By Matthew Halverson
Twangfest—St. Louis’ little Americana music festival that could—turns 10 this month, and the party will sport the standard celebratory flourishes: a retrospective slide show, colorful decorations (OK, commemorative posters), malt-based beverages for one and all and music—lots and lots of music. It’s not the alt-country bash it used to be, but no one ever said growing up meant you have to stay the same.
The music has changed ... Well, sort of. Attrition in the alt-country community has forced the Twang Gang to rejigger their criteria for a quality lineup. With that in mind, the focus has shifted to roots music, in all of its incarnations. “This year, we’ve got the Bottle Rockets, but we’ve also got The Dirtbombs, who are decidedly not alt-country; they’re a garage band,” says Amy Silvers, one of the festival’s organizers. “That’s part of the continuum of American roots music. Lots of people are still listening to the Drive-By Truckers or Slobberbone, but they’re also listening to some things that are farther afield.”
The bands have gotten bigger ... Again, sort of. Lesser-known, unsigned bands used to be the focus, but to the chagrin of some faithful Pabst-swilling Twangites, the festival has grown. The Waco Brothers were the biggest name on the bill for Twangfest 1. Neko Case, whose latest album you can actually find on an endcap at Best Buy, headlined last year. “When you get to a certain level and people start to have certain expectations, you can’t load the bill with unknown bands,” Silvers says.
Music trumps money, every time. Concerns with putting butts in the seats might suggest that Twangfest is going corporate, but Silvers stresses that the festival, which operates as a nonprofit, only cares about covering its costs. “Money is only important in that we need to not go bankrupt,” she says. Any profit goes into producing the next year’s festival, which usually costs $10,000 to $15,000.
Bands still love the twang. Signed acts may outnumber the unsigned ones, the venue may have changed (the Duck Room has replaced Off Broadway) and the sound may be broader, but some bands will still do anything—even waive the standard booking rate—just to get on the bill. “I would almost say that’s the rule, rather than the exception,” Silvers says. “They’ll come in for whatever we can pay them, just because they love it so much.”
