The lineup for the 2011 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival (September 16-18, ugh, the humidity!) was announced this morning and, yeah, that top of the bill is pretty darn good. Stevie Wonder! Arcade Fire! Alison Krauss! Kanye West! My Morning Jacket! I've run out of exclamation points! (OK, now I have.)
Still, scroll down a bit and you'll find the lineup for the Austin Kiddie Limits stage, not in a particularly friendly way, but the brainy among us can figure it out. As with the Kidzapalooza lineup, you can split the AKL lineup into 2 basic divisions. The first are the folks you'd most typically find here at this site...
Sara Hickman
Heidi Swedberg
Mariana Iranzi
Brady Rymer
Recess Monkey
That's a good lineup (heck, I've put on shows featuring three of 'em), and I think they're all a good fit for the AKL stage.
Beyond that we have The Paul Green School of Rock, Q Brothers, Peter DiStefano & Tor, the Barton Hills Choir, and Quinn Sullivan, all making return appearances to the AKL stage. (Sullivan's performance may very well be the most crowded the stage gets all weekend.) So, in other words, while first-timers may find these performances worth sticking around for (and I think even I could be tempted to see the Barton Hills Choir), should we make the trip down to Austin again, I think it'll be an opportunity to broaden some of the kids' musical horizons... time to camp out in the gospel tent or catch Abigail Washburn.
Live Video: Mariana Iranzi
The toughest barrier Mariana Iranzi had to break at her KindieFest 2009 showcase was probably not so much language as much as it was familiarity. While many of the acts on the showcase were pretty well-known names to the industry crowd, Iranzi was more unfamiliar. She'd only released her album Aventura Collage earlier this year, so many folks might not have heard her before the showcase.
Having said that, Iranzi and her band indisputably rocked. She might have sung most of her songs in Spanish, but her set (just like her album) covered a much broader range of melodies and musical styles. At times it was like Belly was up there on stage, singing for kids (and in Spanish). I look forward to seeing (and hearing) what happens as Iranzi gets more experience playing (and writing) for kids.
Mariana Iranzi - "Bluesando"
Photo used with permission of J.P. Stephens from the band Lunch Money; visit him at Lumos Studio. Woot!