Kelsey Cochran
Athens Banner-Herald
For the first time, this year’s 21-track AthFest compilation album was produced by students in the University of Georgia Music Business program, along with executive producer Russ Hallauer and Ghostmeat Records.
For the last 18 years, Ghostmeat produced the album, which promotes and extends the reach of the music festival that serves as a fundraiser for AthFest Educates.
Kelsey Kirpich, a music business student and co-producer for the project with Anna Reed, said a team of five students listened to 150 submissions and narrowed the tracks down to 21.
“We kept narrowing down the submissions until we had a list we felt was a great representation of the diverse Athens music scene,” Kirpich said in a press release.
The scheduled release of album is June 2 and it will be available at athfest.com, ghostmeat.com, select record stores, AthFest merchant booths and iTunes.
The nearly 80-minute compilation features tracks from The Whigs, Roadkill Ghost Choir, Showtime, Reptar, and Family and Friends. It also includes a new People’s Choice track from Halem Albright, “Slip By,” which got the most votes in an online poll. A total of 14,594 votes were cast via the online People’s Choice Ballot, with over 25,000 views of the webpage from more than 10 countries, the release said.
David Barbe, director of the music business program, said he “instantly loved the idea” when he was approached about making the album a student project. “(I thought it was) a great opportunity for students to see the nuts and bolts of a music release — selecting artists and material, mastering, manufacturing, promoting and distributing,” he added.
The full tracklist for the album includes Sam Burchfield, “Here Tonight;” Tongues, “Fools Like These;” Monsoon, “Ride A’Rolla;” Playground Hero, “Don’t Be Judgin’ Me;” The Whigs, “Hit Me;” WrennPop, “Laundromat;” T Hardy Morris, “Painted on Attitude;” Hello, Amazon, “Mosaics;” Nifty Earth, “Kick Back;” Halem Albright, “Slip By;” Roadkill Ghost Choir, “Slow Knife;” Saturn Valley, “Odysseus;” The Orkids, “Lack of Faith;” Uncle Pizza, “Truth Master;” New Wives, “Laurels;” Uncle Dad, “Alien Mary;” Showtime, “Big Ol’ Bad Self;” Tedo Stone, “Slugs;” Reptar, “Cable;” Dana Swimmer, “Kids and a Mortgage;” and, Family and Friends, “Wyoming.”