Category Archives: GTG Fest

GTG Fest Schedule!!

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GTG Fest is this weekend! Here’s the final rundown:

FRI SEPTEMBER 7 @ Avenue
Doors 7 PM

8:00 Mistic Mountian
8:30 The Stick Arounds
9:00 Fire It’s Sirius
9:30 Crystal Drive
10:00 Good Luck Tsunami
10:30 The Hat Madder
11:00 Extra Arms
11:30 minihorse
12:00 Sleeping Timmy
12:30 City Mouse
1:00 GTG On Shuffle Wild Surprise Party!

SAT SEPTEMBER 8 @ Mac’s
Doors 1 PM

2:00 Log Lady
2:45 No Skull
3:30 Tart
4:15 Scary Women
5:00 The Quirk
5:45 Drinking Mercury
6:30 Whoopi Goldblum

SAT SEPTEMBER 8 @ Avenue
Doors 7 PM

8:00 Disappointed Dad
8:30 Nonbinary
9:00 Hemingers
9:30 Raymond Strife x iLL Omega
10:00 Erotic Novels
10:30 Sexy Toxins
11:00 Lipstick Jodi
11:30 The Jackpine Snag
12:00 Pissed
12:30 The Plurals
1:00 Etta

And there’s also a pre-party at GTG House on Thursday September 6th! Come on out to that to get started!

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Goooooooood tiiiiiiiimes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Full GTG Fest Lineup!

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25+ independent bands and artists converge on the capital of Michigan September 7th and 8th for the 11th annual GTG Fest. GTG Fest is curated by a group of friends and musicians to foster a safe, intimate, and creative environment to experience the passion of DIY music, make new friends, and see old ones. Music, food, a raffle featuring items from rad local businesses, and a barrage of good times fill the weekend. Please be respectful and cool to all attendees and to all of the spaces. No hate. We’re all in this together.

SEPT 7 & 8 @ THE AVENUE CAFE (Lansing, MI)
SEPT 8 @ MAC’S BAR (Lansing, MI)

ARTIST SAMPLER:

The Plurals
City Mouse
minihorse
Lipstick Jodi
Erotic Novels
The Hat Madder
Etta Unofficial
Nonbinary
Whoopi Goldblum
Crystal Drive
Extra Arms
PISSED!
Sexy Toxins
Scary Women
The Stick Arounds
Tart
The QUIRK
Drinking Mercury
The Jackpine Snag
Raymond Strife x iLL-Omega
The Hemingers
Fire It’s Sirius
Good Luck Tsunami
Sleeping Timmy
Disappointed Dad
No Skull
LOG LADY
Mistic Mountian

Thanks to Music Manor and Foods For Living for sponsoring the fest and helping make it all possible. And of course, a big thanks to the people of Lansing for 11 years and counting of GTG Fest.

GTG Fest XI and more!

gtg18postersquare

GTG Fest 2018! 25+ independent bands and artists converge on the capital of Michigan September 7th and 8th for the 11th annual GTG Fest. GTG Fest is curated by a group of friends and musicians to foster a safe, intimate, and creative environment to experience the passion of DIY music, make new friends, and see old ones. Music, food, a raffle featuring items from rad local businesses, and a barrage of good times fill the weekend. Please be respectful and cool to all attendees and to all of the spaces. No hate. We’re all in this together.

SEPT 7 & 8 @ THE AVENUE CAFE (Lansing, MI)

The Plurals
City Mouse
The Hat Madder
Erotic Novels
Raymond Strife Who Raps
Lipstick Jodi
Scary Women
Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms
Tart
Nonbinary
No Skull
The Stick Arounds
Pissed
The Quirk
Sexy Toxins
The Hemingers

…. AND MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!!

More events for the weekend will be announced shortly, check out the event page here!

But GTG Fest is over a month away, there’s plenty happening this month too. Three GTG mainstay bands are hitting the road, starting with a midwest run from The Stick Arounds – who also just released a new single ahead of their forthcoming 2nd LP.

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The Stick Arounds Tour Dates:

8/2 – Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn
8/3 – Dayton, OH @ Blind Bob’s
8/4 – Cincinnati, OH @ Tree Bar

THEN the greatest sing-along-road-warriors City Mouse are doing a li’l midwest run of their own with San Diego’s Squarecrow.

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City Mouse Tour Dates:

8/10 – Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters
8/11 – Lansing, MI @ Avenue Cafe
8/12 – Bloomington, IL @Nightshop
8/13 – Chicago, IL @ The Burlington

AND THEN this insane party is happening in Trenton, NJ on August 18 for Honah Lee’s 10 year anniversary. The Plurals are heading out for a quick jaunt to the east coast and back to be a part of it!

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The Plurals Tour Dates:

8/16 – Dayton, OH @ Jimmie’s Ladder 11
8/17 – New Jersey
8/18 – Trenton, NJ @ Mill Hill w/ HONAH LEE
8/19 – New Hope, PA @ Bucks County Playhouse

There’s solid shows the rest of the month too…

8/2 – City Mouse @ GTG House (Lansing, MI)
8/2 – Hat Madder @ New Dodge Lounge (Hamtramck, MI)
8/3 – Disappointed Dad @ The Avenue Cafe (Lansing)
8/4 – The Plurals @ Taste of Michigan City (Michigan City, IN)
8/5 – Wade Wilson @ The Avenue Cafe
8/18 – HONAH LEE TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY @ MILL HILL (Trenton, NJ)
8/18 – Two Houses @ Hexagon (Minneapolis, MN)
8/27 – Drinking Mercury @ Pyramid Scheme (Grand Rapids, MI) w/ Jonah Matranga

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Let’s just bask in that last show for a second… Jonah Matranga is an indie rock legend from his work with Far and he’s also in many ways a pioneer for the modern DIY musician with his various solo activities. In the early 2000s your humble author saw Jonah play in a small cafe in Grand Rapids and his warmth and connection with the audience as well as his sliding-scale merch that he sold himself left a huge impression and has been a big influence for how GTG has come together. Jonah is touring on the 20th anniversary of Far’s “Water and Solutions” and it’s a wonderful full-circle moment for Drinking Mercury, the band that laid the foundation for GTG in the first place, to open up the show. Sounds like the best way to wrap up summer activities before the GTG Fest madness! Get yer tickets!

See you out there!

Late April Fake GTG Fest!

A bunch of us basically accidentally booked a bunch of shows this week in Lansing, leading to a sort of springtime GTG Fest! It’s about time this spring thing happened too, we were getting some of the most wicked Cabin Fever to date.
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Thursday April 26th The Hat Madder – with their freshly released vinyl edition of Rotting On The Vine – will be rocking out at The Avenue Cafe alongside Connecticut piano ‘n art duo Pocket Vinyl, Grand Rapids punk people The Quirk, and treasured locals Scary Women and Blaine & His Keyboard. The next day, April 27th, Drinking Mercury – also with their freshly released vinyl split with The Sexy Murders – will be gracing the Avenue stage with our old friends The Jackpine Snag and new friends Dirty Deville. The Avenue gets another dose of fun when, Saturday April 28th, Miski from City Mouse hosts and performs a night of punk rock featuring Heart and Lung from Cleveland and Lansing rascals Stop Bobby Hatch, Foxhole, and an acoustic set from Dasterds. Finally, just down the block, The Stick Arounds will be playing at Green Door on April 28th with Moto and Cardboard Bullies (which includes, among others, Chris from Narc Out the Reds/ The Hat Madder). Madness! Great accidental work everyone!

GTG Fest X – Wow!

GTG-THANKS-2017TOMMY PLURALS SAYS:
GTG FEST! That was one of the best weekends of my life. First and foremost my partners in the endeavor – Nicholas Miski Dee Hattie Mae Loren Isaac Michael and Timmy – are the best friends and collaborators I could hope to have. The Avenue Cafe and all of its staff have done a bang up job hosting our fest and this year was no exception. So much love! Weather conspired against The Record Lounge but the little bit of show that we did get to do there was awesome and we’ll figure out a way to make up for it. Thanks to Ryan and Andy for having the gear on call to do the outdoor show that didn’t happen, and Josh and Jeffery for lending some muscle and being down to do whatever random thing we threw out there. Rachel made a great poster and I’m going to miss seeing it all over everything I do. All of our sponsors – Pabst Blue Ribbon, Scene Witch, Schuler Books & Music, Foods For Living, Rubie’s Paradise Salon, McCord’s Farm Market, Bloom Coffee Roasters, Streetkitchen, harrison roadhouse, Grand Traverse Pie Company, Alyson Rose Studio, and MI Blue Owl Coffee – made the weekend that much more special and we’re happy to work with all of you. Mike, Eric, and Isaac are basically the trinity of GTG sound techs so thanks for hanging with all of the bands all weekend. Thanks to Crith, Paul, and Kevin for providing the backline along with Nich and Hattie; this made the ambitious time table possible. Brian was running around recording the whole weekend and I can’t wait to hear what he captured. Shoot… I think that’s everyone but the fest is still a fresh blur so sincerest apologies if I spaced anywhere. But… EVERYONE THAT ATTENDED!! YOU make this all possible and we’re all so humbled by your support. 10 MORE YEARS! 10 MORE YEARS!! #gtgfestx
GTG FEST 2017 LINEUP (by day, headliners in the caps)

CITY MOUSE
Mad Moon
Daisys
Narc Out The Reds
Drinking Mercury
Cavalcade
Bet On Rats
Man Mountain
James Radick

THE HAT MADDER
Lucy
Alpha Rabbit
No Skull
The Knights Without
The Mongrels
Calliope
The Free Life
Disappointed Dad
Drake Butterscotch

MEAT WAVE
THE PLURALS
Scary Women
Half Tongue
Rent Strike
The Hunky Newcomers
Cat Midway
Nick Merz
middleman

ARTIST SAMPLER: https://gtgrecords.bandcamp.com/album/gtg-fest-2017
SO MANY PICTURES:
https://www.instagram.com/gtgrecords/

GTG Fest 2017 – 10/13-15

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The TENTH annual GTG Fest is next weekend in Lansing, MI. It’s wild to think that we’ve been at it this long but, hey, here we are and things are better all the time. There’s two new releases, a band reunion, a farewell show, some great touring bands, and we’ve finally added an open-to-the-public all ages venue. Check out the schedule:

Friday 10/13 @ The Avenue Cafe / Doors at 7 PM/ 21+/ $5

8:00-8:30 James Radick (Small Parks)
8:30-9:00 Man Mountain
9:00-9:30 Bet On Rats
9:30- 10:00 Cavalcade
10:00-10:30 Drinking Mercury
10:30-11:00 ???
11:00-11:30 Narc Out the Reds
11:30-12:00 Daisys
12:00-12:30 City Mouse (LP Release!)
12:30-? Mad Moon

Saturday 10/14 @ The Avenue Cafe / Doors at 7 PM/ 21+/ $5

8:00-8:30 Drake Butterscotch (The Stick Arounds)
8:30-9:00 Disappointed Dad
9:00-9:30 The Free Life (farewell show)
9:30-10:00 Calliope
10:00-10:30 The Mongrels
10:30-11:00 The Knights Without (reunion set)
11:00-11:30 No Skull
11:30-12:00 Alpha Rabbit
12:00-12:30 Lucy
12:30-? The Hat Madder (CD release!)

Sunday 10/15 @ Record Lounge/ Doors at 2 PM/ All Ages/ No Cover

3:00-3:30 Geistlos
3:30-4:00 Cat Midway
4:00-4:30 Rent Strike
4:45-5:15 Scary Women
5:30-6:00 Half Tongue
6:15-6:45 The Hunky Newcomers
7:00-7:45 The Plurals
8:00-9:00 Meat Wave

That’s a lot to take in! We’ll be doing the alternating stages at The Avenue again and, weather permitting, The Record Lounge show will be the best and probably last outdoor party of 2017. Get familiar with most of the lineup via the sampler below and stay tuned to the fest facebook event for more updates!

Friskie Morris & Friends: GTG Fest 2016

Hey! So as the year winds down, it’s a good time to reflect on all of the cool things GTG Records was a part of this year. An annual highlight is always GTG Fest, naturally, and this year we had the good fortune to be joined by Stephen DeFalco from the Chicago-based podcast Friskie Morris & Friends who spent the weekend interviewing a handful of bands on the festival and graciously profiling the new releases from Small Parks, The Stick Arounds, and Bong Mountain that came out at or shortly prior to this year’s fest. Interview segments in addition to the three new release-rs include Handwringer , Matt Wixson’s Flying Circus, City Mouse, Jake Simmons & the Little Ghosts and a freewheeling roundtable with members of The Plurals, Drinking Mercury, and Frank and Earnest (with a brand new Plurals recording snuck into that segment!) to round it out. We had our best year ever at GTG Fest 2016 and while this is just a selection of the all-around great lineup we had this year it feels great that Stephen was able to document the event and we can’t wait to relive it and do it again!

YES! (GTG Fest / Small Parks/ The Stick Arounds)

GTG Fest 2016: SUCCESS! Soooooo many good times. Thanks so much to The Avenue Cafe, all the raffle donors, the attendees, the bands, the city of Lansing… everyone! GTG Fest 2016 was the biggest year yet for us and we can’t wait to see what the future holds! Even if right now we’re all still nursing our sore bodies and unraveled minds! That’s how you know it’s a fest weekend!

This weekend was also really important to us because we released two new LPs and in the process had two more bands join our family! Small Parks released their debut LP “Honest Light” on vinyl (it came out digitally in the spring but now it’s a for-real real record!) Friday night, with The Stick Arounds following suit with the release of their debut (recorded live at the much beloved and missed Mystery Garage) LP “Mystery Garage” on Saturday night. Two different perspectives of the Michigan DIY community, many styles and sounds, and all good, honest pure-GTG Records goodness. You can order ’em at our store right now!

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stick-arounds-mystery-garage

Expect further updates on these two great bands and more info on their records in the coming days. It was a great weekend and there’s still so much to take in! Good times.

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hat-madder-gtg-2016

indonesian-junk-gtg-2016

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bat-gtg-2016

tens-gtg-2016

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ben-gtg-2016

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GTG Fest 2016 Schedule!

Hey! It’s almost here!

GTG Fest 2016! Three days of the best independent music in the Michigan area (and beyond!)

OCTOBER 7 + 8 at The Avenue Cafe
OCTOBER 9 at GTG House

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Friday 10/7 @ The Avenue Cafe. Doors @ 7 PM/ $7 Cover
8:00 Tidal
8:30 Rent Strike (set 1)
8:45 Birdhouse
9:15 Rent Strike (set 2)
9:30 Narc Out the Reds
10:00 Charlie Darling (set 1)
10:15 Jeremy Porter & the Tucos
10:45 Charlie Darling (set 2)
11:00 The Hat Madder
11:30 Drinking Mercury
12:00 Bong Mountain
12:45 Small Parks (LP release!)

Saturday 10/8 @ The Avenue Cafe. Doors @ 7 PM / $7 Cover
8:00 Flatfoot
8:30 Bat Yulefly
8:45 Matt Wixson’s Flying Circus
9:15 Elroy Meltzer
9:45 LVRS
10:15 Indonesian Junk
10:45 Jake Simmons & the Little Ghosts
11:15 Tens
11:45 The Stick Arounds (LP release!)
12:15 Two Houses
12:45 The Plurals

Sunday 10/9 @ GTG House. Pre-Party @ 3 PM / $7 Donation
3:00-5:00 Eat Food and Hangout
5:00-6:30 OPEN MIC
6:30 Phillips Talking Apple Tree
7:00 Tall and Blonde
7:45 Carm
8:30 Dasterds
9:15 Frank And Earnest
10:00 Handwringer
10:45 City Mouse
11:30 Everybody Loves Ramones

++++++++++++++

Standard 3 Day Pass Now Available here! Cheaper than the door!

Please be respectful and cool to all attendees and to all of the spaces. No hate. We’re all in this together.

GTG FEST 2016 COMP IS LIVE!!

GTG Fest 2016 is coming! October 7, 8, and 9 in Lansing. Check out a sampler of the artists playing at that thing up there. There’s a few new and unreleased things from GTG bands Carm, Drinking Mercury, The Plurals, Hat Madder and Hunky Newcomers (AKA Everybody Loves Ramones) on there in addition to a bunch of other solid jams.  And follow this link for more info and to get a dank pre-sale package. Good times… coming soon!