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Organizers of the Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival announced the addition of eight bands to the lineup, led by co-headlining acts Lettuce and the Sam Bush Band.

               Perpetual Groove, Acoustic Syndicate, Town Mountain, Billy Strings, Naughty Professor and Junto were also announced as part of the bill for Rooster Walk 8, a multi-genre, family-friendly festival which will take place over Memorial Day weekend (May 26-29) at the Pop's Farm music venue near Martinsville, Va. These bands join a lineup that already included Jeff Austin Band, Tab Benoit, Yarn, Major & the Monbacks, After Jack, Lizzy Ross, Sanctum Sully (electric reunion) and Left Hip Pocket. More band additions will be announced in the coming weeks.

               Lettuce has brought a new vitality to classic funk for more than two decades, matching their smooth and soulful grooves with a hip-hop-inspired urgency and mastery of beat. Formed in 1992, when several band members attended a summer program at Boston's Berklee College of Music, Lettuce was founded on a shared love of legendary funk artists like Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power.

               Sam Bush, a Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist alternately known as the King of Telluride and the King of Newgrass, has helped to expand the horizons of bluegrass music, fusing it with jazz, rock, blues, funk and other styles. Bush is the co-founder of the genre-bending band New Grass Revival and an in-demand musician who has played with everyone from Emmylou Harris and Bela Fleck to Charlie Haden, Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks.

               Rooster Walk 8 will feature roughly 50 bands, many of which will play multiple sets over the course of the weekend. RW8 will also showcase a wide variety of arts, crafts, children's activities, food, craft beer, vendors, a 5k footrace, on-site camping and more. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.roosterwalk.com.

               Rooster Walk was created in memory of two Martinsville natives who passed away while still in their mid-20s: Edwin "the Rooster" Penn and Walker Shank. The festival is organized and operated by Rooster Walk Inc., a community nonprofit dedicated to promoting music, arts and education in Martinsville and Henry County.

               In a little more than six years, Rooster Walk Inc. has donated more than $80,000 to local charities, among them the Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship Fund for seniors at Martinsville High School and an instrument donation and repair program for entry-level band programs at public schools in Martinsville and Henry County.

"The Hip Abduction are making waves with their rustic, world music influences and fun, pop-leaning arrangements. It's hard not to sing and dance along to their newest single "Come Alive", which is a sign of great things to come." - Ari Fink, SiriusXM 

"If you're wondering which group of Florida's upcoming Indie artists could be the first to break nationally, look no further than The Hip Abduction. They are already doing it." - Tampa Bay Times

Florida based "Tropical Indie Pop" sextet The Hip Abduction are set to release their sophomore full length album Gold Under the Glow on March 11, 2016.  The Hip Abduction place heavy emphasis on African stringed instruments (kora, ngoni) mixed with dub-reggae bass lines and funky afro-beat percussion. Gold Under the Glow captures the high-energy of The Hip Abduction's signature sound but with an added indie rock twist.  In celebration of the new album release, to be distributed by ILS Group/Caroline/Universal, the band will be headlining an East Coast tour this spring.

Gold Under the Glow was recorded in Nashville this past summer and produced by Dabney Morris (Wild Cub).  With Morris at the helm, The Hip Abduction reimagined their energetic world/reggae vibe by infusing indie pop overtones. The new release will feature tracks "Come Alive", which can currently be heard on Sirius XM JamOn and "Before We Lose Our Minds", the album's first official single set to be released in January 2016. Gold Under the Glow comes as follow-up to their 2013 self-titled release, The Hip Abduction, which landed the band at #5 on the Billboard reggae charts.

Before diving into a headlining tour with stops in New York, DC, The Carolinas, Alabama, and Florida this March, The Hip Abduction will hit the road in early 2016 with The Expendables and Zach Deputy Band.  Upcoming tour dates can be found below with additional spring dates to be announced soon!  

For the most up to date information please visit thehipabduction.com.

THE HIP ABDUCTION TOUR DATES

1/27/16 - High Dive | Gainesville, FL *
1/28/16 - The Culture Room | Ft. Lauderdale, FL *
1/30/16 - House of Blues Orlando | Orlando, FL *
1/31/16 - Mavericks Live | Jacksonville, FL *
2/3/16 - The Masquerade | Atlanta, GA *
2/4/16 - Music Farm | Charleston, SC *
2/5/16 - House of Blues Myrtle Beach | Myrtle Beach, SC *
2/6/16 - The Norva | Norfolk, VA *
3/4/16 - The Hall @ MP | Brooklyn, NY
3/5/15 - Dogfish Head Brewery Company | Rehoboth Beach, DE
3/6/16 - The Hamilton | Washington, DC
3/9/19 - Grey Eagle | Asheville, NC
3/11/16 - The Pourhouse | Charleston, SC
3/12/16 - National Whitewater Center Green River Revival | Charlotte, NC
3/13/16 - Zydeco | Birmingham, AL 
3/14/16 - 30a.com Presents at The Hub | Santa Rosa Beach, FL
3/16/16 - High Dive | Gainesville, FL
3/17/16 - Terra Fermata | Stuart, FL
3/18/16 - Jannus Live | St. Petersburg, FL 
3/19/16 - Backbooth | Orlando, FL
3/20/16 - Slide Into Spring Festival | Fernandina Beach, FL

* w/ The Expendables & Zach Deputy

AURA Music Group and Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park have announced additional artists for the seventh annual AURA Music & Arts Festival taking place March 3 - 5, 2016 at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) in Live Oak, Florida. Joining the line-up is internationally renowned recording artist and DJ collective Thievery Corporation; Grammy Award-winning instrumental jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy; live electronic pioneers theNEWDEAL and Particle; rising jam stars The Werks; Mike Dillon Band and his hardcore freak funk; the debut of NUNCHUCK (featuring Chuck Jones and Scott Zwang of Dopapod, Mike Dillon, and Craig Brodhead of Turkuaz), Jimkata; Bedside (live band); The Fritz and more.

The Silent Disco and ENO Lotus Lounge artists have also been announced including Miami's experimental psychedelic hip hop five-piece Telekinetic Walrus, producer duo MZG, subtropic pop troubadour Mike Mineo's project Mineo Loops and livetronica duo Bells and Robes. Several band members will also showcase side projects in the Silent Disco including Dopapod's Scott Zwang and LD Luke Stratton (Zwang Bang and Chewie), The Heavy Pet's Tony D and DuBBle James, and Packy Lunn from Jimkata aka Weazildust.

These artists and many others join The Disco Biscuits, ALO, The Main Squeeze, The Heavy Pets Tribute to the '80s featuring Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman, Pink Talking Fish, Turkuaz, Tom Hamilton's American Babies and The Bright Light Social Hour.

AURA Music & Arts Festival 2016 Lineup

The Disco Biscuits
Thievery Corporation*
Snarky Puppy*
ALO
theNEWDEAL *
The Werks*
The Main Squeeze
Particle*
Turkuaz
The Heavy Pets '80s Tribute feat. Jennifer Hartswick & Natalie Cressman
Tom Hamilton's American Babies
Mike Dillon Band*
Pink Talking Fish
The Bright Light Social Hour
Jimkata*
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong*
NUNCHUCK! (Chuck Jones, Scott Zwang, Mike Dillon & Craig Brodhead) *
Fusik
Greenhouse Lounge
Broccoli Samurai
Aqueous
Bedside (live band)*
CBDB*
The Resolvers
The Fritz*
Backup Planet
Dank
Crazy Fingers
ROAR!*
Displace
Lucky Costello*
Third Nature*
Holly Bowling
Garrin Benfield*
Ben Sparaco Band
Lather Up!
Fat Mannequin

*Specifies a new addition!

AURA Silent Disco/ENO Lotus Lounge

ACKDADDY
Beat Thief Inc.
Bells and Robes
Craig Heneveld
DuBBle James
Eazybaked
Lurk City
DJ Miles Maximus
Mineo Loops
Monarchy
MZG
Rosa Sparks
Scotty Solomon
Selfmayde
Shark Anthony & Ahsleigh
Telekinetic Walrus
Tomboi
Tony D
Vlad the Inhaler vs. Matthew Connor
Weazildust
Willie Evans Jr. DJ Set
Zwang Bang and Chewie

Get more info at: www.AURAMusicFestival.com