alexbattles

4th Annual Brooklyn Country Music Festival

Alex Battles

September 6 – 8, 2007 @ Buttermilk (Day 1) & Southpaw (Day 2-3)….

On September 6 – 8, 2007, country music impresario Alex Battles and Brooklyn Country Music present the 4th Annual Brooklyn Country Music Festival in Park Slope. The fun begins at Buttermilk Bar on Thursday at 8 PM (NO COVER), and continues on Friday and Saturday at Southpaw ($10 per day or $15 for both). Friday night kicks off at 7 PM, and Saturday is an all-day extravaganza beginning at 3 PM.

Brooklyn Country Music, in a nutshell, is simple, good-time dance band music. Though it reflects the life of our city and its people, the music hearkens back to a more traditional era of country, where the sounds of trains provided the pulsating beat in honky tonks and juke joints around the country. This tradition has been brought to life again in New York City, where an intrepid group of players and songwriters ride subways to come together and share their urban experiences in country song form. As the New Yorker puts it, “The scene takes traditional Nashville and electrified Bakersfield honky-tonk aesthetics as a guide but adds a gritty native pulse, influenced by rumbling subway trains, alternate side of the street parking, and the presence of a few million close neighbors.”

This year’s Brooklyn Country Music Festival presents the “cream of the crop” of New York City’s country music scene. Says Festival organizer Alex Battles: “Every year we put on a better show than the year before. I couldn’t be prouder of this year’s lineup. All acts are 100% homegrown, and were selected based on their talent as both performers and songwriters.” This year’s Southpaw lineup includes Jessica Rose & the High Life, The Lonesome Prairie Dogs, Sweet William, The Two Man Gentlemen Band, The Defibulators, Andy Friedman & The Other Failures, Erin Farrell, Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., Grizzly’s Banjo Assault, Hogzilla, Jack Grace Band, The Doc Marshalls, Alex Battles’ Whisky Rebellion, Uncle Leon & The Alibis, and The Flanks.

This year’s festival will be bookended by two nods to the classic roots from which Brooklyn country artists derive their vision. On Thursday at Buttermilk, (The Y’all Stars, “New York City’s finest bluegrass group, bar none” says Battles) will be followed by the CasHank Hootenanny Jamboree, a neighborhood institution where the full spectrum of New York City country fans come to jam and sing (or just drink) along to their favorite classic country tunes performed by an earnest chorus of amateurs. The boot-scooting fun continues at Southpaw with two full evenings of rowdy twang and honky tonk angels, hosts Alex Battles & Lindy Loo, and DJ Palms spinning more country gold. Saturday kicks off with a 75th Birthday tribute to Patsy Cline, who would have celebrated her birthday on September 8, 2007.

Each day will feature contests for homemade pies. Tickets will be on sale in advance through ticketweb. Advance tickets are strongly recommended as the last Brooklyn Country Music show at Southpaw sold out ahead of time.
Y’all come to Brooklyn now, ya hear?

DAY 1
Buttermilk, 577 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.788.6297 / NO COVER / 8 PM
8 The Y’all Stars
9 – midnight CasHank Hootenanny Jamboree

DAY 2
Friday, September 7th
Southpaw, 125 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.230.0236 / $10 / Doors @ 7 PM
8 Jessica Rose & The High Life
9 The Lonesome Prairie Dogs
10 Sweet William
11 The Two Man Gentlemen Band
midnight The Defibulators
1 Andy Friedman & The Other Failures

DAY 3
Saturday, September 8th
Southpaw, 125 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.230.0236 / $10 / Doors @ 3 PM
4 The Poor Man’s Roses (75th Birthday Tribute to Patsy Cline)
5 Erin Farrell
6 Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
7 Grizzly’s Banjo Assault
8 Hogzilla
9 Jack Grace Band
10 The Doc Marshalls
11 Alex Battles’ Whisky Rebellion
midnight Uncle Leon & The Alibis
1 The Flanks