Now in its fourth year Freeway Music Festival returns to Music Farm Saturday, April 2 with an eclectic full day of music headlined by G. Love and Special Sauce. Each year the festival’s main goal is to raise funds for music scholarships for children who could not otherwise afford private lessons. With five locations spread across the Midlands, Freeway music has a huge hand in shaping the next generation of musicians from our area. Last year the event raised $11,000, so get out this weekend and not only donate to a great cause, but enjoy a packed day full of awesome music.
Since we were lucky enough to be involved with this event by hosting the stage at Tin Roof, we brought out some of our favorite locals from around the state. This also aligns with the release of our annual compilation released last week, we decided to bring some of those bands along for this event.
SceneSC stage
Noon-2:15 p.m. Freeway Rockband Showcase: Rock ’n’ roll from Freeway Music students.
2:15-2:45 p.m. Ropeswing Marathon: Kicking off an eclectic day of music will be an equally eclectic band. As referenced on their Facebook page, influences range from Cage the Elephant to Umphrey’s McGee to Metallica. That range of influences sounds about right for a young five piece, and their music does pick up a lot of those building blocks as heard in their song streaming here. You’ve got the buffet, with the hooking chorus, funky guitar and bass, and a breakdown of an outro. Ropeswing Marathon make it work, because they’re good enough to do so.
3-3:30 p.m. Human Resources: A band built of both producers and songwriters alike, Charleston based group Human Resources are generally upbeat with their music, creating moods with each song and following through on that with their live set. The future of this Charleston band is as bright as their songs.
4:30-5:15 p.m. Post Timey String Band: Kelley Mclachlan and Sean Thomson moonlight in other bands, The Prairie Willows for McLachlan and The Restoration for Thomson. Post Timey visits some places those groups don’t, with a variety of instruments, and a mostly laid back vibe. They entertain, and awe as they showcase their talents vocally, with stringed instruments, and kazoo.
5:45-6:30 p.m. She Returns From War: When it comes to She Returns from War it all boils down to the fact that Hunter Park is an outstanding songwriter. And with each and every performance she finds a way to keep improving and continues to pump out amazing and touching songs. From debuting “Clean Switch” via a Papa Jazz session, to two new songs on our past two years of samplers, she has a way of writing that’s both fearless and breathtaking at times. I’m not sure what’s better, watching Hunter with the band, or watching her break down audiences emotionally as they watch her play solo.
7-7:45 p.m. Beach Tiger: Fun fact, before they were Beach Tiger, they were The Tarlatans and G. Love played harmonica on their song “Home Sounds Fine to Me”, which you probably heard on 92.1 The Palm a time or two. With a lineup change, came a name change, and with a name change came a shift in style. Beach Tiger might be even catchier than their previous band, each song with strong melody and hooks that have you singing along before the song is finished.
8:15-9 p.m. The Restoration: One of Columbia’s signature acts, The Restoration don’t play as often as they used to, with dual singers Adam Corbett and Daniel Machado focusing more on other projects lately. For Machado it’s his alter ego of Danny Joe, and Corbett it’s electronic duo Husband where he’s joined by his wife Rebekah. There’s been no other act in my memory as ambitious as The Restoration who have written concept albums, released a book as a companion to their album Constance, and released a short film to accompany the seven song murder mystery album Honor the Father. When they do pop their head up for a performance, you surely do not want to miss it.
