In a new trend in festivals, promoters are experimenting with different ways to book lineups. While demo tapes, 8 by 10 glossies and electronic press kits are traditional methods of audition, a new method that also drives fans to a festival’s website is to encourage them to vote.
The election of our president often results in everyone losing, yet I’ll argue that voting for certain bands to play in a festival’s lineup will always favor the voters. At least the stakes aren’t as high, and the winners are hard-working musicians eager for the booking.
Local rock, funk and reggae band Elder Grown was the majority-vote recipient for this summer’s Arise Music Festival in Loveland, beating out 50 other bands in the national poll and landing a set for the August festival. Elder Grown will play tonight at the Animas City Theatre, along with Deer People.
Elder Grown are brothers Josh, John and Paul Hoffman on guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion and vocals, along with Sam Kelly and Brian Stoneback on saxophone, James Mirabal on numerous instruments, Grace Wagner on violin, and Josh Dikes on keyboard, guitar and vocals.
Band members attended the Arise Music Festival last year; after having a great time as fans, they decided they wanted to participate from the stage. When they ended up on the ballot of bands to perform, their marketing strategy to get people to vote was a combination of good-natured badgering, earning votes with face-to-face communication and a full-blown social media campaign.
“We decided to try and play it this year. I applied, and they selected us to enter the rock the vote band competition,” said oldest brother Josh Hoffman from the KDUR studios. “So from there on out the fans decide. We had to get people to vote for us via email, and we ended up sitting on top.”
The Hoffmans are of artistic stock; dad was a musician, mom a dancer. While dad didn’t push music their way, it still came to them.
“Our dad had a unique technique,” Josh Hoffman said. “He’d set up the guitar in the corner of the room, and not say anything. He’d just leave it there. And never once did he say ‘you should play this, go over there and pick that up.’ It was always just kind of there. So we found it on our own.”
Yet that still didn’t make a band. When the brothers were spread out, with Josh at Fort Lewis College, John in Hawaii and Paul still in high school in Pagosa Springs, they began writing songs and communicating what about their music long-distance.
“I was into hip-hop, Josh was into rock, John was into reggae,” Paul Hoffman said. “We’d call each other on the phone and say ‘check out this song’ and play it over speaker. When we got together we all had these different genres and songs and we put it together as a band.”
Liggett_b@fortlewis.edu. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.
Bryant’s Best
Today: Elder Grown and Deer People will play a fundraiser for Animas River Days, 9 p.m., $10, Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, 799-2281.
Saturday: Durango Barbershoppers 46th annual show and fundraiser, 7:01 p.m., $15 adult/$10 student or senior, Smiley Auditorium, 1309 East Third Ave., www.durangobarbershoppers.org.
