Boomslang (music festival) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Boomslang: A Celebration of Sound & Art is an annual multi-venue music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

in Lexington, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, sponsored by the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

's college radio station, WRFL

WRFL

WRFL is a 7900-watt college radio station that broadcasts 24 hours from the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky at 88.1 MHz on the FM radio band...

. The festival is an extension of WRFL's mission to provide a platform for non-mainstream, non-commercial music and other programming not found elsewhere in the region, featuring a variety of artists from both the region and from around the world. Genres tend to be experimental in nature, but have included everything from alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

, post-rock

Post-rock

Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

, electronic

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

, hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

, punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

, and psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

bands. Other festival features have included dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

performances, local craft

Craft

A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...

booths, fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

and art installations, workshops, literary events and film screenings, with a special focus on the artists and arts organizers that make Lexington unique.

Boomslang is primarily volunteer-run, relying on the power of dozens of volunteer DJs, with only a handful of paid student directors.

Etymology

The name "Boomslang" was chosen in 2009 by a committee looking for a catchy word, after the highly unique venomous snake

Boomslang

The boomslang is a large venomous colubrid snake.-Taxonomy & etymology:It is currently the only species in its genus, although several species and subspecies have been described in the past...

found in Africa. The coloration and "snake eyes" in the festival logo, designed by WRFL art director Robert Beatty, were inspired by the boomslang snake.

Creation

The inaugural 2009 festival was conceived and organized by WRFL DJs in the attempt to highlight Lexington's unique venues, artists and organizations, with an emphasis on the local counter-culture which WRFL has nurturedl since its inception. The lineup included a couple of nods to the 1960s and '70s with German krautrock

Krautrock

Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

pioneers Faust

Faust (band)

Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

and masters of psychedelic

Psychedelic rock

Tropicalia Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes ) are an influential Brazilian psychedelic rock band that were linked with the Tropicália movement of the late 1960s. It was formed by two brothers and a vocalist, but has gone through numerous personnel changes throughout its existence...

. The line-up was heavy on psychedelic and post-rock music, also including Mission of Burma

Mission of Burma

Mission of Burma is an American post-punk band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller , Clint Conley , Peter Prescott and Martin Swope...

, Papa M (the solo project of Slint

Slint

Slint was an American rock band consisting of Brian McMahan , David Pajo , Britt Walford , Todd Brashear and Ethan Buckler...

guitarist Dave Pajo), The Black Angels, Bardo Pond

Bardo Pond

Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons , John Gibbons , Isobel Sollenberger , Clint Takeda , Jason Kourkonis , and Aaron Igler...

, a mixed media presentation by Mark Hosler

Mark Hosler

Mark Hosler is an American musician who is a founding member of the sound art collective Negativland.- Career :Through his public speaking, lectures and extensive interviews, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the group...

, a founding member of Negativland

Negativland

Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...

. The line-up also included the first live collaboration between Lexington-based Casino Versus Japan

Casino Versus Japan

Casino Versus Japan is the recording name for Erik Kowalski , a United States-based electronic musician who produces intelligent dance music .- Influences :...

and Deerhunter

Deerhunter

Deerhunter is an American four-piece indie rock group originating from Atlanta, Georgia. The band, consisting of Bradford Cox, Moses Archuleta, Josh Fauver, and Lockett Pundt, have described themselves as "ambient punk," though they incorporate a wide range of genres, including noise rock, art...

frontman Bradford Cox (aka Atlas Sound

Atlas Sound

Bradford James Cox is an American musician best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Atlanta, Georgia-based psychedelic and ambient band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound. Cox formed Deerhunter with drummer Moses Archuleta in 2001. The band has released...

), who would later tour together in 2010.

Another key concept behind Boomslang is the inclusion of non-musical features, including a 2009 circus

Circus

A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

-themed fashion show and a carnival

Carnival

Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

scene that took place in the parking lot of one of the primary venues, [htt://www.bustersbb.com Buster's Billiards & Backroom], stretching the boundaries of traditional rock culture. The 2009 and 2010 events also included a tent for display of locally-made art for sale, games, and information tables for political and environmental non-profit groups promoting counter-culture and political awareness.

Boomslang 2011 is scheduled to take place September 23-25, and will largely reflect the atmosphere and ambiance of the earlier two incarnations.

Satellite Events

Boomslang strives to provide a platform for Lexington's left-of-center creative community, hosting a number "satellite events" organized by various local artists and organizations. In addition to those listed below, Boomslang has hosted a Dorkbot workshop on how to make your own music instruments.

Stars with Accents

2011 will be the third year that Accents, a WRFL radio show for literature, art, and culture, has hosted Stars with Accents, a literary celebration supported by the Kentucky Women Writers Conference

Women Writers Conference

The Kentucky Women Writers Conference had its beginnings in 1979 as a celebration of women writers at the University of Kentucky. That first year featured Maya Angelou, Toni Cade Bambara, Ruth Stone, Alice Walker, and Ruth Whitman...

and The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Stars with Accents has featured readings by authors such as Crystal Wilkinson

Crystal Wilkinson

Crystal E. Wilkinson is an African-American writer from Kentucky and founding member of the , a writing collective based in Lexington, Kentucky.-Background:...

, C.E. Morgan

C.E. Morgan

C. E. Morgan is an American author born in 1976. The author of the novel All the Living , she was a recipient of the National Book Foundations 5 under 35 award and a 2010 Lannan Literary Fellowship...

, Sallie Bingham

Sallie Bingham

Sallie Bingham is an American author, playwright, poet, teacher, feminist activist, and philanthropist.Sallie Bingham’s first novel was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1961. It was followed by four collections of short stories; her latest, published by Sarabande Books in October 2011, is titled...

, and more.

Neighborhood Series Fashion Event

2011 will mark the third year Boomslang has teamed up with the Lexington Fashion Collaborative to bring innovative local fashion and art to the festival, with the second annual installation of The Neighborhood Series. Last year’s Neighborhood Series took place at Land of Tomorrow Gallery, a gallery owned and operated by University of Kentucky College of Design

University of Kentucky College of Design

Located at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the College of Design encompasses the School of Architecture, the School of Interior Design, and the Department of Historic Preservation.-History:...

professors, and included eight installation pieces with coordinating fashion-forward costumes that reflected eight locally-owned businesses. The materials used to create the works of art came straight from each business’s trash.

This year’s Neighborhood Series Part Two will build upon the success of last year’s event, opening up to even more artists, more designers, more businesses, and more music, offering a deeply layered look into the people and places that make Lexington unique.

Queerslang

Boomslang 2011 marks the inaugural event of Queerslang, an all-day, multi-media, entertainment and education-based event, which strives to lift up the local, LGBTIQQA

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

community. The mission of Queerslang is to create visibility for the LGBTIQQA community and to highlight shared interests in music, art and performance with the whole of the Lexington community.

Queerslang will provide free "skillshare" workshops, film screenings and a dance party. Workshops will be hosted by touring, as well as local artists and speakers, will be free and open to everyone, and will cover a variety of subjects both geared to the LGBTIQQA community and to a broader arts community. Film screenings will include special guest Meredith Heil from UC Santa Cruz who will be showcasing her short documentary, Whistlin’ Dixie, and music performances are scheduled from JAC Stringer (MidWest GenderQueer), Ellie Herring, Making Friendz and SSION.

Kid-friendly Music

2011 will be the second year that Boomslang has hosted a kid-friendly event, organized by the host of Ages 3 and Up!, a WRFL show geared toward kids of all ages. 2010's kid-friendly event featured children's artist and ukulele

Ukulele

The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....

player Heidi Swedberg

Heidi Swedberg

Heidi Swedberg is an American actress known for her role as Susan Ross, the fiancée of George Costanza on the television sitcom Seinfeld....

, perhaps best known for her role as Susan on Seinfeld

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

Film

Boomslang has teamed up with local film-oriented institutions Lexington Film League and KET

Kentucky Educational Television

Kentucky Educational Television, also known as KET: The Kentucky Network, is Kentucky's non-commercial educational public television state network...

to incorporate film into the fest, including a 2010 screening of "Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a video documentary short produced by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn in 1986.-Plot:Heavy Metal Parking Lot documents heavy metal music fans tailgating in the parking lot outside the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, on May 31, 1986, before a Judas Priest concert...

" in the parking lot of the venue Buster's. Many other artists have incorporated film and video projections into their performances, including Sound/Vision, offthesky, Wooden Shjips, and Strangers Family Band.

2011

Swans

Swans (band)

Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...

Pelican

Pelican (band)

Pelican is a post-metal quartet from Chicago, Illinois.-Biography and description:The band is known for its dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths. Its distinctive sound draws from stoner rock, doom metal, post-rock, and other influences...

Tom Tom Club

Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, both also known for being bandmembers of Talking Heads.-Biography:...

Ty Segall

Ty Segall is an American musician and songwriter. He sings, plays guitar and drums. He has released four solo albums and is a member of the bands The Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, Sic Alps, and The Perverts.-Recording career:...

Sir Richard Bishop

Sir Richard Bishop is a composer, improviser, and explorer on acoustic and electric guitar whose work often reflects the shadow worlds of India, the Middle East, North Africa, and other points along the Gypsy trail. This is combined with a singular, experimental approach to the guitar that takes...

Julianna Barwick

Julianna Barwick is an American musician who was born in Louisiana and raised in Brooklyn. Her music is built around multiple loops and layers of her voice...

Horseback

Secret Chiefs 3

Secret Chiefs 3

Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental rock group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance . Their studio recordings and tours have featured different line-ups, as the group performs a wide range of musical styles including surf rock, Persian, Arab, Indian, death metal, film music, electronic music,...

The Ssion

The Ssion, also known as SSION, is a musical group formed in 1996, in Kansas City, by vocalist Cody Critcheloe. Known for their extravagant live show, Ssion was signed to Sleazetone Records in 2008....

MEN

MEN (band)

MEN is a Brooklyn-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and the radical potential of dance music...

Woodsman

2010

Rhys Chatham

Rhys Chatham is an American composer, guitarist, and trumpet player, primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions...

Death

Death (punk band)

Death was a garage rock and punk rock demo band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971 by the brothers Bobby , David , and Dannis Hackney. The African American trio started out as an R&B band but switched to rock after seeing an Alice Cooper show...

Sonic Boom

Peter Kember

Peter Kember is a British musician and producer, more usually known as Sonic Boom, and was a founding member of alternative rock band Spacemen 3....

Akron/Family

Akron/Family is a folk-influenced experimental rock band that formed in 2002, and its members currently live in Portland, Oregon , Tucson, Arizona and New York City, New York.-Music and history:...

Ben Frost

Ben Frost (musician)

Ben Frost is a musician, composer and producer. Frost is probably most widely recognized for his experimental music drawing widely on influences of minimalism, post-punk, black metal and noise best demonstrated on the 2007 release "Theory of Machines" and 2009's "BY THE THROAT"Frost's...

Glass Candy

Glass Candy is an American indie electronic band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1996. The band consists of vocalist Ida No and guitarist/synthesist/general producer Johnny Jewel. While the band's early work blends elements of no wave and glam rock, their later work incorporates Italo disco...

Harlem

Harlem (band)

Harlem is an American garage rock band comprising vocalist/guitarist/drummer Michael Coomers, vocalist/guitarist/drummer Curtis O'Mara and bassist Jose Boyer, formerly of Chapel Hill-based The Gondoliers and The Kashmir.-History:...

Rangda (featuring Ben Chasny

Ben Chasny

Ben Chasny is an indie rock and psych folk guitarist. His primary projects are Six Organs of Admittance and Comets on Fire . He made his recording debut in 1996 with his heavy, free rock project Plague Lounge on "The Wicker Image", an LP released conjointly between the New World of Sound and Holy...

, Chris Corsano

Chris Corsano

Chris Corsano is a drummer from New England, USA. He often performs in an improvisation duo with saxophonist Paul Flaherty. He has also recorded material with artists such as Evan Parker, Dredd Foole, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs of Admittance, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Matt Valentine,...

, and Sir Richard Bishop

Sir Richard Bishop

)

Wooden Shjips

Wooden Shjips

Wooden Shjips is a space rock/psychedelic rock band from San Francisco, USA.Their sound has been described as experimental, minimalist, drone rock, and "spacey psychedelic rock". They have been compared to Suicide, The Velvet Underground, The Doors, Soft Machine and Guru Guru...

His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive is an experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label...

Wolf Eyes

Wolf Eyes is a post-industrial/noise band from Detroit, Michigan, United States.-History:Wolf Eyes began as a solo project of former Nautical Almanac member Nate Young, with Aaron Dilloway joining in 1998, and John Olson in 2000...

Thee American Revolution

Burning Star Core

Casino Versus Japan

Casino Versus Japan

Casino Versus Japan is the recording name for Erik Kowalski , a United States-based electronic musician who produces intelligent dance music .- Influences :...

Phantom Family Halo

Sapat

The Barry Mando Project

Blood Carries Disease

Brothertiger

City Center

Cymarshall Law

Devine Carama

Deluxin’

Diminished Men

DJ Warrenpeace

Everyone Lives Everyone Wins w/ Ghost Affirmation

Paul K & the Weathermen

Ford Theatre Reunion

Global.Ken

Ian Thomas

Jews and Catholics

J. Marinelli

Jovontaes

Jozef van Wissem

Jozef van Wissem

Jozef van Wissem is a Dutch minimalist composer and lute player.Composer and lutenist Jozef van Wissem is devoted to what he terms “The Liberation of the Lute”...

Loose Change

Lucky Pineapple

March Madness Marching Band

Milyoo

Cheyenne Mize

Mr. Daybony

Naam

The Nativity Singers

The N.E.C.

Nemo Quotidian

Pezhed & the Blipsquad

Psychic Steel

R. Keenan Lawler

The Royal Batfangs

The Seedy Seeds

Silverware

Sound/Vision

Soft Opening

Spooky Qs

Stampede

Heidi Swedberg

Heidi Swedberg

Heidi Swedberg is an American actress known for her role as Susan Ross, the fiancée of George Costanza on the television sitcom Seinfeld....

Tiny Folk

Warmer Milks

Vee Dee

The Web

Zak Riles

Grails (band)

Grails is an American instrumental rock band from Portland, Oregon.-Biography:Initially going by the name "Laurel Canyon", guitarist Alex Hall, drummer Emil Amos and second guitarist Paul Spitz garnered positive reactions following their first show, played on a whim...

WRFL

WRFL is a 7900-watt college radio station that broadcasts 24 hours from the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky at 88.1 MHz on the FM radio band...

DJs

2009

Faust

Faust (band)

Os Mutantes

The Black Angels

Shipping News

Papa M

Rachel's

Rachel's

Rachel's is an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist, Jason Noble, played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with now core members, violist Christian Frederickson, and pianist Rachel Grimes...

(Rachel Grimes)

Negativland

Negativland

(Mark Hosler

Mark Hosler

)

Atlas Sound

Atlas Sound

Bardo Pond

Disappears

Disappears is a rock band from Chicago formed in 2008. The band plays a mixture of shoegaze, krautrock and garage rock.The band was formed by Brian Case and Graeme Gibson and fleshed out with guitarist Jonathan Van Herik and bassist Damon Carruesco. They played Pitchfork Music Festival in 2009.In...

Teeth Mountain

Hair Police

Hair Police

Hair Police is an American psychedelic noise band based out of Lexington, Kentucky formed in 2001. They have released records through labels such as Troubleman Unlimited, Hanson Records, Gods of Tundra, Freedom From, and Hospital Productions...

Bill Nace

Burning Star Core

Casino Versus Japan

Casino Versus Japan

Casino Versus Japan is the recording name for Erik Kowalski , a United States-based electronic musician who produces intelligent dance music .- Influences :...

These United States

These United States is a musical group from Lexington, KY, Brooklyn, NY, and Carrboro, NC made up of songwriter and bandleader Jesse Elliott, pedal steel and electric guitarist J. Tom Hnatow, drummer and vocalist Robby Cosenza, guitarist and keyboardist Justin Craig, and bassist and vocalist Dave...

Lush Life

Tiny Fights

Sound/Vision

Everyone Lives, Everyone Wins

External links

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