Bumbershoot is Greener Than Ever

Seattle’s Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival will return this Labor Day Weekend, taking over the Seattle Center from August 30 to September 1. The festival will showcase artists from all over the West Coast, like Minus the Bear, West Indian Girl, Throw Me the Statue, PWRFL Power, M. Ward, Kinski, The Fall of Troy, !!!, The Blakes, Howlin Rain, Mariee Sioux, These Arms Are Snakes, John Vanderslice, Arthur & Yu, Blitzen Trapper and Del the Funky Homosapien, with Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Lucinda Williams, Nada Surf, The Offspring, Neko Case, Band of Horses, The Black Keys and Jakob Dylan topping off the three-day bill. There will also be performances by a handful of comedians as well as film, visual art and dance exhibits.

Perhaps even more exciting than its lineup, however, is Bumbershoot’s new greener focus. Now in its 38th year, the festival is using eco-sustainable power sources like waste-based biodiesel generators to power the sound and lights at the Mainstage, and both solar power and carbon-neutral energy provider Seattle City Light to power its other venues. Bumbershoot will also be limiting the amount of printed materials, reusing signage from last year, opting for organic cotton merchandise, banning the use of Styrofoam by festival vendors, increasing the amount of recycling receptacles and pre-consumer composting, encouraging public transportation, biking, walking and carpooling, and offering carbon offset credits. Attendees can also avoid shelling out cash for water and reduce one-time use plastic bottle waste by bringing in reusable water bottles, which they can refill at any of the four Hydration Stations or many water fountains throughout the festival grounds.

www.bumbershoot.org

Luckyhorse Industries

Merch Makers of the Pacific Northwest

Luckyhorse Industries has become one of the Northwest’s favorite indie merch companies, helping some of the area’s finest get the most out of touring and survive in the current music landscape by supplying them with artistic goods to sell on the road. Started by James Bertram and Amanda Graham in 2001 purely by accident (a few t-shirts and records turned into an online store and indie record label), Luckyhorse is now a full-scale operation, working with all different levels of artists from the unsigned to the heavily marketed, but still retains that authentic, friend-oriented feel.

Services: All varieties of merchandise including t-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, totes, CDs, LPs, books, etc., as well as tour and online fulfillment. They also distribute a small collection of music on their website.

Clients: Modest Mouse, Minus the Bear, Murder City Devils, Feral Children, Cave Singers, Fleet Foxes, Frog Eyes, The Fiery Furnaces, PWRFL Power, Arthur & Yu, Das Llamas, Blood Brothers, Holy Ghost Revival, The Pharmacy and many more.

Label: Luckyhorse’s first label release was the Blood Brothers’ Rumors Laid Waste CD, and they have since released albums from Minus the Bear, Winfred E. Eye, Love as Laughter, FCS North and Vells, amongst others. Concentrating more on limited-edition handmade releases as of late, Luckyhorse has put out albums from Tiny Vipers (#1 and Empire Prism) and Whalebones (Morning Man) in the past few months, with more just around the corner.

Fun Fact: “We’ve been friends since sixth grade. We met at Pine Lake Middle School in Issaquah, Washington, 1985. Go Wolverines!”

www.luckyhorseindustries.com

IN THE NEWS

On August 19, Seattle’s Suicide Squeeze Records will release the debut albums from Human Highway and sBach. Titled Moody Motorcycle, Human Highway’s album was created by Islands member Nick Thornton and Jim Guthrie, and features a 1950s/’60s doo-wop sound. The self-titled album from sBach is the project of Spencer Seim of Hella/The Advantage.

www.suicide

squeeze.net

Kay Kay and His Weathered Under-ground will pack up their large ensemble for a West Coast tour this month. Kicking off at the Marquis Theater in Denver, Colo. on August 12, the stint will cover all the main stops before concluding with back-to-back shows at The Clubhouse in Tempe, Ariz. at the end of the month.

www.myspace.com/

kaykayunderground

On August 19, Head Like a Kite will release the EP single “No Ordinary Cavemen” from its sophomore full length, There is Loud Laughter Everywhere, out earlier this summer on Mush Records. Like 2006’s Random Portraits of the Home Movie, the new album was written and performed by Dave Einmo with guest appearances from of a crop of respected local musicians. Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine) stepped

in on production duties and Dave Cooley (Madlib, Silversun Pickups, Prefuse 73) mastered. The band has a summer tour in the works for the end of the month.

www.headlikeakite.com

After a June West Coast tour with The Broken West and a European tour with Brian Jonestown Massacre last month, The Blakes will return to the States to play the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago on August 1 and 3, only to zig-zag back to Europe for a couple of dates in Germany, and back home again to play Bumbershoot on August 31.

www.myspace.com/

theblakes

Hot off the heels of their epic 20th birthday celebration, Sub Pop will bring back the Sub Pop Singles Club this month. Beginning on August 15, subscribers will receive one 7-inch record per month for one year from such artists as Om, Unnatural Helpers, Tyvek, Black Mountain, Black Lips, Arthur & Yu, Mika Miko, Blues Control and Notwist. These will come fully loaded with digital download cards. Sub Pop will only be pressing 1,500 copies of each single, so the number of subscriptions available will be limited.

www.subpop.com