Fourteen area youth rock bands and solo artists took the stage at 118 Elliot in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont on Saturday, October 1 for the first ever Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival (BrattRock 2016). Performances took place on two stages, one indoor and one outdoor, between 5:00 and 10:00 PM. Gates opened at 4:30 PM. Advance tickets were available online via the BrattRock website at www.brattrock.org. Prices were $8 adults/$6 students in advance and $10 adults /$8 students at the door. Proceeds from the event will benefit Youth Services. The public was invited to attend this family-friendly event.
The goal of BrattRock is to provide a venue for youth musicians from Brattleboro and the surrounding region to connect, learn, perform, inspire, and be inspired. Participation is open to solo performers or bands with all members under 20 years of age. Registration will begin again next spring with performers submitting online applications and sample performance videos.
BrattRock’s organizing committee was proud to present the final performer line-up for BrattRock 2016: From Brattleboro and surrounding towns: Impending Exorcism, The Faints, Negative Space Nomad vs.Settler, Oak Grove Blues Band, and Sophie Waters. From Western Massachusetts: Cape Fournier, Cosmic Duct Tape, Felixis Jinx, Kalliope Jones, Raspberry Jam, and Rool Bunk. From Hinsdale, New Hampshire: Zebulon Hildreth. A full bio of each band is available on the BrattRock web page and Facebook page.
In addition to musical performances, the festival featured hands-on music workshops for participating youth musicians, which were offered by area music professionals and educators Wyatt Andrews, Aaron Chesley, Samirah Evans, Matt Hall, June Millington, Kevin Parry, Dan Seiden, and Peter Siegel.
Planning for BrattRock was underway for the past year. The idea for the event was born after last year’s Youth Services Battle of the Bands in Brattleboro when some parents of participating musicians proposed a similar youth-oriented event minus the competition aspect. Executive Director, Russell Bradbury-Carlin approved the plan for Youth Services to act as BrattRock’s fiscal sponsor, allowing festival organizers to raise funds under Youth Services’ non-profit status.
To date, BrattRock has received grant funding from the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Community Foundation, and sponsors include Guilford Sound, Youth Services, the Brattleboro Music Center, WKVT, C&S Wholesale Grocers, 118 Elliot, Oak Meadow, Hilltop Montessori, the Brattleboro Retreat, and Rouleau-Holley’s Tae Kwon Do.
Co-founder and organizer Jaimie Scanlon said of the event, “We so everyone who came out on October 1 to honor and celebrate the many talented kids that gathered in Brattleboro, as well as to support all the great things that Youth Services does. The bands are all amazing and the kids were all so pumped to perform. The level of entertainment was extreme.”
