True/False Film Fest | Parties & Music

Parties and Music

Maybe we should call it the T/F Busking (and Film) Festival. These musicians are T/F's secret weapon to ensure that our festival is the most festive around. They play at parties, lead the March March on Feb. 27 down Broadway, and busk before the films in all of our venues. Tip your hat, give them a high five, and maybe slip them a five if you like them a lot because lord knows we don't pay them enough.

Anand Prahlad: Classically trained musician and esteemed scholar Professor Anand Prahlad graces the True/False stage with his wandering inspired folk songs.
Bill Haite: Up-and-comer Bill Haite has an arrestingly sophisticated blues voice and demeanor that conjures visions of Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf and Captain Beefheart.
Black Bear Combo: This brass/reed band from Chicago brings their self-described "raucous mutt" sound to the streets of Columbia. Their Balkans and Eastern European music, filtered through rock, free jazz, and noise backgrounds, will invigorate the annual True/False parade.
Black History Moth: Virginia's heavy space duo blends lighter ambient sounds with a dark drone.
Black Twig Pickers: This lively Spiral Joy Band offshoot uses traditional bluegrass instrumentation to reach into almost psychedelic realms.
Brody Hunt: This fest favorite is Hank Williams' less-known descendant, a savvy hayseed whose voice can carry across the holler.
Bunny & Dade: A long-distance recording project since 2003, making its live debut at this year's TF. The music is a neurotic yet tender conversation between two uncomfortable souls. One based in Louisville, and one in Visalia, CA.
Can Kickers: Like a lost soundtrack of the Haymarket riots, these long-time musical guides of the Reel Gone Round Up caravan serve up Appalachian mountain music with punk immediacy.
Cody: The Ssion's frontman brings the party and makes you dance like you do when no one's watching.
Cousin Cole: We are proud to present Cousin Cole, whose ability to remix "distinguishes itself for its distinct sound and a cherry picking of tracks that few DJs dare to remix" (The New York Observer). Cousin Cole will return to the @ction stage, Friday night.
Exene Cervenka: This legendary singer/songwriter made the music go bang with the harmonizing punk of X and the alt-country of the Knitters, and is now renowned as well for her art journals and mixed media collages. She brings her Los Angeles-gone-Missouri sound to T/F.
Gatekeeper: Electronic dance light show DJ troupe from Chicago.
Glen David Andrews: With an eye to the future and respect for his elders, Glen David Andrews and his New Orleans band blend the sounds of contemporary, funky brass band sounds with more traditional influences.
The Hooten Hallers: These Columbia gents are able to blend country, blues, and garage seemlessly and inspire their audiences to pass the whiskey, dance, and hoot along.
Javelin: New York duo Javelin bring their Sunshine electro-pop space jams Saturday night at Mojos.
Karinne Keithley: Karinne Keithley's ukulele covers are soft, whispery events. Channeling classic rock and folk legends, she coasts in her upper register and attempts to lay her voice existentially bare.
Killer Whales: The groove-heavy, freak-funkers are "unique for attacking their instruments with the mind-set that they're members of a tribe on a desert island, entrusted with entertaining the imaginary clan" (Time Out). You can see for yourself, Saturday night, at Mojo's.
The Kinship Structure of Ferns: Dewayne Slightweight's multimedia one-act opera featuring a backdrop of projected drawings from his comic of the same name.
Malone: From the middle of the Midwest, these Americana-drenched songwriters have planted themselves waist-deep in the Big Muddy.
Marching Mizzou Drumline: Marching Mizzou, who will lead off the March March, is Columbia's rock-steady heartbeat, as channeled by members of the University of Missouri's music department.
Patrick W. Best: This psych-folk rocker from Wisconsin brings the Spiral Joy Band flavor to a smaller scale.
Pelt: The kings of drone and self-described makers of "sribbly wibbly raga blues."
Peyote: The Eastside stage hosts this Chicago group colors its dance jams with droney pop experimentation.
Robert Sarazin Blake: A new T/F favorite, Blake is a modern-day Northwest troubadour whose gruff lullabies are colored by his love of the American folk tradition and his spells in the Irish countryside.
Roxy Beach: A one-time-only happening, involving members of Aqua Vulva, Bunny & Dade, and San Fransisco's Brilliant Colors, performing expansive song fragments full of introspective exuberance.
Rum Drum Ramblers: These former "snot nosed punks" have put their DIY spin on Muddy Waters-style blues, making it clear that St. Louis is still a great blues haven.
Run on Sentence: These ramshackle folksters from Portland, Oregon are like a hoedown between the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Rutherford: This local quartet blends jazzy rock instrumentation with Ruth Acuff's sweet and dreamy vocals to decidedly gorgeous results.
Satin & Chenille: Johnny & June, Marvin & Tammi and Nancy & Lee have found their torch-bearers in this recently reunited love duo, bewitching us again with classic ballads and pop hits, all done in perfect harmony.
Sour Mash Hug band: Where New Orleans meets Eastern Europe, this gang brings a tongue-in-cheek busking act that will inspire you to sing along and stomp your feet.
Spiral Joy Band: Heroes of epic psychedelic soundscape, the Spiral Joy Band bring their hypnotic orchestra from Blacksburg, Virginia.
Steddy P: A conscious rapper with lively onstage antics, Steddy P will host the Indieground roster of No-Coast hip-hop.
Steven Carrel: Solo artist Steven Carrel will bring a gaggle of local folksters with him to perform his seductive songs of triumph and sorrow.
Toughcats: Indie bluegrass folksters bring the hullabaloo from Maine. Catch them front and center at the Reality Bites reception.
Witch Pu55y: With sweet guitars splattering neu vivid waves, the front man of the country-fried Jerusalem & the Starbaskets goes bittersweet and psychedelic.