Kristen here, also known as Echoreyn of Athens. You won't find another person as enthusiastic as I am about some of the more unique bands and acts from Athens, Georgia! Come join me on my quest to discover and celebrate some local rising stars that are worth a listen or two.
It's almost a month later, and I'm still recovering from the awesome insanity. So many incredible bands! Best of all, we've got some intense Athfest 2013 coverage of nearly every angle of the festival to help you relive all of your favorite parts. Let's break it down, shall we...
Want to reminisce or catch something new that you missed? Well, we've got all of those wild pictures up on our Facebook page, videos galore of some of the most amazing live shows including footage from the final shows of both Modern Skirts and National Anthem plus tunes from The Whigs, Lera Lynn, Quiet Hounds, Ghost Owl and many more. And don't miss all of our up-to-the-minute details on our Twitter page!
You can also check out every bit of our massive coverage of Athfest 2013, from preparation guides to articles on some of the best featured bands and shows, right here!
Hope your Athfest was as insanely spectacular as ours was. Can't wait to to jump straight into Athfest 2014 next year!
I'm not exaggerating when I say that this Athfest was probably the best one I've ever attended. And, to top it off, we've got tons of festival coverage from that one tune-filled weekend. I think it's ridiculously amazing that I was able to see 30 new bands in action that I'd never caught before as well as a bunch of old favorites. What an awesome experience! Let's break it down and crunch the numbers on this year's insane adventure...
Want another taste of the spectacular festival madness? We've got all of those rad pictures up on our Facebook page, videos galore of some of the most incredible live shows including footage of Emily Hearn, Stokeswood, Betsy Kingston and the Crowns, Holly Belle, Yip Deciever, Ruby Kendrick, Atlas Sound, and many more plus full vlog coverage on our YouTube channel, and a log of up-to-the-minute Athfest details on our Twitter page!
You can also check out every bit of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, from preparation guides to articles on some of the best featured bands and shows, right here!
Hope you had as much fun at this year's Athfest as we did. Can't wait to experience the craziness of Athfest 2013!
Missed out on Athfest? Or had a blast at the festival and dying to relive it? We've got tons of live show footage up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube Channel right now! Below, you can check out a few of our very favorites:
I just loved this song performed by Holly Belle.
Stokeswood was definitely one of my favorite discoveries this year!
Emily Hearn's pure voice was just incredible. (Forgive the wobbly camera. :P)
Craving more? Check out our YouTube channel for a huge collection of Athfest sights and sounds. We might have even caught your favorite band in action!
For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, from preparation guides to articles on some of the best featured bands and shows, click here! More entries on all the bands and madness of the festival will be posted daily, so be sure to check back often.!
But before we welcome in the start of a new year, let's look back on our 2011. Between all of the breakups, awesome shows, departing bands, and festival opportunities, this has been quite an eventful year in the scene! Indeed, I'd say it's the perfect time to break it all down in another year end review...
Echoreyn of Athens: 2011
January 2011: We first experienced the awesome sound of Sam Sniper at a backyard party on one of the coldest days of the year.
April 2011: Rocking out with six bands in one night... Hey, it's just another night on the scene!
Also, don't miss our end of the year video wrap up above featuring live footage from tons of bands including never before seen shots of Coldplay at Music Midtown!
Wow, what a year 2011 has been! We bid our final adieu to one of Athens' most iconic bands, R.E.M., and waved goodbye to many others like blog favorite Bambara as they journeyed to their new homes outside of our town. Indeed, I'd say that 2012 is ripe for the taking. I hope you're listening, new bands and budding musicians! Need some inspiration? Well, this year saw Reptar blowing up the scene as well. Maybe, if you're lucky, some of their magic will rub off on you too!
So what can we look forward to for Echoreyn of Athens in 2012? Well, we're actually planning to bring the blog back to its intensely excited roots. This means we'll be dropping our structured publishing format in favor of returning to a more laid back form where we'll blog when we feel exceptionally passionate about something we've seen or heard. If it's an unforgettable experience, you can bet you'll be reading about it here. What about the monthly show picks? Well, of course we'll keep that up! We've got the details on all of the shows you won't want to miss this year. And will we cover Athfest again? Hey, you know there's no way we'd pass that up! When June 2012 rolls around, we'll be your one-stop guide to Athfest before and after the massive festival just like last year. We're simply keeping things fresh here and attempting to complete a few novels too in our off hours. So don't hesitate to continue coming to visit us every once in a while. We'll be here with all the most exciting details of the scene you know and love!
Enough looking back and thinking ahead... Let's celebrate the here and now! It's almost New Year's Eve, and that means it's time to party! Not sure where to go? We've got you covered!
Dying to jump right into the madness? Then you can catch Reptar going wild on the Georgia Theatre stage! Is harder rock more your speed? 40 Watt will play host to the Whigs for the night as well! But maybe you want to see the next generation of rockers before they hit it big. Well, then Hendershots is the place to be when the Athens band and Tealvox ring in the new year! Aching for a bit of Of-Montreal-flavored excitement? While the whole band isn't playing this year, you can party with the members of the band as Kevin Barnes DJs a dance set and Yip Deceiver and the Gold Party rock it out for the 21+ crowd at Go Bar! Or perhaps dancing through a cascade of money sounds like the perfect way to start 2012. If that's the case, DJRX's set at Bad Manor will be your show of choice!
Whatever you choose to do, I hope you all have an incredible New Year's Eve. Catch you in 2012, my friends!
Can it really be the end of November? How has the year gone by so quickly? Well, somehow it's already the week of Thanksgiving which means that many of you are away visiting your families and preparing yourselves to enjoy a bit of time off and a selection of tasty foods. Well, how would like a serving of scrumptious tunes to go with your delicious meal?
First off, I'll start with something you may be familiar with: the Fuzz of the Month! Every month, local joy-inducing band the Warm Fuzzies gives out a newly released free song on their website. How awesome is that! Go ahead and get yourself a taste of their latest tunes right here.
Lucky for us, the Warm Fuzzies aren't the only band sharing some free tunes right now! Doctor Squid has gotten in on the action as well. Every week for the next few weeks, they'll be debuting a fresh new song, and they're releasing the latest one today! You can get your hands on these songs over on their website. Best of all, you'll be able to catch both of these bands in action on December 5th at the fourth annual Squidmas event over at the Melting Point. I just can't wait for this year's festive celebration of tunes and cheer!
And finally, if you're craving even more awesome songs, we've just uploaded a bunch of the videos that we've recorded over the past few months onto the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel. Feast your eyes on tons of live show videos, like the Constellations one above, from this year's Music Midtown and more!
In our final Of Montreal post of the month, we give you videos! If reading about all of the insanity just isn't enough, now you can all fully immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the experience. The first video is live footage from their performance of "The Party's Crashing Us," a fitting song indeed for all of the excitement and action onstage.
The next video is footage from their performance of the well-loved "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games." Enjoy!
As always, for more videos of bands rockin' stages all over town, check out Echoreyn of Athens' YouTube channel here!
Paint, blacklights, and an awesome party? Yes, please! We finish off this year's Video Week with the ever-so-cool music video for local pop band the Orkids' catchy tune "What Is It With Me." Be sure to check it out, and have a wild weekend, my pals!
Dying to see more Athens bands rockin' the video scene? Check out all of the entries for Echoreyn of Athens' Video Week 2011 here!
Our video for today comes from former Athens/current New York band and resident master of irreverent humor Mud Scholar. Entitled "Boy Meets World (A Tribute)," this is his ridiculously over-the-top ode to and certainly unique take on everybody's favorite 90s TGIF sitcom. After all, who doesn't love a great big dose of shirtlessness and Mr. Feeny? (To clarify, this video does NOT contain a shirtless Mr. Feeny... You can open your eyes again.) Here you go!
Dying to see more Athens bands rockin' the video scene? Check out all of the entries for Echoreyn of Athens' Video Week 2011 here!
Happy Wednesday, my friends! Today's artsy video comes to us from local country funk rockers Sam Sniper. Featuring dual tracks, the poetry-filled "THIS" easing into the rolling tune "Comfortable Hypocrisy", and overlaid with eerie and evocative imagery, this one is definitely quite an experience!
Dying to see more Athens bands rockin' the video scene? Check out all of the entries for Echoreyn of Athens' Video Week 2011 here!
Today, we have the long-awaited video for local band Doctor Squid's massively popular hit "On My Way (Whoa)". I love its stripped-down look and rather sentimental feel. Enjoy!
Dying to see more Athens bands rockin' the video scene? Check out all of the entries for Echoreyn of Athens' Video Week 2011 here!
All over town, our favorite bands have been releasing rockin' music videos you've just got to see! Afraid you've been missing out? Never fear. Introducing Echoreyn of Athens' very first Video Week! That's right. Don't forget to check back here every day of this week to catch another awesome video brought to us by a local tunemaker. Exciting!
And there's no better band to kick off our week than the one named for our very own town, ATHENS! Here's the cleverly tongue-in-cheek and undeniably righteous music video for their latest track, "Animals (Mama Said)":
Dying to see more Athens bands rockin' the video scene? Check out all of the entries for Echoreyn of Athens' Video Week 2011 here!
Apparently, this is what happens when I leave Athens... UNBELIEVABLE THINGS! Seriously.
You may have already caught a glimpse of this on the web scene, but if not, this is definitely a MUST-SEE. Here, watch the cannibalistic bloodbath that is Of Montreal's latest music video, Coquet Coquette.
Now some of those people look kind of familiar, don't they? Indeed! Intermixed among Kevin Barnes and the other Of Montreal barbarians were some of our favorite zombified wild men and women from Athens' own music scene. The large majority of the recognizable faces, for me, were friends of friends, WUOG-ers, and people I've seen rocking out in the clubs of downtown Athens, but one face really jumped out at me. Whoa, there was William Kennedy of Reptar right there! Pure insanity. Since I appear to be most tragically out of the loop in this case, someone please let me know... How did this magical occurrence, this mixing of established Athens musicians and up-and-coming artists come to be? THIS IS JUST TOO MUCH AWESOMENESS TO HANDLE!
The Athens music scene has been incredibly busy lately which means that Echoreyn of Athens has been busy too! Here's a bit of news to bring you up to speed...
Over the next few months, loads of my favorite bands will be releasing their musical masterpieces to the world in convenient CD form. In lieu of this fact, I'm branching out a bit. Within the next few weeks, I will be debuting the first article of a brand new blog series: the Echoreview! I'll get to share my take on the CDs that pass through my ears as soon as I experience them! Watch out for it soon. Ooh, I'm excited!
Videos, videos! Boy, have I got tons of them just for you! Remember the absolutely unbeatable Meat Puppets/Dead Confederate/Madeline show? How about the darkly festive Doctor Squid/Leading Edge show? Now you'll get to see some rockin' live footage from both of these amazing shows. Where? Well, fans of the Echoreyn of Athens facebook page got to see these first, but you can also find all of them up on the YouTube Channel. Delicious!
The first few weeks of December are brimming over with can't-miss shows. Start your final school projects and exam studying now... You'll want to make extra time for these tune-filled adventures! Also, stay tuned for another blog of Kristen's Concert Picks. Coming soon.
ATTENTION, BANDS! Athfest is now taking submissions for its outdoor stages. Don't miss your chance to be seen and heard by the whole eager crowd that attends this multi-day festival! You can submit songs for the Athfest compilation CD now as well. Fun stuff!
And, for those of us at UGA, break starts today! Oh yes. Have a wonderful one, my friends!
It's mid-October, everyone! So far, October has certainly continued the tradition of being my busiest month of the year. Where's all the time gone? I haven't even decorated my room for Halloween yet, and if you know me at all, I'm sure that will come as quite a shock. But hey, there's a whole lot to to be excited about this month. Tons of amazing bands will be the gracing the stages at many of the most awesome Athens venues over the next few weeks. I can't wait! Don't believe me? The October schedule is right here for your planning pleasure!
In fact, the spectacular Crumbling Arches will be stepping onstage for the first time this school year to rock the Caledonia this Monday night! (That's tomorrow.) Oh yes! You know you want to take a study break and party with these favorites of mine. One thing to note: Original headliners, the Winter Sounds (formerly of Atlanta), are skipping out on this one. Actually, they won't be performing at all again until 2010 owing to the fact that they're in need of a new drummer. Hm, that's unexpected. I haven't gotten all of the concrete details yet, but it looks like their entire fall tour has been canceled. Well, I eagerly await their return. Never fear, though. Tomorrow's show will go on, and it's most definitely going to be a delicious one! Now it's a triple band lineup with Crumbling Arches, Joy in Tomorrow, and The Clouds Are Ghosts. Yay!
Oh, and before I go, I absolutely must share some videos with you! The two in this entry are from Bambara's latest show at the 40 Watt on the last day of September. This band's been getting tons of buzz lately, so be sure to check them out. Enjoy! And naturally, for more videos of your favorite Athens and Atlanta bands, visit the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel. Videos galore!
You might have guessed it was coming, and here it is! The Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel! Click to enjoy! I plan on filming live show footage from as many of the concerts I attend in the future as I can, so be sure to check the channel regularly (or subscribe) in order to satisfy your desire for more Athens and Atlanta music. Not in the local area? Well now you can experience part of the shows from the comfort of your computer! In essence, you'll get to see a small hint of what I see at these shows. Not sure which bands you want to see live? Hopefully, these videos will put the flavor of each of these acts on the tip of your tongue, so it'll be easier for you to choose. For me, watching these videos over and over fills me with anticipation and enthusiasm. I can't wait to see them perform again and check out even more bands!
Also, I'm going to try something different on the channel as well: a semi-monthly Echoreyn of Athens vlog. That way I'll be able share some of the biggest local music news from each month with everyone on YouTube too. I can't wait!
So there you go! I already have footage up from the Crumbling Arches show on May 8th at the 40 Watt as well as several videos of both The Constellations and Manchester Orchestra at Summerfest on June 7th. Hope these vids pleasure both your eyes and your ears!
Hello, dear readers! I'm currently working on something that will better enable me to share the shows I see with you! I came up with the idea several months ago when I first began to blog about my experiences in the Athens music scene, and soon my vision will become a reality. My good friend AMJ had a similar brainwave too, so between us, we'll most likely manage to create a comprehensive gold mine of tiny morsels from each of the acts in the Athens area. And don't worry, you Atlanta fans and Atlanta bands! I plan to spread the visual love beyond my cozy little college town as well. To give you a hint of what's to come and to share a few cool little ear-pleasing pieces I've found around the internet, here are some tidbits you might enjoy.
Remember the absolutely breathtaking Aman Amun show that I experienced at the beginning of May? Well, if you missed it, don't fret! All is not lost. On his website, he posted a lovely video of the live performance of his song Scapegoating. As you may recall, I described the show as a "work of pure brilliance, " and now you'll be able to get a glimpse of why I said this. Click here to amaze your senses! Keep in mind, though, that no video can truly capture the all-encompassing world that you enter when you go to an Aman Amun show. This is just a taste; nothing can match the atmosphere of the live show!
I would also like to share a YouTube channel with you that made me smile. My favorite "friendly, neighborhood folk singer," Pholksinger Josh, recently recorded videos of himself performing several of his songs with bonus commentary as well. Want to know why he wrote the Pathetic Love Song That[He] Said [He]Wouldn't Write? He'll tell you! How does he feel about the controversial song Battlefield? He'll let you know! I urge you to check out his channel.
Hope those treat your eyes and tickle your eardrums! Come visit my little blog again soon for the unveiling of my latest blog project!
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