AMP Music Productions!

Hey guys! AMP Music Productions here. We've been working extra hard before and during the break, so we wanted to share what we've been up to!

First, we started working on Fridays @ 5 in April by compiling a list of artists that the committee researched. We often find artists for F@5s locally, though some might come from other states. The source of our research varies, from meeting the band at a campus programing convention to seeing them open for another artist. After we made the master list, we individually listened to every artists we went around and voted for the top 5 artists. In May, we started booking for those top 5 artists. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to get all of our top choices this semester! Here is the line-up for this semester's Fridays @ 5: Sleepwalk, a Robot (Sep. 4), Afromotive (Sep. 11), Re-Up (Sep. 18), Trees On Fire (Sep. 25), Jim Ivins/the Itchy Hearts (Oct. 16). I hope you guys come out to these shows, they are all awesome and, best of all, FREE!

Another thing we've been working on all summer is the Welcome Back show. We started looking for artists in April by contacting the agents. When we have a large-scale show, such as Welcome Back, Homecoming, and the Spring Concert, we contact the agents to see if they have any artists that are available on that certain date. After we contacted the agents, we complied a list again, like we did for Fridays @ 5, and voted for the top choices. We were not as fortunate at booking for Welcome Back as we were for Fridays @ 5, as we got turned down by many artists. Here are some of the artists that we tried to book: Jamie Lidell, Dr. Dog, Cobra Starship, and Bedouin Soundcrash. After getting turned by the above artists, we considered not having the Welcome Back show at all. We thought that if we bring an artist that we're not excited about, it would just be a waste of money. The money we did not spend for Welcome Back would have been either added to the Homecoming budget or used for another show during the semester. But wait! There's a light at the end of this tunnel! We asked for some help from the middle agents (they are kind of like our middle-man, they allow us to work with artists without having to deal with them directly), and we were able to book a band! And the Welcome Back band is... drum roll please... CARBON LEAF! They are a very popular band from Richmond, Virginia who have opened for many artists such as the Dave Matthews Band, Something Corporate, O.A.R, and David Gray, and has been on tour with Jason Mraz, Blues Traveler, Great Big Sea, and the Avett Brothers (who have played here at the College 3 years ago). The show is free for W&M students/faculties. It will be right after the Opening Convocation, at the beautiful Lake Matoaka Amphitheater.

Alright! I think that was enough blogging for one day. Thank you for reading, and I hope you can make it to the shows!

Love, AMP Music Productions