Fourteen youth rock bands and solo artists will take the stage at 118 Elliot in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont on Saturday, October 1 for BrattRock 2016, the first Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival. Performances will take place on two stages, one indoor and one outdoor, between 5:00 and 10:00 PM. Gates open at 4:30 PM. The festival will also feature food vendors, as well as an arts and crafts activity tent hosted by the River Gallery School. All are invited to attend this family-friendly event.
Advance tickets are available online via the BrattRock website at www.brattrock.org. Prices are $8 adults/$6 students in advance and $10 adults /$8 students at the door. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Youth Services.
The goal of this new festival is to provide a venue for youth musicians from Brattleboro and the surrounding region to connect, learn, perform, inspire, and be inspired. Registration opened in the spring to solo performers or bands with all members under 20 years of age. Performers submitted an online application including a sample performance video.
BrattRock’s organizing committee is proud to present the final performer line-up for BrattRock 2016: From Brattleboro and surrounding towns: Impending Exorcism, The Faints, Negative Space Nomad vs.Settler, Oak Grove Blues Band, Sophie Waters, and Third Dimension. From Western Massachusetts: Cape Fournier, Cosmic Duct Tape, Felixis Jinx, Kalliope Jones, Raspberry Jam, and Rool Bunk. From Hinsdale, New Hampshire: Zebulon Hildreth. Performer bios are available on the BrattRock Facebook page.
In addition to performing at the festival, youth musicians will participate in hands-on music workshops offered by area music professionals and educators Wyatt Andrews, Aaron Chesley, Samirah Evans, Matt Hall, June Millington, Kevin Parry, Dan Seiden, and Peter Siegel. Workshop descriptions available at www.brattrock.org.
Planning for BrattRock has been underway for the past year. The idea for the event was born after last year’s Youth Services Battle of the Bands in Brattleboro when some parents of participating musicians proposed a similar youth-oriented event minus the competition aspect. Executive Director, Russell Bradbury-Carlin approved the plan for Youth Services to act as BrattRock’s fiscal sponsor, allowing festival organizers to raise funds under Youth Services’ non-profit status.
To date, BrattRock has received grant funding from the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Community Foundation, and sponsors include Guilford Sound, Youth Services, the Brattleboro Music Center, WKVT, C&S Wholesale Grocers, 118 Elliot, Oak Meadow, Hilltop Montessori, the Brattleboro Retreat, and Rouleau-Holley’s Tae Kwon Do.
Co-founder and organizer Jaimie Scanlon said of the event, “We hope everyone who can will come out on October 1 to honor and celebrate the many talented kids that will be gathered in Brattleboro, as well as to support all the great things that Youth Services does. The bands are all amazing and the kids are all so pumped to perform. The level and quality of entertainment will be extreme.”
Photo: Impending Exorcism, an all-female punk band from Brattleboro, will join 14 bands on stage a BrattRock October 1.
Impending Exorcism
I LOVE band names.
Nice to see this event evolving with workshops and events beyond the performances.