The Suwannee Music Park has over 500 acres of lush trees, a spring-fed lake and nature reserve. It offers camping, swimming, hiking, fishing, canoeing, disc golf, RV hook-ups, golf cart rentals, shower and bath houses, mini-golf and even a honey-bee exhibit and the world’s largest bat house. This ideal location allows thousands of attendees to camp in tent-families under the Spanish Moss draped branches, roast marshmallows on a flickering campfire, stroll dreamily around a gleaming lake, and hear their favorite live beats at the amphitheater stage planted right in the midst of a forest sanctuary.

“Suwannee Music Park is full of good vibes and BCMF just amplifies those vibes to the masses,” said Will Tucker, a multi-fest attendee, of his experience at the venue. “It’s just in time for the weather to be comfortable and the people treat you like you’re family.”

Bear Creek has become increasingly popular not only because of its great venue, but because of its consistent ability to bring an insurmountable crop of tunage to it’s fans. This year almost 100 artists are performing, even some with multiple sets. Electronic pioneers Big Gigantic, funky jam band Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, sex-rock sounds of Catfish Alliance, up-and-coming DJ SirCharles, Rubbelbucket’s upbeat instrumentals, and the soothing, sweet sounds of Zach Deputy are just a handful of the talent bursting at Bear Creek’s seams. Another 2011 addition is the Silent Disco Tent and Music Hall which will hold the late-night shows rocking all the way until nearly 5am. 1000 pairs of headphones will be distributed to all the musical insomniacs so they will not disturb the camping neighbors

It’s the overwhelming appreciation for art and music that keeps BCMF alive. People come from all over the country to take part in this giant family whose intentions are all the same: fascinating live artwork, undeniable music, tongue-dribbling food, and some of the friendliest, craziest, most eccentric people you’ll ever meet.

“I’ve been to Bear Creek for the past three years and the lineup never disappoints,” said Grace Norbeg, a dedicated Bear Creek fan. “It’s a well-organized weekend of feel-good music populated by positive people who are all there just to dance and have fun. Zach Deputy is my favorite artist that’s been there pretty much every year. He’s amazing because he uses a “looper” to record beats and melodies with a variety of different instruments to make an entire song all by himself on stage.”

In the spirit of Halloween and 11/11/11 Bear Creek is hosting themed costume parties for the very first time! “Warm and Fuzzy” is the theme for Friday night, encouraging attire such as spirits hoods, scarves, fur jackets, ear muffs, fuzzy boots, long johns, hats and the like. To honor the soldiers as well as the funky, Saturday night’s theme is appropriately named “Funk Soldiers Gone Wild.” At this party you will most likely see lots of glow sticks, tie-dye, bell-bottoms, fringe, knee-high disco boots, peace signs, flowers and psychedelic sunglasses.

With all the avid followers and additional perks and play, this year’s Bear Creek is bound to be biggest and the best. This success is largely due to BCMF’s dedicated staff.

“We have a very experienced staff that’s been working together, for some people, more than five years,” said Paul Levine, an integral founder of the festival. “Everybody loves the show and loves each other. I think the way that we treat the public and our guests and the artists– you can just feel it in the experience! Everybody is VIP here.”

Enthusiastic leaders like Levine and the emphasis on great music makes this festival far more special than the rest.

“Bear Creek is well known for being a musician’s festival,” Levine said. “It’s a place where musicians come and feel very comfortable. They get to spend a lot of time with their friends and family because a lot of the bands are there for a couple days too. It’s a very relaxed family environment where the performers are as much a part of the crowd as the fans are! And because of thatrelaxed environment it translates into more interesting music and a more creative and less stressful environment where everybody gets to enjoy!”

Additional Festival Information:

This year’s BCMF memorabilia poster was created by Stanley Mouse, a psychedelic artist of the ‘60s best known for his Grateful Dead album work. A limited number of artist signed posters will be available for purchase. Bring 5 canned goods or non-perishable food items to the WET volunteer tent for the annual Suwannee Valley Food Bank Drive and receive a commemorative poster free! Check out bearcreekmusicfestival.com for more details on posters, schedules, tickets and the line-up.

Tickets are available online at bearcreekmusicfestival.com for $165 general admission and $350 for VIP (kids 12 and under are free). In commemoration of the Veteran’s holiday all active and retired military can upgrade their 3-day pass to a 4-day pass completely free of charge.

It has been a year since their EP, Go Outside, dropped amid a flurry of coverage from various music blogs. Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion comprise Cults and you will hear them both in most tracks. The latter half, Brian, provides the instrumentation. The precious few tracks were enough to perplex while making most people eagerly await more. They began experimenting with the unique mix of indie pop, lo-fi, and noise while attending New York University, and abruptly rose to prominence as their debut hit the markets.

The best way to understand the sound of their debut album is to imagine the delirium and chaos of a day that transforms into an excellent night at the pub. There are twists and turns, doubts and fear, but at the end of the day we’re glad to have left the comfort of home. Tracks alternate from a variety of influences, from the lo-fi scene of the early nineties—as well as some modern noise pop from influences such as the also-rising Smith Westerns—to an airy sound reminiscent of the pop melodies of the sixties. Overall the instrumentation remains mostly cohesive—no wild curve balls here, especially if you’re familiar with the EP, which tended to have a much more delightful “unpolished” sound. However, the album still remains a pretty solid statement, an interesting new sound for an interesting new band. It’s definitely worth the listen.

This was my second year attending BCMF, and I’ve only become fonder of it. It consists of three full days of live music with over 90 bands, dozens of authentic food options, including monstrous Gyros that I stuffed my face with on three separate occasions, and wide ranges of eclectic hand-made clothes, jewelry, and artwork to purchase. We set up our tents in a far off wooded area by the symbolic Bat House, fumbling together for sticks and moss to spark much-needed bonfires. Do not be deceived by Florida’s reputation for high temperatures; Live Oak made it down to the high 30s when the sun went down. Fortunately, Bear Creek is one of the last remaining festivals that permit personal bonfires. A trunk full of blankets, multiple layers, gloves and earmuffs were hardly sympathetic without the blazing flames wrapping us in their palm.

The music at Bear Creek never stopped. Bands started playing at 10 a.m. and continue on the schedule until 3 a.m. the next day, although I distinctly recall rolling around the tent at 6 in the morning catching a few faint “woos” and an ongoing set playing off in the distance. Because of the round-the-clock music, you never know who you’ll end up listening to. I decided to take a seat in an empty amphitheater and watched as it filled with hundreds of devoted fans. The group was Perpetual Groove, a sweet-sounding jam band from Athens, Georgia that never dropped the beat and played to a mesmerizing light show. We also found ourselves in the electronic grips of Papadosio who had live artists painting along the fence and teased us back with “one more song!” The following day we snoozed in forest hammocks, only to wake the soothing sax and trippy trumpet of Rubbelbucket. That night we made it out to the Buffalo headliners, Moe, who simply “killed it”, a response of the fellow listeners, and then stumbled into the Purple Hat music-tent were we discovered a true gem, Bonobo.  Bonobo consists of musician and DJ, Simon Green, who played a kind of chill electronic- infused funk, live flute, and the jaw-dropping vocals of Andreya Triana.

What truly makes Bear Creek one of the best festivals of the year, though, are the people that attend. Everyone is enthusiastic and friendly, showing outward camaraderie and good nature. Walking through the park one morning, I found a large hanging tree-swing that couldn’t be passed up, and, of course, I hopped right in without hesitation. A nearby man with shoulder-length golden hair, pulled back with a peace-sign headband, meandered away from his sizzling bacon just to inform me that the swing had protruding nails and offered me a blanket to sit on. Later that night I found myself scrambling around for a bottle of water, ticketless (tickets were means of purchase) and thirsty as ever. A young, sweet girl heard my despair and led me to her nearby camp where she gave me a bottle from her cooler. Smiles and sincerity are worn like badges and an overall sense of some family dynamic is dispersed through shared experience. I got to know that “long-haired bacon man” a little more. His name was Travis Moranue and he explained his love for BCMF, “Yeah, man, I’ve been here every year since they started…and it just keeps growing and growing, getting better and better. The more people who spread the word, the more people want to get in on it…It’s something we all look forward to, like, part of the holiday season….You’ll be leaving here Sunday excited for next year, counting down the months all over again.” I talked to Travis for no more than ten minutes that chilly morning, but left his tent having made a new friend.

The most important part of the Bear Creek experience that I took home with me was the mere fact that I was stripped of all measures of comfort, hygienic utensils and worldly possessions.  Yet, I was entirely content and enveloped in the simplicity of this bare, beautiful life. I expected to be thrown helplessly into the wild, only to feign eagerly for the ride home, growing in appreciation for running water and a warm bed. However, that next morning, back home in Tallahassee, I found myself wanting nothing more than to be back in the midst of my forest freedom.

So many extraneous things are thrown at us simultaneously in this fast-paced world that it can be difficult to remember that we can survive and even strive with the most basic necessities. That night before our departure, I saw the stars clearer than ever in the smog free wilderness, with a Cheshire moon smiling down at me, and in that brief moment I felt so blissfully small and beautifully insignificant from all the hustle-and-bustle nonsense that we tend to get lost in, and instead grew an appreciation for the day that I could come back.

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

album from Iron & Wine and from the very beginning avid fans of his music will notice a drastic difference in style.

The album heavily institutes the electric sound Sam experimented with in The Shepherd’s Dog and takes it in a new direction with Beam’s traditional vivid imagery collaborating with electrified tunes that will stick with you.

The first track starts off with Sam’s voice heavily distorted with a droning guitar and synth beats in the background which melts into a beautiful piano laden piece. In it Sam sings about the disreputable people and the people in love he sees, as he takes a walk through an unnamed town, which are representations of the constant themes throughout this album. We see a millionaire pissing on the lawn, car crashes and sickness; at the same time we hear of prisoners asking people to join them in song, hearts carved into stone, and lovers whispering to each other. In “Godless Brother in Love” we hear a continuation of this idea about a man whose “lost” brother is in love with a woman who, despite the singer seeing as a beautiful person physically, also sees as someone who is not worth his time or attention, who lives in the bars and can barely raise her children who loves to “curse every bird in the air”.

Musically, this is the most eclectic Iron & Wine album to date. The mood of the album is ever changing, going through highs and lows, never really staying consistent. The style of music follows suit and jumps around just as much as the atmosphere.  In “Rabbit Will Run” we hear a style that has never been touched on: an animalistic jungle-like beat layered with heavy distortion, whistling akin to birds, xylophones beating out a frantic pace that parallels the feeling the lyrics induce of a man on the run and his constant attempt to get away. Another example of this new style is the initial track as mentioned earlier with its synth loops, distorted voices, and simplistic drumming with a very minimalistic style. In “Monkeys Uptown” we see another side of the new Iron & Wine with this psychedelic tune featuring xylophones, more synth effects, temple blocks and a guitar solo. He weaves a musical narrative that is highly catchy and fun to dance to which changes dramatically in the next track “Half Moon”, a laid back country ballad, reminiscent of Alison Kraus, that tells the story of a man and woman walking home, the man telling his lover that if he were to lose her he would not be able to go on.

The production value of this album is much greater than his earlier releases. He utilizes a lot of studio effects to achieve the sounds he wants, especially in tracks like “Walking Far From Home” and “Glad Man Singing”, both of which have a lot of post-recording effects on his voice, as well as layering of voices in the background to achieve a choral effect. The album is definitely more fine-tuned than his earliest material, which was recorded on a 4-track, but it does not detract from the experience.  He uses the technology to his advantage to spruce up “Half Moon” and “Godless Brother in Love”, two tracks that are more like his older catalogue in the sense that it uses simple instrumentation such as just Sam on guitar, or Sam plus a few other people performing on say, a drum set and bass.

Despite the common references to the heavy themes of love and hardship, there are some more amusing tracks scattered throughout the album.  Sam Beam pokes fun at his success as a former independent musician (he’s now with Warner Bros. Records) on the track “Me and Lazarus”, despite not being very well known, “never made the local news” he sings. “Big Burned Hand” is a more personal and out-there song about the goddess of love and the god of war coming down and trying to force the singer into making some decisions, neither of which all too pleasing. Overall, the record is a great new direction in the artistic canon of Sam Beam, a man who initially built his fan base on his simple acoustic guitar and vocal pieces.  He has followed the tracks of Dylan by transitioning into an electric style and while surely making old fans uneasy, his new and eclectic sound proves to stand tall with the rest of his work.

4 out of 5 Stars

The album begins with “Success,” which is powered by a succession of steady cymbal beats that establishes a mellow crescendo through to the end of the song. Their previously released single, “Lights,” appears at number four, followed by “Barricade,” which stands out as the most powerful song and has a sound similar to their first album, Turn on the Bright Lights.

The album acts as a narrative of one man’s emotional journey from happiness to despair. Repetitive chord progressions, heavy bars and the distinct voice of Paul Banks push along the album’s story.

The piano backdrop during “Always Malaise (The Man I Am)” is a refreshing highlight to the otherwise indistinct composition. It is accompanied by echoes of emotionally resilient song lyrics and a speedy snare beat. “The Undoing,” the final song on the album, evokes loose, free feelings by using Spanish dialogue. This finale leaves the listener with an unfinished, lingering feeling of rueful closure.

In a word, Interpol is adequate.  From a technical aspect, it is well constructed.  Artistically, it weaves the intended narrative.  However, the album is missing a certain individuality that would make it stand out from other albums of its genre. If Interpol has any hope of rebounding from this less than spectacular release, their next album will have to do a better job of engaging its audience and provoking emotion.