Photo by Kevin Winkler

Thanks to an online Battle of the Bands contest sponsored by backpack all-stars Jansport, local indie rock act hotfox will be performing at this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin, TX. Hotfox is the grand prize winner of the fourth annual online competition, powered by the online gig-finding tool Sonicbids, and will perform at the Sonicbids Official SXSW Party on March 16 at Maggie Mae’s.In addition to the performance, the band members will be set up with a three-day/two-night stay in Austin and quality travel luggage courtesy of Jansport. Over 800 bands participated in the competition.

This is a sweet opportunity for a band that really made waves in the Bloomington and Indianapolis music scenes last year. 2011 saw the band receiving attention from big names, including My Old Kentucky Blog owner/blogger “Dodge” Lile, who signed the band to his emerging label Roaring Colonel Records at the start of the summer. Hotfox’s debut album You, Me, and the Monster, which was previously self-released via bandcamp, was re-released by the label in July.

This is not the first time that the folks at Jansport have taken notice of Bloomington bands. The company began releasing its Unzipped music compilations back in 2010; Unzipped, Vol. 1 featured notable local acts such as Prizzy Prizzy Please, husband&wife, and The Broderick. The latest installation, UnzippedVol. 2, includes also includes The Broderick  in addition to Mike Adams At His Honest Weight.

If you are planning on attending SXSW this year, be sure to make time in your schedule to show your support for this great Bloomington band!

Read the official announcement from Jansport here.

Check out hotfox at these sites:
Facebook
bandcamp
Musical Family Tree

The band, composed of Ginger Alford (of Good Luck), Alan Crenshaw, and Jake Alexander, first started gaining steam when they released a demo on October 12, 2011. The album, true to its title, End of Summer Demo, features four tracks reminiscent of summer love and fun.

Quick guitar licks, plenty of cymbals, and catchy, clever lyrics about the highs and lows of falling in love, leave listeners with a case of summer nostalgia. No one can resist dancing, or at least tapping their foot, to these tunes.

You can find Traveling on Facebook and download End of Summer Demo on BandCamp.

Warm up your winter by catching Traveling on tour!
FEBRUARY
1 Providence, RI @ AS220 (115 Empire St.)
2 Somerville (Boston), MA @ Starlab
3 Keene, NH @ Cootie Cave 8pm email thebandtraveling@gmail.com for address
4 Worcester, MA @ Distant Castle (11 Forbes St.)
5 Brooklyn, NY @ Big Snow Buffalo Lodge (89 Varet St.)
6 New Brunswick, NJ TBA
7 Philadelphia, PA @ The Mitten (4918 Kingsessing Ave.)
8 Baltimore, MD @ The Bell Foundry
9 DC @ The Black Cat, 1811 14th St NW
10 Richmond, VA @xhousexaddressx 7pm, $5 all ages email thebandtraveling@gmail.com for address
11 Asheville, NC @ The Get-Down (1045 Haywood Road) 9:00PM, $5, all-ages
12 Chattanooga, TN @ Sluggo’s (501 Cherokee Blvd.)
13 Birmingham, AL @ Spring Street Fire house (412 41st St South)
14 Jackson, MS TBA w/ BIG EYES
15 New Orleans, LA @ The Hey Cafe (4332 Magazine St.) 7pm (after the Parade!)

With his debut album Its Simple No One Knows, Austin Veldman wants to guide his listeners onto a road back to happiness, which is simple but always forgotten. “I hope you take something away from this collection of songs that goes beyond a catchy melody or guitar riff. All songs are the product of late nights with my guitar, a pen, and my notebook: these are honest songs. It is easy to get caught up in the daily chaos that is life. I hope that this album can be an escape from that complication. Above all else, remember that nothing is as bad as it first seems. It’s simple, and no one knows.” He left these words inside his album, and reminds people not to lose the true meaning of life—being happy.

For Veldman, a current sophomore at Indiana University, music means everything in his life. From a storyteller to an intimate friend, he believes that music can let him transcend the boundaries between individuals and touch listeners’ hearts with his true-self. Influenced by John Mayer, Veldman has determined that the acoustic-styled singing is what he hopes to do with his life. Without a flourish of technology and overproduction, he believes that a guitar and an honest heart are sufficient to convey his thoughts. From the natural sound, we are not only appreciating the music itself but also hearing the voice from his inner heart, which is also from ours.

In his first year at college, Veldman made his introduction with a self-titled EP which included four songs that he wrote in high school. This work was recorded, mixed and produced in his own home built studio, and has got immediate feedback on Facebook—nearly 700 likes within a few months. A following live show raised his success into a higher level. His band won a hometown Battle of the Bands, and was awarded with hours of studio time. This marked Austin’s largest performance so far with an attendance of several hundred people.

In the summer of 2011, Veldman partnered with Matt McCarty, a multi-instrumentalist whom he has known since high school, to produce his first full-length album Its Simple No One Knows. Adding some personal touch, McCarty helped Veldman with bass guitar and drum parts for his songs. The overall twelve songs on the album included new songs that Veldman wrote in college and some other refined ones from high school. Later on, with his cousin’s assistance, Veldman began recording the full-length album. While recording the album at Farm Fresh Studios in Bloomington, IN, he was contracted by an independent record company in Los Angeles—GoDIY, and officially started his professional music career.

This album, Its Simple No One Knows, is set to release in early 2012 and Veldman will go out for a summer tour to promote it. Consistent with his beloved music style, pop and acoustic rock, this album presents a sensitive singer/songwriter. Either fragile or strong, Veldman can put down his emotion on the paper, and watch it rise as if he were another person at the moment. Recounting his own feeling, Veldman is also getting close to each stranger’s heart and presenting the beauty of a simple mind and pure heart.

When asked to recommend one song from his new album, Veldman suggested “Hold On”, because this song touched upon the heart of the theme that “behind it’s simple and no one knows”. As the last song in the album, it’s thought provoking and communicates a sense of complement in that people will rethink the essence of the album. “You want to know your character? / Write down all that you think of in the course of a day / write them down, rearrange / and you’ll see the man you’re gonna be” These sentences from this song present not only the image of an honest singer but also a complete human being who lives each day with his heart. It’s his belief that this is a way to keep simple and happy.

Preview this album on bandcamp.

Find more information about Austin Veldman on Facebook.

1. Guided By Voices, Let’s Go Eat the Factory (GBV inc.)
2. Various Artists, Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan (Amnesty Intl)
3. Racebannon, Six Sik Sisters (Tizona)
4. Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory (Carpark)
5. The Big Pink, Future This (4AD)

Landlocked Music is an independent, locally-owned record store located just across from the downtown square at 202 N. Walnut Street.

01. Bobbie Lancaster / Live / self-released
02. Dreamers of the Ghetto / Enemy/Lover / Temporary Residence Ltd.
03. Tim Grimm / Thank You Tom Paxton / Vault
04. Gordon Bonham / Soon in the Morning / WayGone
05. Austin Lucas / A New Home In The Old World / Last Chance
06. Tammar / Visits / Suicide Squeeze
07. Community Currency / Labor of Love / self-released
08. Hogwire Stringband / Rascal Fair / Dark Train
09. Carrie Newcomer / Everything is Everywhere / Available Light
10. The Hollows / Sweetie EP / self-released
11. The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band / Peyton on Patton / Side One Dummy
12. EDM / Night People / Western Vinyl
13. White Lightning Boys / Barefoot Nelly / Crooked Creek
14. Jason & Ginger / Jokerville / Lost Canyon
15. The Jeff McLaughlin Quartet / Blocks / Owl Studios
16. Illica Pozzatti / Queens & Kings / self-released
17. Krista Detor / Chocolate Paper Suites / Tightrope Records
18. Davy Jay Sparrow and His Well-Known Famous Drovers/ Bottom of the
Barrel / self-released
19. Ron Kadish Trio / Ron Kadish Trio /self-released
20. husband&wife / Proud Flesh / XRA
21. Murder By Death / Good Morning Magpie / Vagrant
22. Apache Dropout / Apache Dropout / Family Vineyard
23. Sleeping Bag / Sleeping Bag / Joyful Noise Recordings
24. Panic Strikes a Chord / Accidents In A Very Busy Place / Higher Step
25. Millbranch String Theory / New World Orphan / Roots Capacitor
26. Randy Handley / You Don’t Know My Mind / Way INUIT
27. Fat Shadow / Foot of Love / Houseplant
28. Good Luck / Without Hesitation / No Idea
29. Throwing Stars / Listen EP / self-released
30. Sylvia McNair / Peace / self-released

*See more of the “Most-Played Music” charts on the station’s website.

Read more descriptive thoughts and hear samples of these albums on my blog.

1. Enemy/Lover - Dreamers Of The Ghetto [Temporary Residence Ltd.]
2. New World Orphan - Millbranch String Theory [Roots Capacitor Records]
3. Without Hesitation - Good Luck [No Idea Records]
4. Sleeping Bag - Sleeping Bag [Joyful Noise Recordings]
5. Foot Of Love - Fat Shadow [Houseplant Records]
6. Holiday Band - Memory Map [Joyful Noise Recordings]
7. You’re A Liar - You’re A Liar [Self-Released]
8. Visits - Tammar [Suicide Squeeze Records]
9. Sweetie EP - The Hollows [Self-Released]
10. Labor Of Love - Community Currency [Self-Released]

Photo Credit: Greg Clarke

On their final day of tour, after making stops in Lafayette and the Chicago area, local Rock-n-Soul band, The Vallures, woke up in Chicago to find all of their equipment, including instruments, amps, and cables, missing from their van. Front-woman Jessica Franco, a Gary, Indiana native, said, “To me, Chicago is my home…it was like I got ripped off.”

After the incident, the band filed a police report, checked the local pawn stores, and hung posters in hopes of finding their missing gear. With no luck, it’s been approximately three months since their equipment was taken.

The all girl group, plus one “bearded lady” named Bryce, is now borrowing equipment from very generous local musicians and venues, including Davy Jay Sparrow, Austin Lucas, Craig Brennerm and The Switchyard. After searching for their own equipment and borrowing from friends, The Vallures have decided it’s time to buy their own.

On Friday, January 27, The Vallures will be holding a benefit show at Max’s Place in hopes to raise enough money to buy their own equipment so they can keep moving forward in their musical ventures.

Image Credit: Tall and Small Photography

The show, titled “A Very Vallures Variety Pity Party,”  will begin at 7:30 pm and will include performances from The Vallures and special guests Davy Jay Sparrow and His Well-Known Famous Drovers, The Size of Color, Chris Barth, Ziona Riley and Auxiliary Austin, The 123′s, and DJ Bongo.

The cover is $5, with proceeds benefiting The Vallures. By buying your way into the show, you’ll also receive one raffle ticket. Prizes include Pure Romance Gift Baskets and gift cards for Bloomington restaurants and shops. More raffle tickets can be purchased for $1 each.

Aside from needing new equipment, The Vallures are also searching for a female saxophone player to add to their “Wall of Sound.” The band has a full calendar of performances ahead of them and are looking to have a record out in the spring.

They’re bringing back the sounds of Motown, along with the hair, the coordinated dresses, and the dance moves. Franco hopes to see a lot of familiar and new faces at A Very Vallures Variety Pity Party. “We like what we do. It doesn’t matter to us if your 5 or 85. Everyone we play for has a really good time.”

You can find The Vallures on Facebook, YouTube, and ReverbNation. They will also be featured on WTIU in the near future. More details on the event can be found at A Very Vallures Variety Pity Party Facebook event page.

A Very Vallures Variety Pity Party
Friday, January 27
Max’s Place (108 W. 6th Street Bloomington, IN)
7:30pm

dust from 1000 yrs is almost done recording a new album at sound workshop. we are looking for people to record with us to finish this thing up. mainly we are looking for strings (viola, violin, cello) and possibly various horns, flute, clarinet, oboe, etc. or anything other than the normal rock instruments we play ourselves.

we’re hoping to find people that want to collaborate on the arrangements. we’re total amateurs when it comes to writing music for these kinds of instruments. we have some ideas and direction but we don’t have everything totally mapped out.

we can record you at sound workshop or bring our recording equipment to wherever is convenient. we can also do a little bit of traveling if needed.

it would be awesome to find people that are already a group or in a group or have been in a group. anyone who has any info about groups like that in bloomington or elsewhere should please please let us know.

we can maybe do a little bit of compensation (a very little bit) if its called for.

anyway, if anyone is interested or has some helpful information they can contact us at sohardyoungboy@yahoo.com

our music can be listened to at shyb.bandcamp.com if anyone wants a copy of the new album in progress, we can do that too.

thanks for reading,
ben