Local bands to perform at Crossroads Music Festival

It began as a relaxed backyard barbecue for various bands to come together and has now grown to showcase a lineup of local bands.

Organized by Crossroads of America Records, or XRA Records, XRA Fest comes to Bloomington on Friday and Saturday.

The festival is 9 p.m. Friday at Russian Recording and 9:30 p.m.Saturday at Uncle Fester’s House of Blooze. Tickets are $3 for one night or $5 for both nights and can be purchased either at Landlocked Music or TD’s CDs and LPs.

“This is really the first one of its kind,” said Tim Felton, the organizer of the event. “We are having it at two different venues on two different nights.”

Felton is also a member of one of the performing bands, Husband&Wife.

Senior Bryant Fox, a member of the band Alexander the Great, said he was excited this year’s festival is taking place in formal venues.

“We’ve had XRA Fest in the past, but it was when the label was still in its infancy,” Fox said. 

Kevin Stewart Rose, who provides tour and show support for XRA and its bands, said the festival is a good experience for IU students to learn about Indiana’s music scene.

“We are trying to develop a local and regional music community,” Rose said. “It’s not about having the best bands in the country, but about having good bands from here.”

Almost all the bands on XRA Fest’s roster are native to Indiana and reinforce the idea of developing a strong regional music scene.

“The hope is that we will just kind of start the belief that you can create something that is good right here at home,” Felton said, “and that all of us in the Midwest can create a sound that is particular to the Midwest.”

The two-day festival will present the bands Husband&Wife, Chemic, Frank Scweikhardt and Either/Or on Friday, when students of all ages are welcome.

Saturday will be for students 21 and older and includes Alexander the Great, Rodeo Ruby Love and Metavari.

“It will be a lot of fun for Bloomington and for the fans to come out,” Rose said. “It’s cool that we have been able to make it as cheap as it is, and hopefully that will mean a lot of kids can come out.”