It’s that time of year again and South By Southwest (SXSW) is just around the corner! We’ve decided to bring back our “50 Acts You Won’t Want To Miss” feature and spent hours trying to narrow down our favorite acts. Not making it to Texas for the event? We’ve got you covered!! Check out our Spotify SXSW playlist which features one song from each artist on it here or at the very end of the list below!

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Written by Eric Riley.

Boston Calling is here to put summer to rest with a bang. If you’ve kept an eye on us for the last few years, you know the deal. Let’s do this again, shall we? Here is our list of who you need to be keeping an eye out for!

On our list so far: #7. Grey Season/Dirty Bangs, #6. Of Monsters and Men

Today we talk about our #5 pick, Twin Shadow.

The 80’s are alive and well thanks to George Lewis Jr. aka Twin Shadow. Getting back to business as usual after a terrifying bus accident in April of 2014 that forced the band into hiatus, this year’s Eclipse is packed with plenty of examples that show Lewis is back at full strength.

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For Fans of: New Politics, Walk the Moon, Bleachers

It doesn’t always take much to leave a large impact.
Individual lines within entire books can change the course of the story.
A single play at the end of an entire season can solidify a championship.
Or, in this case, three tiny pop songs can kickstart a band’s career.
(Hint: this has nothing to do with sports or storybooks.)

Before their debut full-length is released this June (sharing a label with Foster the People and Peter Bjorn and John), Nashville four-piece COIN tease their listeners with a three-song EP that is bound to draw a crowd. 

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Earlier this month, I spent yet another few days in the wonderful city of Boston.

And for the third time, I was lucky enough to be spending the my time working at the Boston Calling Music Festival.

May’s production, which was the first to include a Friday night performance, would prove to be a tough act to follow. Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan & Sara, Brand fucking New – May was certainly the biggest, boldest to-date.

To be expected, and continuing with the trend of creating magic, Crash Line Productions and company built yet another spectacular weekend this September. And, not allowing themselves to be outdone by their pasts, this round’s festivities not only boasted an all-star lineup, but showed that this young festival could join the ranks of the big names.

Opening on Friday night again, which will seemingly (and, according to crowd reactions, thankfully) continue for the foreseeable future, the show was able to add in a third batch of performers – Future Island, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The National (whose Aaron Dessner has helped curate the festival’s lineup). This addition run into a few bugs in May, in regards to photo-pit entrances, overcrowding, etc., but those were remedied by the time Saturday morning rolled around. This time around, the few kinks that were present in the spring (and more likely than not unnoticed by most in attendance) made no appearance in the fall.

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Interview conducted by Eric Riley.

Could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what Crash Line Productions is/does.
– No problem. I’m Michael Snow, co-founder of Crash Line and one of the producers for Boston Calling. My job is basically to break the festival down into the major parts – performers, sponsors, licensing, etc. etc. And after all of that gets set, we try to see how well we can build our small little city in a day and a half or so. It’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that people may not recognize right away, but they appreciate. They don’t tend to focus on the video screens or the Port-A-Potties, but they like that they’re there.

You previously worked at the Phoenix Media Group until it closed last March. After it closed its doors you and a coworker, Brian Appel, decided to form Crash Line Productions. What is it about working in this industry that made you guys want to pursue creating a company on your own?   
-- I was more on the radio side of it. We ran a station called WFNX here in the city, along with a newspaper and a magazine that we all worked on. But working here, like it would be in any company, there are a lot of different directions and a lot of different goals and a lot of things that you want to achieve. Things are always changing, so you have to do things to keep your audience connected and make sure you always have a product to give them. I think we always just enjoyed doing new things and seeing what we could get done. So now, we took what we had both learned in the past and applied it here, working to use that knowledge throughout the year and focus it down into two weekends.

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Hellooooo again! We’re back for our third run with Boston Calling and we’re as excited as ever, so we’ve decided to bring back our “Seven Bands To See” feature! The lineup this time around is as great as it has ever been, and the weekend is shaping up to be the biggest one yet. So, here’s who to keep an eye out for!

On our list so far: #7. Sonicbids Winner/Gentlemen Hall, #6. The National, #5. The 1975, #4. Bleachers, #3. Lorde, #2. Childish Gambino

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Today we talk about our #1 pick, twenty | one | pilots.

Finding the words to accurately describe twenty|one|pilots is no easy task.

Their music is nearly unclassifiable, bouncing back and forth between a handful of genres with a frequency that keeps you hooked without pulling you in too many directions. Mixing pop/punk choruses and rap verses with EDM drops, ukulele, piano, and drums, the group is a rarity. With 2013’s Vessel, the duo (Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun) released one of the year’s most daring, interesting, and all-around impressive albums. And while their sound is diverse, their presence never changes.

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Hellooooo again! We’re back for our third run with Boston Calling and we’re as excited as ever, so we’ve decided to bring back our “Seven Bands To See” feature! The lineup this time around is as great as it has ever been, and the weekend is shaping up to be the biggest one yet. So, here’s who to keep an eye out for!

On our list so far: #7. Sonicbids Winner/Gentlemen Hall, #6. The National, #5. The 1975, #4. Bleachers, #3. Lorde
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Today we talk about our #2 pick, Childish Gambino.

Donald Glover makes it difficult to focus on one aspect of his talent, because it seems like wherever you turn, he’s not only there, but he’s owning it. Actor, comedian, musician, and much more, Glover will be closing out Saturday night’s show in front of what is sure to be a packed crowd. Whether it’s 2011’s Camp or … Because the Internet, which was 2013’s last great release, Glover delivered a noticeably different style and tone on each, while still managing to impress.

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Hellooooo again! We’re back for our third run with Boston Calling and we’re as excited as ever, so we’ve decided to bring back our “Seven Bands To See” feature! The lineup this time around is as great as it has ever been, and the weekend is shaping up to be the biggest one yet. So, here’s who to keep an eye out for!

On our list so far: #7. Sonicbids Winner/Gentlemen Hall, #6. The National, #5. The 1975, #4. Bleachers

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Today we talk about our #3 pick, Lorde.

Like I mentioned a bit earlier, there were a handful of artists who dominated 2013. Earning four Grammy nominations (and two wins) at 17, Lorde had a pretty decent year.

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Hellooooo again! We’re back for our third run with Boston Calling and we’re as excited as ever, so we’ve decided to bring back our “Seven Bands To See” feature! The lineup this time around is as great as it has ever been, and the weekend is shaping up to be the biggest one yet. So, here’s who to keep an eye out for!

On our list so far: #7. Sonicbids Winner/Gentlemen Hall, #6. The National, #5. The 1975
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Today we talk about our #4 pick, Bleachers.

Like the National, this won’t be Jack Antonoff’s first time around Boston Calling. Back in 2013, Antonoff and fun. closed out the festival’s inaugural run. This time around, Antonoff will be showcasing his 80’s-esque pop outfit Bleachers.

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With May’s Boston Calling Festival nearly sold-out, expectations for the September festival were extremely high. Personally, I wasn’t sure if they would be able to outdo themselves. Boy was I wrong.

The festival announced today the lineup for September’s Boston Calling Festival which includes major acts such as Lorde, The 1975, The National and Childish Gambino.

The full lineup can be seen below as well as ticket information!

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