Thursday, March 10, 2005

Press Release With Festival Line-Up

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Music Festival Set For April In D.C. Area
ArlingtonMusicScene.com’s 2nd Annual Six Points Music Festival To Include 5 Nights Of Live Music With Over 40 Acts At 13 Venues


[Arlington, VA] (March 10, 2005) – The second annual Six Points Music Festival, scheduled to take place from April 7 through April 11, will showcase over 40 performers at 13 venues throughout Arlington, Virginia and the Washington Metro Area. Co-sponsored by ArlingtonMusicScene.com and the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), venues for this year’s festival include IOTA Club and Café, Velvet Lounge and Madam’s Organ. 160 acts submitted material for consideration by the Six Points selection committee; the full line-up of the 40-plus selected performers is available here.

Started last year to celebrate the anniversary of ArlingtonMusicScene.com, the festival gets its name from the Six Points of Arlington, representing the county's six major focal points: Ballston, Clarendon, Columbia Pike, Crystal City, Rosslyn and Shirlington. Last year's festival was concentrated primarily along Wilson Boulevard and near the Clarendon and Courthouse stops on Metro's Orange Line in Arlington. This year’s festival goes beyond that region, with shows in nearby Washington, D.C. and one in Maryland.

On Sunday evening, festival founder and D.C.-based musician Mike Holden explained to Z104’s Jenni Chase--on her Capital Scene radio show--that well-known music festivals such as the Austin, Texas-based South By Southwest are what he looks to as a model for Six Points. "South By Southwest is the music festival that I’ve been to that is what I’d love for [Six Points] to become for this area, like 10 years down the road," said Holden. "That’s really hard to duplicate, but that can be a model that we can look to."

In determining the festival line-up, the selection committee rated each of the 160 submissions, on a scale of 0-5, in the areas of Songwriting/Lyrical Content; Vocal, Instrumental and Overall Performance; Originality; and Visceral Reaction. The average of the committee's votes for each performer was calculated and they were ranked accordingly. The committee then selected the highest ranking performers based on the number of slots available, taking into account the stage specs and musical genres that would be most appropriate for each festival venue.

This year’s selection committee for the festival was chaired by Melissa DePaulis, a frequent participant on the ArlingtonMusicScene.com Yahoo Group, and included Tom Carrico (Studio One Artists), Jenni Chase (Z104), Mary Cliff (WETA), Heather Huff (Earvolution.com), Adrian Munoz (DCSpore.com) and Maria Villafana (washingtonpost.com/mp3).

ArlingtonMusicScene.com is a website, built around a Yahoo Group, dedicated to increasing awareness of and participation in the vibrant music scene in and around Arlington, Virginia. Founded by musicians in February 2001, the website provides a forum for artists, fans, residents and business owners to interact and pool their resources to benefit the community and the diverse array of local talent within the region. ArlingtonMusicScene.com represents a broad range of genres and interests, with the common goal of supporting and enhancing the flourishing regional music scene by fostering a sense of community and by sponsoring events, promotions and other activities.
WAMA is a non-profit tax exempt organization of music industry professionals committed to raising the profile of the region's diverse music community. WAMA's main goal is to promote Washington area music in general and to achieve national recognition of the region as an important center for live and recorded music. Just as the nation's capital is comprised of a rich cross section of cultures, WAMA's membership embraces all musical styles from classical, bluegrass, go-go, R&B, and reggae, to rock, jazz and folk. In short, WAMA is an umbrella organization of musicians, concert promoters, lawyers, recording engineers, managers, graphic artists, and related businesses working together to address areas of common concern.

For further information about the Six Points Music Festival, please email sixpoints@arlingtonmusicscene.com.