B3nson Records has announced the date and ticket sales for the second annual Restoration Festival (also referred to as Restoration Funstival or RestFest) at St. Joseph's Church in Albany, a two-day benefit for the church that features a large slate of local bands and headliners The Music Tapes and A Hawk and A Hacksaw.

Last year's festival included performances from a baker's dozen and then some, and the event also boasted an art show, food and beverages and a killer venue in St. Joe's, for which the event raises funds.

The fantastic local lineup includes the Matthew Carefully Undone Ensemble and Swamp Baby [of Collar City Records], Aficionado [ of No Sleep Records ] Alta Mira [of Indian Ledge Records], Railbird, The Red Lions, The Stompin Jug Ramblers (featuring members of the Ramblin’ Jug Stompers), and Slender Shoulders as well as Barons In The Attic, Scientific Maps, We Are Jeneric and Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned [of B3nson Records]. These are basically all the best local bands in one place on one awesome weekend.

In addition, there's going to be an after and in-between party organized by Keep Albany Boring, who in addition to writing smartly sarcastic blog posts have had great success hosting dance parties at the FuzeBox.

All Over Albany and WEXT are also co-sponsoring the event, being held August 27-28 from noon to 10 p.m. Early-bird tickets are $15 per day or $20 for the whole weekend, and are available at www.restfest.net.

Bonus: Download a free copy of the 2010 RestFest Compilation, featuring previously-unrecorded tracks from 15 bands, here.

Full disclosure: I perform with the band El Duke, who was on the lineup for last year's RestFest.

Full release below.

B3nson Records, in conjunction with the WEXT, and All Over Albany will hold the second annual Restoration Festival on August 27th and 28th at St Joe's in Arbor Hill

Albany, NY (June 7th, 2011) On Saturday and Sunday, August 27th and 28th from 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm, St. Joseph's Church in Downtown Albany will be a home and a stage for the second annual Restoration Funstival.

We are excited to announce both The Music Tapes & A Hawk and A Hacksaw will be playing at this years festival.

The Music Tapes (Merge Records) are led by Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel/Elephant 6), who’s devotion to the Singing Saw has been touted by many as nearl religious. The band released their second full length Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes in 2008 after a nine year hiatus. “...When he gets it right, Koster seems like a mad, fuzz-folk genius.”
NPR Music

“If his first Music Tapes album in nine years suggests an unhealthy obsession with Brian Wilson's SMiLE, the wobbly-voiced outsider makes his own quaint magic...”
SPIN

The Music Tapes played Athens Popfest 2008 and participated in the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour, and have since been touring the country singing Christmas Carols and spreading joy in the living rooms of lucky fans across the US.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw (L.M. Dupli-cation) is the project of Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel/Elephant 6) and Heather Troste, who have travelled across Europe and America to find influences for their traditionally inspired Balkan-folk music featuring the accordian and violin. Their most recent release, Cervantine, on their own label, L.M. Dupli-cation, has received a great deal of critical acclaim.

“their music goes far beyond mere imitation, their performances seem to push past spirited, compelled not simply to observe or replicate but to create as well, driven by devotion to the sounds they've heard and the ideas they inspire.”
Pitchfork

A Hawk and A Hacksaw have appeared at All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, Roskilde (Den), The Green Man Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival, The Calgary Folk Fest, Wellington Arts Fest (N.Z.), among others. They have also toured with Wilco, Calexico, Andrew Bird, of Montreal, Beirut and Portishead.

Additional national headlining acts will be announced at a later date.

The Restoration Festival is working to maintain its reputation as the premier local music event in the capital region and has an exiting list of confirmed local artists The current local lineup includes [in no particular order] the Matthew Carefully Undone Ensemble and Swamp Baby [of Collar City Records], Aficionado [ of No Sleep Records ] Alta Mira [of Indian Ledge Records], Railbird, The Red Lions, The Stompin Jug Ramblers (featuring members of the Ramblin’ Jug Stompers), and Slender Shoulders as well as Barons In The Attic, Scientific Maps, We Are Jeneric and Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned [of B3nson Records]. Musical and Visual interludes as well as after party will be exploded and controlled by Keep Albany Boring. All of which are contributing equally to making this celebration a success.

Tickets are currently on sale for the Early Bird Price of $15.00 per day and $20.00 for the entire weekend at www.restfest.net. The organizers are actively seeking sponsors
for this year’s festival and have a wide range of sponsorship levels and packages. Sponsorship information can be found at http://restfest.net/sponsors.htm.

December 1 -

The B3nson Recording Company, which over the past few years has amassed a cast of talented and facial-haired characters too numerous to list here, hosted it’s 3rd Annual Family Funsgiving in November. Not only did they give a considerable amount of canned goods to a local food pantry, but the Funsgiving keeps on giving in the form of free music with the 3rd Annual Family Funsgiving Compilation.

The compilation, featuring 16 tracks from B3nson bands, friends and hypothetical bands, is available for download on their BandCamp. You can download individual tracks or the entire album for the low price of an e-mail address.

There’s a nice combination of genres, all with the quirky B3nson twinge. In particular, I enjoyed tracks from Scientific Maps, Wesley Rose, Pinguinos, Slender Shoulders and the release-an-album-already supergroup Que Caro.

B3nson’s website appears to be down, so for now check them out on Facebook, and grab the album at BandCamp.