I haven't led the most "normal" of lives up to this point, but even for me the week of March 13-21 was unusual. Along with the Board & volunteers of Dart Music International and our friends at Same Sky Productions we literally made history multiple times during the week. Here's how things got started:
Sunday
Setup, load-in, and final preparations were completely insane. Thanks to some amazingly cool people we were able to create a sound stage that was nearly flawless for the entire week. It takes a village to create something like this, and we had the best village out there!
David, Andre, Kourosh, Eva, Sarah, and James from
Same Sky Productions worked hard for weeks to get us to this point, and were on-hand throughout the entire week to make the DMI House one of the most spectacular events I've ever witnessed. In addition to the hours spent creating video introductions and illustrations for each band, they also arranged for live video and audio broadcasting of the events through
bunkradio.com.
Our sound team was amazing. Led by the incomparable Greg Williams with Joseph Cisneros on the board and Tyler managing the stage. InChurl Yo of Yo! Media created out graphics and posters. Our other sponsors for the week really came through as well. Check out the
event page for a full list of all the links and logos of the great companies who made this happen.
Monday
After manic video editing and setup at 219 West, we inaugurated the
2011 Dart Music International House with the first ever back-to-back performances by 6 bands from the 6 inhabited continents. The showcase, sponsored by our friends at Mueller Law and Voodoo Cowboy, created an event of cultural, artistic, and historical significance.
1:00 - Jackie Bristow (Oceania - New Zealand)
2:00 - Emergency Blanket (South America - Peru)
3:00 - Tidal Waves (Africa - South Africa)
4:00 - Telephunken (Europe - Spain)
5:00 - Unfamiliar Friends Party (Asia - Taiwan)
6:00 - The Boxing Lesson (North America - Austin)
In addition to the incredible musical performances, we were honored to have Honorary Consul Kathleen Kelly of the
New Zealand Consulate, Houston, as a guest.
More to come, including Music from Space for the first time ever, Songs for Christchurch, and 3AM chicken & waffles with Hanson...
Jackie Bristow's album "Freedom" has been nominated for Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards Best Country Music Album. The title song from "Freedom" has also been nominated for the APRA Best Country Song Award for 2011. Both awards are to be presented on Thursday June 2 at the New Zealand Country Music Awards in Gore. 
