Pace yourself. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

Admit it, you're selfish when it comes to music -- especially bands that you discovered. Well, chances are you didn't really discover the band, but you might have been the first on your block or in your dorm to take an interest. You've been one of just a few to catch 'em live on a Tuesday when they were inches from an open mic night vibe, playing to no one really -- getting paid with alcohol, and cheap domestic draft at that. It's OK to admit this neurotic behavior, and in fact, to embrace it. I think this warped sense of ownership is a vital quality for being a passionate music lover. It's just one of many necessary characteristics (a topic we may explore later, elsewhere) but a key all the same. It's how you feel about your favorite band before they make the big time, or disappear into obscurity, whichever the case may be.

My neurosis has spread and admittedly it's affected my feelings for AthFest, the best-kept summer secret in the Southeast. As music festivals go there are others with bigger names, more widespread illegal vending, and the opportunity to dance all day then crawl home and camp, but there are few that can offer what AthFest continues to deliver. Consider the cost. For the most part it's free, and for a nominal fee you can pub-crawl in a pedestrian friendly downtown environment. As for the environment, it's urban, progressive, and Southern -- simultaneously. World-class art vendors lining historic boulevards in the shadow of the oldest public university in the country, in a town that manufactures musicians like Detroit does Fords -- prolifically...

The line-up may not be riddled with household names but talent abounds nonetheless. For me the outdoor stage highlights include sets from The Weight, The Tom Collins, Bain Mattox, Annaray and Camper Van Beethoven -- a band that made me wait more than a decade between shows, and now I'll have seen them twice in less than a week after catching their Sunday set at Bonnaroo. Incidentally, I caught up with (last year's headliner) Cracker guitarist Johnny Hickman and he told me with a wink and a smile that he'd be in Athens, "hanging around" on Friday night. Here's hoping for a few Cracker tunes.

For most, the scheduling strategy becomes a bit more complicated when it comes to the late-night crawl after the outdoor festivities wind down. Several acts will find their way onto my social calendar, but they'll fall in place around Friday's Georgia Theatre extravaganza featuring Entropy, Reason:Biodynamics and Dubconscious, and the Saturday night Nuci's Space line-up featuring Telegram, Leslie Helpert, and hope for agoldensummer. I caught up with Leslie "Serpentfly" Helpert and Jerry (keyboards) and Matt (drummer) from Dubconscious during interviews for in-depth profiles and other previews I'm penning, and got their feelings on the festival and the music community it showcases. "I'm really excited to play AthFest. It was really fun last year," Leslie recollected fondly, then with regard to the intense heat wave that accompanied last year's outdoor experience she said, with genuine concern, "I hope that they cover the audience space." Leslie and her guitar Fiona will be pulling double duty, playing a teaser set outside before taking part in the aforementioned Nuci's show. Helpert spent the early part of this year recording and as of press time secretly titled full-length album with a host of talented musicians she counts as friends. As for the secrecy behind the tentative title of her eagerly anticipated album, she dodged. "I can't say it. It really doesn't make any sense, but I'm priding myself on the fact that no one really likes it, or maybe gets it. It just woke me from my sleep." After being spoiled rotten by a preview of the unmastered, almost finished product I can assure you that this record will turn heads when it's released this fall. Let's hope that new album highlights "Good and What We Had" and "In the Snowfall I Was Designed" find their way into one of Serpentfly's Saturday sets.

Dubconscious, who find themselves on this year's AthFest compilation CD, will be the presiding patriarch over a family affair of sorts at the Georgia Theatre with good friends Entropy, and Dub's alter ego Reason:Biodynamics (featuring producer Jay Murphy and band manager Roger Levine in performing capacities). These bands are sharing a bill that's guaranteed to overflow with positive, healing vibes, and reggae music that's filled with, as Jerry describes, "a strong sense of purpose. The reggae pioneers are getting old, and people are starting to recognize that in order to continue, the music has to be played, someone has to carry the torch." The collaboration amongst friends was natural. "We all gravitate towards people that are similar, it's human nature. For me I feel a deep connection to reggae, and music that's conscious, and aware, and positive," Matt confessed. "Positive attracts positive," Jerry agreed. Arranging the AthFest celebration of positivity was easy according to the band because Duck at the Theatre has been one of their greatest supporters and a good friend to the band. They have been very appreciative, as should Theatre patrons who will witness a tremendous collaborative of message, music and, of course, dance. It promises to be a glow stick and spinner delight on Friday night.

Interestingly, Leslie Helpert and Dubconscious will be taking AthFest, or at least its essence, on the road in July, as they'll be sharing stages in North Carolina. July 24th will find them at SmileFest in Union Grove and the following day they'll be in (literally) The Pour House in Raleigh.

Stay tuned to the Blog for updates from the festival, and feel free to post your thoughts here.

Posted by David Eduardo at June 18, 2004 07:35 AM