Meet the Vendors: Lofted Designs

The Building of Song Festival is taking place Saturday, July 3rd from noon to 8 pm. Besides an absolutely incredible Line-up of musicians, the Festival will also feature an Arts Fair in Congress Square Park. We'll be profiling each of the Art Vendors every weekday between now and the Festival. Up first, Lofted Designs:



Lori Dennis is the smiling face behind Lofted Designs, home to her inspired handcrafted jewelry and pet accessories. Lori Dennis was one of our vendors at last year's Tower of Song Festival, and we are thrilled to have her back. Most of her jewelry is crafted from natural materials, including seaglass and wood, but she also enjoys recycling vintage items (especially buttons). As the proud owner of two adorable dogs, Lori also makes an assortment of cute and humorous dog tags. Check out Lofted Designs here, and be sure to come meet Lori on Saturday, July 3rd at the Building of Song Festival - bring your dog.

Train Show Tickets Now On Sale!

Eternal Otter Records will be releasing their 2nd vinyl single series, Mystic Chords of Memory, on Saturday July 10th. We will be hosting a release show at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum to celebrate!

The event begins at 5 pm and will end around 6:30 pm. The show starts with Jesse Pilgrim & the Bonfire playing inside the museum. The audience will then board a fully operational train and roll down the tracks to the Eastern Promenade, while Sam James and D Gross perform on board. When the train rolls back into the station, the audience will be greeted by Portland's premiere nostalgia act, Over A Cardboard Sea.

Tickets are on sale now at Portland's Bull Moose Records and online right here (tickets ordered online will be held at will call). Space is extremely limited to this show - so order your tickets now! It's only $10 for the ride of a lifetime!

Also, be sure to save some extra cash for one (or all) of the 3 vinyl singles being released that day:

-Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure b/w What Comes Ashore / Lead Me Down by Jesse Pilgrim and the Bonfire
-First Train by D Gross b/w George, the One Man Carnival by Samuel James
-Down In the Subway b/w Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? by Over A Cardboard Sea

Congratulations to Samuel James and Dead Man's Clothes

Last night at the Portland Phoenix Music Awards, Samuel James took home an award for Best R&B/Soul/Blues Act and Dead Man's Clothes won for Best New Act.

Both these artists will be playing at the Building of Song Festival on Saturday, July 3rd in Congress Square. You can donate to them (and the rest of the spectacular line-up) at Kickstarter - show your appreciation for Portland's awesome talent!

Samuel James will also be releasing a split 7" vinyl singles with D Gross (a runner-up for Best Roots Act) through Eternal Otter Records on July 10th. The single is part of the new "Mystic Chords of Memory" vinyl collection and also includes singles by Jesse Pilgrim & the Bonfire and Over A Cardboard Sea. More details about that release show very, very soon!

In the meantime, both Samuel James and Dead Man's Clothes have great shows coming up this Saturday. Samuel James will be playing at One Longfellow Square's summer solstice show, and will be accompanied by belly dancers. Dead Man's Clothes will be playing the inaugural show at Portland's new bowling alley, Bayside Bowls, as part of the Marie Stella CD release show.

Phoenix Music Awards Tonight

The Portland Phoenix is hosting their annual Music Awards tonight at Asylum. A number of acts associated with Eternal Otter Records are up for awards, including Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (Best Local Act, Best Indie Act, Best Vocalist, Best Live Act), Samuel James (Best Local Act, Best Blues Act), D Gross (Best Roots Act), Jesse Pilgrim (Best Folk Act), and Dead Man's Clothes (Best New Act). Wish them luck. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper will also be performing at the show, along with Brenda, and Holy Boys Danger Club.

If you are out on the town, you might also see our new posters for the Building of Song Festival (July 3rd). You might also see them at Baxter State Park's Chimney Pond and at the peak of Katahdin.

Donate to the Building of Song Festival Performers through Kickstarter!

Want to donate to the Building of Song Festival, but would rather see your money go to the musicians than pay for the park permit and promotion costs? Well, now you can donate directly to the performers through Kickstarter. And you still get a cool Building of Song T-Shirt for donations of $25 or more. All money raised through Kickstarter will go to the musicians (and to paying off the costs of the T-shirts and other donation rewards).

Kickstarter works a little differently than regular donation sites. If we raise our goal of $700 by July 3rd, everything is good and we keep the money we raised. But if we don't reach our goal by our deadline, than none of our donors are charged and our performers don't get paid. But let's not have that happen!

Donate at Kickstarter now! And if you really want to help, donate to us at Eternal Otter Records here, so we don't go broke paying for all our permits, posters, and publicity. The event is free, so we got to make money somehow!

The Building of Song Festival is Saturday, July 3rd in Portland's Congress Square and features this amazing line-up of musicians:

The Lucid
Town Founder
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
Over A Cardboard Sea
Samuel James
Jesse Pilgrim
Dead Man's Clothes
Uke of Spaces Corners
Meghan Yates & the Reverie Machine

There will also be an awesome Arts Fair in Congress Square during the Festival. Be there!

Building of Song T-Shirts Now Available!

The Building of Song T-Shirts are now available from Eternal Otter Records. The shirts were designed by Kris Johnsen of Emblem Studios and printed by the Tristan Gallagher at the Fun Box Monster Emporium. These guys are great, so check out their businesses and Buy Local!

You can get a T-shirt mailed to you now by donating $25 to the Building of Song Festival here.

Mens Tees are white with Red collars. Womens tees are Sun color.

The Building of Song Festival is Saturday, July 3rd from noon to 8 pm.

Building of Song Festival - Line-Up Announcement

The Building of Song of Song Festival will take place Saturday, July 3rd from noon to 8 pm. The event will pick up from where last year's Tower of Song Festival left off, with an Arts Fair in Congress Square and live music throughout the day. Performances will take place both in Congress Square and 5-stories above the street from the State Theatre Building. The Festival is free and open to the public. Check out the Festival's incredible line-up:

Noon - 12:30: Meghan Yates & the Reverie Machine
12:35 - 1:05: Uke of Spaces Corners
1:10 - 1:55: Dead Man's Clothes

1:55 - 2:40: Break

2:40 - 3:10: Jesse Pilgrim
3:15 - 3:45: Samuel James
3:50 - 4:35: Over A Cardboard Sea

4:35- 5:20: Break

5:20 - 6:05: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
6:10 - 6:55: Town Founder
7:00 - 8:00: The Lucid

More information about the Festival can be found here, including donation links, and information on how to apply to be an arts vendor (we still have just a handful of spots left).

Check out this video of Samuel James and Chriss Sutherland playing live from last year's Tower of Song Festival. Video by [dog] and [pony], Portand's best filmmakers.