The Rothbury Music Festival has been held annually in Rothbury, Mich., since 2008. For four days spread across July Fourth weekend, the population of Rothbury explodes, leaping from fewer than 500 people to more than 30,000 paying fans. The festival is a massive economic boon to the village and the surrounding...

Day two on the Alumni Lawn was a decidedly different atmosphere– fewer hippies, fewer frats, a slightly upward shift in the age demographic.  The Vision braved mosh pits, crowd surfing and rain in the hopes of seeing The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne climb in that giant inflatable hamster ball...

The 2009 Rites of Spring Music Festival officially kicked off around 3:20 p.m. Friday. The Vision arrived around 6 p.m. to document the ensuing 6 hours of thundering bass, bright lights, diminishing elbow room, and collective catharsis. K’NAAN K’NAAN took the stage opening  with “In...

The 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be held from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 14 at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tenn. The festival features a wide variety of musical acts, as well as comedians, visual artists and vendors. This year’s musical lineup is headlined by Bruce Springsteen,...

Less than a week after Next Big Nashville’s grand finale, Nashville played host to another music festival sprawled across a handful of local venues. The Americana Music Festival and Conference kicked off on Wednesday Sept. 17 and ran until Sept. 20 in five venues—Mercy Lounge, Cannery Ballroom, The...

Brooke Waggoner (9:30 p.m., Cannery Ballroom) In last month’s issues of Paste Magazine, an article declared that, along with fellow Nashville singer/songwriter Katie Herzig, Brooke Waggoner was one of 25 artists to watch. Waggoner, a classically trained pianist, has the incredible ability to pull apart...

The Kindergarten Circus (8:45 p.m., The End) It’s been a year since I first saw the youthful dynamo that is Kindergarten Circus at last year’s Next Big Nashville and, if anything, the band has only gotten louder and more impressive. Kindergarten Circus funnels a clear influence from blues rock bands...

Nashville’s music scene is often unfairly pigeonholed as simply a haven for aspiring country musicians, all hoping to get discovered playing in a bright neon honkytonk on Broadway or at the Bluebird’s open mic night. The city’s reputation as being a music town isn’t because of the country music...