More about the Bloomington music scene
As I’ve settled in to my new home in Bloomington, Indiana, I’ve been getting to know who the local artists are, going to shows, and sitting down with people involved in the local music scene. According to Andy Goheen (Sticky and the Bees, E.P. Hall) who organizes shows for The Bishop, Bloomington has over 500 bands.
Shortly after moving here Nicole O’Neal (Hipster Spinster) asked me to co-host a radio show with her. We decided to call it Sound In Bloom Radio, and WIUX gave us a great slot at 7pm on Tuesday. We play mostly local music, as well as artists touring through Bloomington. This has been a great opportunity to get to know the scene better. To my surprise, I was honored as the WIUX DJ of the month!
I’d like to write about local artists and issues that the scene faces, venues that I enjoy, labels that have interesting lineups, and recording studios. I think you’ll find this helpful… as issues Bloomington face are not necessarily unique to our college town, and I think you’ll discover new artists to get excited about. You’re already familiar with the Bloomington labels: Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar, and Dead Oceans.
Some artists I’ll be writing about soon (though the list is far from complete): E.P. Hall, Frank Schweikhardt, husband&wife, Delicious, DM Stith, Kentucky Nightmare, Totally Michael, Prizzy Prizzy Please, Redbird, Tammar, and many others.
As I’ve been listening to the local music I keep asking myself which local artists are ready for the national stage, and who would I feel comfortable promoting on Puddlegum. I’m going to begin writing about Bloomington artists, labels, and venues on Puddlegum, and when I do I’ll place the posts in the Bloomington category.
Not to bore you with the details, but I’m doing this for several reasons. For one, I don’t want Puddlegum to simply become a Bloomington blog, yet I do wish to help out artists that I believe need the exposure. For the readers that are interested, you’ll be able to filter the Bloomington related posts. But the main reason for the Bloomington category is so I can aggregate the stories on the Sound In Bloom blog that we are developing.