Saturday, November 8th will mark a special day in Central PA music history. The first annual PennsylMania Music Fest, the brainchild of Harrisburg emcee WindchILL, will be unleashed to the masses. The beautiful Abbey Bar atop the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg will play host to this landmark event.
After months of hard work and preparation, WindchILL (along with his label Universal Language) will put forth a smorgasbord of talents, ranging from emcees, DJs, bands, and even graffiti writers throughout the night’s festivities. WindchILL took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about PennsylMania and how it came about:
Tell us why you came up with this idea for the festival, and when you first got the wheels in motion from a planning perspective.
WINDCHILL: The reason behind the show is to promote real Hip Hop music through PA and the north east United States. Central PA doesn’t have anything like this and I want to change that. Although it started this year as a one day event, the end goal is to have a 3 day outside hip hop festival annually.
Who else has helped you in the process of putting this event together?
My record label I’m a part of (Universal Language) and myself are the brainchild behind this. Besides that, I have assumed pretty much complete responsibility of the show. We have had a great deal of support: Bath Fitter, Kitchen Saver, Paul’s Pizza Subs and more, Strawsers Towing, Quit That Grit, The Happy Camper Cannabis Company, 717 Tattoo, Get Up Productions & FLi LiF Entertainment in conjunction with ALOOF area – all the businesses that contributed as an event sponsor to make this day possible!
Tell us about the headliners for the event, as well as the rest of the underground talent performing on 11/8.
The headliners are Reef The Lost Cauze – a Philly based emcee and also part of the infamous AOTP crew! WindchILL is the other headliner – a Harrisburg based emcee who is part of Universal Language Records from Denver, CO. WindchILL will also be backed by a live band called FREESTYLE (with members of Quagmire Swim Team & Toosday Night Band). The bill is rounded out by DJ Smitty, DJ Sync3re, Proximity, Jae Diamondz & Sinsae aka Nefarious Godz, MrDead Poetz, Alpha Faktion, Lei Row, Freestyle Band (w/ members of Quagmire Swim Team & Toosday Night Band), Voice & Barz, Ron Lexicon, H.O.U.S.E. & Bliz! The hosts for the evening are Zulu Queen Michelle, SL of Repeat Offenders and Johnny Jetpack. We also have a live graffiti exhibit that will be done by J-1 & Company! Needless to say this bill is stacked from top to bottom with nothing but true talent! From everything from Hip Hop to R&B, to live bands and DJ’s there is something for everyone!!
What will make PennsylMania stand out among all the other music festivals that take place all over the surrounding area each year?
The biggest thing that will make this festival stand out among others is that its going to be a “scene-builder” so to speak in the area. Currently a lot of the music in central PA is segregated. The rock people go to the rock shows and the hip hop people go to the hip hop shows. This festival will blur the line between genres making it the go-to event for fans of all kinds of music!
You mentioned that you plan to make this an annual event…
As I eluded to earlier, the plans are to build it into a 3 day musical event! To do this we have to have a big first year! As soon as this installment is complete I am going to start planning for next year. We will build off the initial business sponsors and try to find more. I am also currently looking for the perfect venue to host such an awesome 3 day outside festival. Planning is gonna be a big deal! I’m gonna take the better part of a year to plan for the next one. I believe next year will be the 3 day event as long as we get a venue to host. With the amount of inquires we had of people wanting to perform, we definitely have room to expand. I’m also working on something special as far as next year’s headliners are concerned, but that’s my little secret!
Tickets for PennsylMania are available at https://greenbeltevents.frontgatetickets.com
For more information, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/pennsylmania
http://www.facebook.com/windchillhiphop
http://www.universallanguagehiphop.com
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