The first ever Grey Area festival has come and gone.
Flat Black Studios
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Prairie Pop: Grey Area festival will suit local music fans, campers and circus freaks
Grey Area, a joint venture by Flat Black Studios and White Rabbit clothing store, is an unusual new festival taking place just outside of Iowa City on Aug. 18 and 19. Featuring live music and a diverse range of multimedia programming, it’s a celebration of our local musical community. The festival will span Friday afternoon to late Saturday night, and is set outdoors (on-site camping is encouraged; bring plenty of water, bug spray and other necessities, as well as blankets or chairs to sit on).
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Flat Black Studios and White Rabbit announce two-day festival
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] GREY AREA Flat Black Studios — Friday, Aug. 18 and Saturday, Aug. 19 Luke Tweedy has been recording music for over a decade — first in his home studio in Iowa City and now at his “rural recording resort” in a remodeled barn on his property near Lone Tree. The new studio is […]
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‘The songs don’t care what you’re wearing’ — Brian Johannesen releases ‘Northern Town’ with a party at Big Grove
Iowa City’s Brian Johannesen celebrates the release of his first solo full-length album this weekend with an album release party Saturday, May 6 at Big Grove Brewery and Tap Room — Iowa City, which is quickly becoming a vibrant music venue, since its opening in March. Northern Town, which releases tomorrow, marks Johannesen’s second outing recording with Luke Tweedy at Flat Black Studios, following his 2013 self-titled EP.
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Exclusive track: CCR’s ‘Lodi’ covered by Brian Johannesen with David Zollo & The Body Electric
Shortly after their move outside of Iowa City in 2015, Flat Black Studios began recording a series of covers of well-known songs. Initially, the recordings were meant to hone the studio’s acoustics and celebrate the new space, but as the months passed and the covers piled up, the project took on a life of its […]
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Exclusive track: Will Whitmore and friends cover ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ by The Cars
When Flat Black Studios moved from Iowa City to its new rural location outside of town in 2015, the new studio’s first recording session was meant to dial in the room’s acoustics, and celebrate all the hard work so many local musicians had put in to make the place what it is…
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William Elliott Whitmore to play the Englert on Feb. 3
William Elliott Whitmore Englert Theatre — Friday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. Iowa’s own William Elliott Whitmore comes to the Englert this Friday, Feb. 3 for an 8 p.m. show. Whitmore is local royalty, of sorts — his ruling family of Iowa music includes cousin Luke Tweedy of Flat Black Studios, where his most recent […]
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Video Premiere: ‘I’m a Lover (at Close Range)’ by Mission Creek/Flat Black resident Ian Svenonius
Recorded last January in Lone Tree, Iowa as part of a residency program coordinated by Mission Creek Festival and Flat Black Studios, a full-length album from ESCAPE-iSM (Ian Svenonius‘ solo project) will be released soon. A video for the first single, “I’m a Lover (at Close Range),” was shot on location by Bill Adams, and […]
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Album Review: Karen Meat — She’s Drunk Like the Rest of Us EP
Karen Meat She’s Drunk Like the Rest of Us EP karenmeat.bandcamp.com She's Drunk Like the Rest of Us by Karen Meat Karen Meat is a pop genius. Karen Meat sings a lot about barf. Karen Meat is not her real name — Arin Eaton is. If you peruse her music on Bandcamp, you’ll hear someone […]
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See it here: Des Moines band Tires premiers a new video ahead of its single, out May 27
This January, Des Moines band Tires headed into Flat Black Studios to finally record the full album their fans have been waiting for. With a couple of EPs under their belt, it was about time for these tenured musicians to finally commit to something large scale. Tires could quite easily be termed a “supergroup,” in […]
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Iowa City to be renamed Iowa Rock City
By order of a special “rocklamation,” the City of Iowa City will officially change its name to “Iowa Rock City” on March 28, 2015. The one-day name change was approved at tonight’s Iowa City Council meeting. The rocking initiative is the brainchild of University of Iowa communications professor and Little Village columunist Kembrew McLeod, who […]
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Mission Creek Festival announces ‘Circuit des Yeux’ as its next artist in residence
The Mission Creek Festival announced Friday that Chicago-based artist Haley Fohr, aka Circuit des Yeux, will be the next recipient of its artist residency…
