Bands strum for southern Indiana

Green hillside and fresh foliage sloped around the stage to form a bowl, the bottom filled with bales of hay aligned like soldiers in marching order — here, Labor Day weekend began on Friday.

As people poured in for Upland Brewing Co.’s fourth annual Hillbilly Haiku Americana Music Series, the bowl filled with cowboy hats and baseball caps, folded chairs and an unfolded stage, Bloomington beer and cold water, pulled pork sandwiches and corn on the cob, bobbing heads and tapping feet.

The concert goers came for local acts and international act Rusted Root.

Sophomore Emily Jones heard Rusted Root for the first time in the film
“Matilda,” after which her father bought and played the group’s record for her. She said she was taken in by the message of the band’s music and the sound of the drums.

“Ever since then, I told myself that if I had the opportunity, I would see them,” Jones said.

As the sky shifted to bluish black and the treetops melded with the skyline, Rusted Root’s slow serenade “Beautiful People” melted into the faster-paced, more percussive “Back to the Earth.” A woman collapsed her chair to give herself more dancing space as the crowd rose and swayed. The cheering crescendoed as band member Preach Freedom performed his drum solo.

After several songs, lead singer Michael Glabicki raised his glass to the crowd.
“Cheers, everybody,” Glabicki said. “This is a great beer to a great cause.”

The cause Glabicki lauded is the Sycamore Land Trust, which works to preserve southern Indiana’s natural landscape. One hundred percent of the concert’s proceeds went to the Trust.

There are a number of reasons, environmental, ecological and otherwise, to protect the beautiful landscape of Indiana, Trust Communications Director Patrick Petro said.

“Quality of life is tied to the quality of place,” Petro said.
The Trust plans to increase its protected area from 6,000 to 20,000 acres by 2020, Petro said. This new strategy will be detailed at the Trust’s annual celebration on Oct. 21, where Nobel Laureate Dr. Elinor Ostrom will act as hostess.

Opening act Bobbie Lancaster also praised the cause, thanking Upland Brewing Co. for providing “high-quality libation and also saving the world one sycamore tree at a time.”

Lancaster’s final performance was her newest written song, “Red Petunias.” “I really like how personal she was with the crowd,” Jones said.

T.V. Mike and the Scarecrowes, with simple style and twangy vocals, followed Lancaster’s act. Before switching to what he called the competitive California music scene, Michael Klinge was a longtime employee of Upland Brewing Co., where the band played often.

The concert concluded with an encore from Rusted Root. “They were pretty damn good,” Ivy Tech student Gavin McMillan said. “It was a great show and a great encore.”