This weekend, Village Green Records will be hosting "The FORGETABOUTIT SHOW," featuring local Muncie bands and sought-after Indiana bands.
The show offers music fans a night of "gnarly rock ‘n' roll" Saturday from 6 to 11:30 p.m.
This year's event will feature bands from Muncie such as the Bonesetters, Cowboy Angels and Support The Troopz along with touring acts Jookabox and We Are Hex.
Travis Harvey, owner of Village Green Records, said Jookabox and its lead singer, Dave Adamson, are favorites of the store.
"They've always been receptive and really helpful about what we do here at the record store, even though we're not much of a money-making show for them," Harvey said.
In previous years, Harvey's back-to-school event has been fairly well attended, said Dan Snodgrass, lead singer of the Bonesetters.
"He always gets a pretty big turnout, especially for ones that are a day long and have six bands and so on and so forth," he said. "Travis is a master manipulator of people's ears when it comes to that."
Junior Ryne Kempin remembers last year's event well.
"When the better known acts played later in the day, there were probably as many as 100 people in the immediate vicinity, be it in the store or outside participating in the fun," Kempin said.
Jookabox has just returned from touring in Europe. The group is preparing to embark on a nationwide tour with Broad Ripple-bred Margot and the Nuclear So and So's.
"We join up with Margot for the West Coast portion of their tour in November," Adamson said. "We're very goosed for it, though. We haven't been out west with the full band yet."
Having sprouted in Muncie, Jookabox proves local acts can make it to the national scene. It is signed with nationally recognized record label Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Adamson is still mystified by the fact that his band is touring the world under the support of a record label.
"I don't know how," he said. "All I did was record music and play live, and try to get better."
Jookabox has played at VGR's two previous back-to-school events. Kempin was present at both of those shows, witnessing the evolution of Adamson's live setup.
"In 2008, Grampall Jookabox was a one man show, playing pre-recorded beats and choral samples, then dancing all around the performance area, singing and getting some audience participation," Kempin said. "Last year, he had at least two other people playing with him. Much more of a touring band set up than previously, and the live show was a lot better than previously, even if some of the audience participation was sacrificed."
The Bonesetters are looking forward to sharing the stage with Jookabox. The Bonesetters, having recently played at Cincinnati's Midpoint Music Festival, are going through a musical identity transformation.
"Really, I write the same way now that I always have. It's just now we have the right group of people with the right amount of energy and ideas flying around that it kind of adheres itself," Snodgrass said. "We're a lot more boisterous now, and we're getting tighter."
The Bonesetters are writing music for their first full-length album to be released via Mossback Records in Indianapolis. Snodgrass said the group is working together on the album in a shared house on Main Street.
"I wouldn't really call it a commune, but ideas flow very freely throughout these halls," he said.
Indianapolis's We Are Hex is coming off a recent national tour in which they hit many East Coast and Midwest cities.
"Yeah, we did a bit of touring. Err, drinking, playing music, fighting, and driving," said Jilly Weiss, We Are Hex's vocalist and keyboardist.
As with many of the acts on the bill, We Are Hex is looking forward to seeing Jookabox's performance.
"I think Dave of Jookabox's voice is neat. I guess I am excited to just see and hear Dave's voice," We Are Hex drummer Brandon Beaver said.
With energetic acts, Harvey is expecting a great night of music.
"The whole point of this thing is to have fun," he said. "I don't want anything too downer, anything too chilled-out. It's primarily a rock ‘n' roll show."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
