The Music Group at Vanderbilt University is back again with the promise of warm weather and a hot lineup for this year’s Rites of Spring Music Festival. Taking place on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18, 2015, the Rites of Spring Music Festival is the perfect way to soak up the sun along with some of the best names in music. With Chance the Rapper and Young the Giant headlining and other artists set to appear including Portugal. The Man, T-Pain, RAC, The Lone Bellow, Matoma, Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes and Louisa Wendorff, this year’s festival will cover a wide range of genres and will have something for everyone.
With the breakout success of their self-titled 2010 debut album and widespread acclaim for their exhilarating live shows,Young The Giant has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting new bands of the decade. For their highly anticipated second album “MIND OVER MATTER,” Young The Giant enlisted Grammy-nominated producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen – known for his work with such diverse artists as Beck, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, and M83. The band spent much of 2011 and 2012 traveling the globe, with sold out headline tours, top-billing on mtvU’s inaugural “Woodies Tour,” and show-stopping appearances at such festivals as Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and Lollapalooza. A dynamic and distinctive live act, the band also made a range of high profile TV performances, spanning ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s TODAY and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to 2011’s MTV Video Music Awards and their own edition of MTV Unplugged.
Twenty-one year old Chicago native and rap wunderkind Chance the Rapper has taken the genre by storm in the last two years, amassing a huge following for his unique blend of hip-hop, ‘acid jazz,’ soul and blues styling after the self-release of his 2013 mix tape Acid Rap. Acid Rap was listed on multiple top albums of 2013 lists, ranked 26th for Rolling Stone, 12th on Pitchfork, and 4th by Complex, and was certified double platinum by DatPiff after being downloaded over 900,000 times. He was also named SPIN Magazine rapper of the year for 2013. Since then, he has performed at both Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza and has released a series of singles with his band, The Social Experiment.
There has to be some credit given for this band’s name alone — co-founder John Gourley once explained it as an attempt to create a demi-mythic entity bigger than the individual members. Formed in Wasilla, Alaska, Portugal. The Man grew out of the ashes of Anatomy of a Ghost, a post-hardcore band. The group recorded their major label debut album, In the Mountain in the Cloud in late 2011; it was produced by John Hill, mixed by Andy Wallace, and released in July of 2012. A month earlier, Sleep Forever, a 13-minute short directed by Michael Ragen, and shot entirely in Gourley’s hometown, premiered on the Independent Film Channel. This was the last recording for members Sechrist and Neighbors, who were replaced by drummer Kane Richotte and keyboardist Kyle O’Quin. Portugal. The Man enlisted Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) as producer for 2013′s Evil Friends; the album was released in June of 2013.
With 60+ hit songs under his belt, two Grammy trophies on his mantle and his very own record label, Nappy Boy Entertainment, T-Pain has cemented himself as one of the most influential artists of all time. Even after a two-year hiatus from making music from 2011-2013, he has been at the top of the charts since his return with hits like “Up Down (Do This All Day).” T-Pain is most famous for his popularization of auto-tune and recently released the first track off his upcoming fifth studio album Stoicville: The Phoenix. Recently T-Pain was featured on the NPRmusic Tiny Desk Concert series and reached over six million views on YouTube.
“This is the type of lineup that most people only dream about seeing on a college campus,” says Music Group Chair, Kern Vohra. “We were able to adhere to our mission of bringing diverse artists to Vanderbilt, and I think we’ve brought the best of the best. It’s a great variety of big names and some of the hottest up-and-comers, and I really think it makes for a phenomenal festival lineup.”
Tickets are available to the general public and will go on sale Thursday, February 19th at 10 am CST at all Ticketmaster locations, online atwww.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1‐800‐745‐3000. Tickets can also be purchased with no service fees included only at the Sarratt Box Office on the Vanderbilt campus. No Refunds will be given due to weather conditions or band cancellations. For general event information, call 615‐322‐2471. For more information, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/ros or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ritesatvandy.
ABOUT VANDERBILT STUDENT CAMPUS EVENTS
The Office of the Dean of Students at Vanderbilt University provides an extensive list of activities and organizations for students to gain the true college experience. The Office of Student Campus Events houses several organizations and programs designed to meet the needs of every college student. The mission of Student Campus Events is to facilitate diverse programming for the Vanderbilt community that cultivates social engagement, artistic exploration and personal growth. The Music Group is the student run organization responsible for planning and producing the Commodore Quake as well as the annual Rites of Spring Music Festival.
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