I think it does a disservice to the band. It cheapens and marginalizes.

       A predisposed liking for this general type of music probably does help in approaching Trampled's music, but it's unfair to compare them to other groups working roughly in the same genre. I can namedrop with the best of 'em, but I wont. If I did have to divulge what makes Trampled unique is it's lack of pretense. I'm sure there's an influence from true roots music pioneers, but they don't try to imitate it. They don't pretend to understand the true anguish of the Stanley Brothers or the Carter Family even if they appreciate it in a more universal sense. You'll find no "hard-life, Depression-era worker" narrative in any of their songs, albeit an occasional cover tune. Yes, they might do a Woodie Guthrie song live, but are just as partial to a Pixies cover as well.

    Here's a performance of a song from Trampled's debut album, Songs From a Ghost Town. 

                                                
       I know. A song about whiskey from a roots band. Pretty trite, huh? But I think the song contains a larger vision. It's a song about boredom, loneliness, trapped in a small town, yearning to escape, whether by train or by bottle. That reoccurring line "the starlit evening's come to take me home" feels both hopeful and foreboding. Is home Carolina or beyond the mortal coil? This song gives me chills. Great lyrics, but pretty simple compared to what would eventually come.

     In April of this year, TBT released Stars and Satellites. It's Palomino turned on it's head. A desolate, rural melancholy is at the forefront ("High Water"). The lightning-fast hoedowns are minimized ("Risk"). It feels like they're trying to break into a new realm or have already-but just barely. If they have, I wouldn't say they know how to flawlessly maneuver through it yet. Lyrically, they can be odd, even opaque at times. It's simultaneously fascinating and frustrating. The few ragers can be jolting alongside everything else.Most of Stars and Satellites isn't exactly easy listening. I don't mean it's necessarily depressing.or uninviting. It's something that demands repeat listens. More gets revealed each time. Those kind of records can be the most rewarding in the long run. That's why it's one of my favorites this year, so far.

     A couple of months ago I got to see them play at Waterfront Park in Louisville. It was a free show sponsored by WFPK. As usual it was sort of an eclectic lineup.These United States and the Walkmen played as well but I missed them both. Needless to say, because it was free, the place was packed. Trampled came on around 9pm but, due to a presumable mix of factors-a weekday, park restrictions, noise ordinance-they played for just a wee bit over an hour. It was awesome, but strange. The split  between the mellow/fast numbers was more noticeable than ever. They opened with "Alone" to a massive, already half-drunk crowd, a large portion of who had probably never heard the band but just wanted to party and dance to some bluegrass in it's home state. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Fans can be won. However they seemed indifferent. Then they launched into "Walt Whitman" and people started to respond. They went  back and forth with this for awhile, until more or less retreating into full-on attack mode. These songs sounded even faster live. It was loud too. It was then that I fully understood the thrashgrass tag.

     As great as it was, I really want to see them again in club/theater setting amongst fans. You can do so too. They'll be playing Headliner's Music Hall on Oct. 18th in Louisville and the 19th at the Vogue in Indianapolis.

     Trampled By Turtles have six albums-Songs From a Ghost Town (2004), Blue Sky & the Devil (2005), Trouble (2007), Duluth (2008), Palomino (2010), and Stars & Satellites (2012). Also check out www.archive.org for some great band-approved live downloads. But, please, if you like them, support them. Buy a record, ticket, or t-shirt.

    The name is silly, but the music is not. I kind of like that contradiction,

Something’s Brewing in Gnawbone!

By: Kelly Denney

Edited by: Joe Steele

On Saturday, July 28^th eXplore Brown County will play host to, “The 3^rd Annual GnawBrew Art, Music, Homebrew Party!” After receiving and reading a Facebook Event Invite, I contacted Doug Talley, the organizer and host, to get the skinny on this high gravity happening.

What’s the history behind this event?

My band, Gravel Mouth had our first gig in my backyard in the summer of 2010. Around then, Facebook was fairly new to me and I created my first event page and invited my friends to come out. I’d always been into brewing and wanted to share some of my creations as well, so a party was born. Over 70 friends and even some strangers (with a laugh) made their way out to the hills of Gnawbone. Over the next year the band grew and so did the party. Knowing it would be too big for the backyard, we rented out the Red Barn Jamboree, brewed a lot more beers and invited a few more bands to share the stage. And once again, with the help of the internet, over two hundred people came.

Now, you said this event was and is free; really, two hundred plus people?

Yeah! Totally. It’s a party; that first year, it got people to see the band as well as giving them personal thanks from us for the last year of support. And making homebrews, you want people to enjoy it. The quicker it is drank, the quicker we can start on the next batch! In my opinion it’s a very small price to pay for a good time. Then the second year, other brewers came forward to donate and to help make it a little bigger and better. As a new band, we did well that first year and so we paid some forward to rent the Red Barn and be able to have our friends’ bands come play.

Now this year, we took it to the next step. One of my oldest friends, Joe Steele, is close with Gary Bartels, the owner of eXplore Brown County, and having played there and enjoying the place so much, we decided to approach them and host it there. On the homebrew side, we again looked to the local beer community to get beers and support. Powerhouse Brewing Company from Columbus jumped on board, and Big Woods Brewery in Nashville jumped in with both feet, not only offering up the knowledge of their brewers, but setting up their homebrew supply store for the day. They also announced that the winner of the best homebrew competition will have their recipe put on tap at the brewery. It’s been just a great evolution of a cool event.

Didn’t you say food too?

Yes, of course. Any event needs libations, entertainment AND food. Once again, what started out as big cookout, has evolved into some great institutes offering up their wares. Snappy Tomato in Columbus is bringing a bunch of pizzas, as well as Big Woods from their Nashville pizzeria. The Columbus Bar will also be bringing some treats. We really just want to do whatever it takes to have a good time; that is what it is all about.

What time should everyone get there? Is there a plan of events?

We’ll be out there on Friday just to camp and have fun. There isn’t anything planned on that Friday besides some set up and soundchecks and you never know where those may go, but you can bet we’ll have a laugh, jam a bit and lighten some coolers.

On Saturday, the event starts at noon; we’ll have some of the local professionals in the brewing community give presentations on whatever they choose!

No guidelines for them?

No way, we just asked the different brewers if they could take the stage and talk about something of interest to our chosen crowd. They’ll come up with something great. I can’t wait to hear em!

Then at 3:30 pm, we’ll tap the kegs. Serving numbered samples to the twenty judges for the competition and then at 4pm when the music starts, to those in attendance. For the competition we won’t share the types of beer or brewers, just blindly taste them and see which ones you enjoy the most. The judges will simply rank their top three favorites. The top three beers will then go to the main judges and from them, we hope to hear the winner of favorite beer. This is not about type or any technical aspect of brewing, simply, the favorite. Once the winner is announced, we will label all of the beers and continue to sample them into the evening!

And with the sampling and mingling of brews, we’ll need some music, so acoustic acts will perform from 4:00pm until around 6pm.

Around four, we’ll also serve the food. Just eat, drink and enjoy yourself. If folks are up to it we are encouraging that people bring some of their favorite beers. We’ll have a beer-share table. The concept is that if you have a favorite beer, put a few bottles on the shared table and taste the ones someone else felt were good enough to bring.

At six, the music will take the focus and we will have bands playing on the main stage until midnight. Then those who came just for the free event should locate their designated driver and make their way home and those of us, who are camping, circle a campfire and enjoy the night.

Honestly, it sounds too good for free!

No man, you get more when you give. Everyone involved is giving because they know they will get a great time. Big Woods will have an opportunity to showcase their awesome homebrew store to their target market. The brewers will get feedback from those tasting the beers and have the opportunity to get their beer on a brewery tap. How cool is that? eXplore Brown County is giving us the use of their amazing facility, but it is an event where many will stay to camp and they will get business there. The cabins and most of the RV sites are already sold out. Snappy makes awesome pizzas and a bunch of people with a great beer in their hand are going to have a bite. Subconsciously, they’ll salivate next time they drive by!

You know even the sound is being donated. Phil Forney owner of Primo Sound Productions, who is an amazing sound guy, is doing it just for the good times. Not to mention the other bands on the bill will see how great it is to work with him and it will pay forward.

Also we have some absolutely wonderful artists that will be displaying their works and possibly if inspiration strikes may even be creating some art live on site. I can’t wait to see what Jennday Talley and the other artists have in store for that aspect of the party!!! Not to mention that we have a few local vendors that will have some great handmade craft items and jewelry on display and for sale at really great prices.

Sounds cool; is there anything else you wanted to add and I didn’t ask?

Not really. Just come out and have a good time. If you plan to sample a homebrew, then plan to reserve a campsite. It is only $10 a person. And if you have an interest in this great hobby, get some materials from the homebrew store. You know, if you like a musician that plays, go see them down the road some time.

If we all just bring a little to the table, we all leave fuller than we thought.

The schedule for the day will look something like this...

Saturday July 28th
12:00p Gates Open
12:30p Onsite brewing begins.
(Come see how beer is made or come show folks how YOU MAKE YOUR BEER!!!)

1:00p-3:00p We will have professional Brew-masters speaking on brewing; giving tips and answering questions.

4:00p Homebrews are tapped, food will be served and the music begins!

This year’s lineup will showcase all local musicians and local as well as regional Hoosier artists.

Music Line-Up:
4:00p-4:45 Jeff Morgan
5:00p-5:45p STOOPITOOF
6:00p-7:00p Baked Beingz
7:15p-8:15p White Lightning Boys
8:30p-9:30p Tha Bone Boogity
10:00p-12:00a GRAVELMOUTH

Things you may want to bring:
1.Lawn Chairs
2.Tents
3.Fishing Supplies
4.Some cans of your favorite chugging beer
5.Bottles of water (Gotta stay hydrated!!)
6.Some pocket cash in case you wish to purchase vendors items.
7.Bug Spray
8.Sun Screen
9.Trash Bag for your area (Please help us keep it clean!!!)
10. BRING YOUR PARTY HATS BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA PARTY!!

For more information visit the Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/events/297294547031274/