2014 Mission Creek Festival guide

With special thanks to our 2014 festival title sponsor

APRIL 1 – APRIL 6, 2014

iowa city, iowa music • lit • food • film • & more

Philip Glass Rachel Kushner The Head and the Heart of Montreal Laurie Anderson •

•

Jason Isbell Hannibal Buress •

Kishi Bashi • Warpaint • !!! • Earth William Elliott Whitmore • The Pines Matthew Israel • Dessa • S. Carey Nat Baldwin • Oneohtrix Point Never Brian Evenson • Dead Rider • Weekend Paul Cary and the Small Scarys • Fruition Mark McGuire • Wolf Eyes • Tim Wehrle Jesse Sykes & Phil Wandscher • Chad Witacre David Gould • Koen Holtkamp • Lindsay Hunter Jenny Hval • Basia Bulat • Jen Myers • New Bums Molly O’Neill • Jennifer Percy • Caroline Smith Kyle Minor • Adam Faucett • Sleepy Kitty • Taser Island and many more

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get your tickets at

midwestix.com

visit missionfreak .com for more information

APRIL 1 – APRIL 6, 2014 iowa city, iowa music • lit • food • film • & more

special thanks to our title sponsor:

Tickets $125 | Silver Pass The Silver Pass grants access to all Mission Creek Festival ticketed music and comedic performances. Entrance to ticketed events at The Englert Theatre and Blue Moose Tap House is guaranteed at all times. Entrance to other venues is subject to capacity. Film screenings, culinary events, and Tech + Innovation events are not included in the Silver Pass and will require the purchase of additional tickets.

$500 | Deluxe Pass The Deluxe Pass guarantees entrance to all Mission Creek ticketed events (Free events are subject to capacity). Events include music and comedic performances, film screenings at FilmScene, free meals at all culinary events throughout the week (special dinners at Devotay, Leaf Kitchen, and Motley Cow; special brunches at the Mill and Trumpet Blossom), registration at the Tech + Innovation miniconference, a special reception (Thu, Apr 3) at Plaza Towers, and a post-show meet and greet with Philip Glass.

university of iowa community credit union

What Is Mission Creek Festival? Mission Creek Festival is a week-long experience that takes over the venues and spaces of downtown Iowa City, creating an easily navigated nexus of music, literature, food, and art. It is more than a series of concerts, readings, and shows, it is a happening—a gathering that brings together artists and culture-lovers in the cozy and intimate confines of Iowa City. In our ninth year, the festival continues to both expand and refine itself. On the expansion front we have added more cultural interests: a full-fledged film program co-curated by FilmScene, a Saturday youth-focused program at the Iowa City Public Library spearheaded by Dora Malech and Kembrew McLeod, and a new mini-conference—Tech + Innovation—that will take place within the festival. In terms of refinement we continue to shape the best possible programming experiences within our reach. Legendary composer Philip Glass headlines the festival alongside luminaries like Jason Isbell, Rachel Kushner, of Montreal, Earth, Hannibal Buress, and Warpaint. Emerging artists whose names are perhaps less known will turn in performances that are not to be missed; among them are Jenny Hval, New Bums, Nat Baldwin, Mind Over Mirrors, Toki Wright, and Weekend. A host of Iowa MFA grads will return to read from amazing new works of literature, including Leslie Jamison, Kyle Minor, and Jennifer Percy.

Likewise our local chefs at Augusta, Devotay, Leaf Kitchen, the Mill, Motley Cow Cafe, and Trumpet Blossom Cafe will keep us fed as the week grows long. We encourage you to set aside an afternoon, an evening, or even the entire week to submerge yourself in the Mission Creek experience: to steep yourself in art, culture, and the people and community that surround us.

Stay updated with festival info at missionfreak.com.

During the week of Mission Creek Festival (Apr 1 - 6) all pass holders receive 15% discounts on meals from the following participating restaurants: Banditos, Clinton Street Social Club, Devotay, Leaf Kitchen, Motley Cow Cafe, and Trumpet Blossom Cafe. Some restrictions may apply.

Individual Tickets Individual tickets to shows are available while supplies last. Advance tickets are available online via Midwestix.com. For shows at the Blue Moose, Gabe’s, Englert, Yacht Club, and The Mill, advance tickets will also be available at those respective venues during business hours.

We would like to thank our sponsors for helping make this festival a reality.

Each one of these sponsors deeply supports the work being done by Mission Creek. They believe in the importance of art and culture and they all have a commitment to our community. We are honored by and grateful for their support and well aware that it engenders the organic, natural growth of this event. If you are fan of the festival and you see these sponsors around town, please tell them “thank you” too!

tu esday, April 1

Warpaint with

Rachel Kushner

Alex Body, Annalibera

Gabe’s 9pm / $15 General Public • $12 Student Co-presented by KRUI

Dealing in tense, hypnotic dream-pop, Los Angeles-based quartet Warpaint have emerged more self-assured and cohesive than ever on their recent eponymous release. Writing together for an extended period of time (it’s been four years since their last record), they built the album from the ground up. Bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg and drummer Stella Mozgawa are the undercurrent, shifting from tight, post-punk beats to more diffuse, dub-esque grooves while guitarists/vocalists Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal hover about the surface with skeletal guitar work and moody, ethereal vocals. Their recorded output navigates a heady, innervision that’s worth its weight in late-night sessions and long interstate drives. Though, it’s in the live setting where they turn their moody psych trip outwards, creating a swirling, melodic atmosphere that is intriguing and warm, yet emotional and turbulent.

Tech + Innovation Conference Saturday, April 5 John Pappajohn Business Center 9am / $85 Registration Fee

Tech

Presented by Hawkeye Hotels, Hobu, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, ICAD Group, and Seed Here The Mission Creek Tech + Innovation Conference expands

Matthew

Israel the festival charter once again, this time to explore our connections to technology by celebrating what technology empowers, highlighting where tech culture must improve, and showcasing what the future may hold. Come join us as national speakers provide perspective, local speakers help us make connections, and we all build community.

Following a pre-conference networking event on Friday, April 4th the program will officially commence Saturday, April 5th with David Gould providing insights into building entrepreneurial communities from his time as Director of Imagination for Zappos founder/CEO Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project in Las Vegas. Jen Meyer will address issues of diversity in the tech world while Chad Whitacre takes lessons learned from open source and describes how he applies them to business with the Open Company Initiative. Dan Sweeney, Michal Eynon-Lynch and Riley Eynon-Lynch will discuss going from educators to serial tech entrepreneurs. Fitzgerald Steele lays down how user experience integrates with and informs technology development. Shawn Cornally goes on to outline how he is reimagining tech’s role in high school in Cedar Rapids.

Matthew Israel’s keynote public lecture (Saturday, April 5, 5pm at The Englert Theatre) provides the bridge between the worlds of art and technology. His talk will highlight how technology empowers the Art Genome Project, an initiative designed to make art more accessible to everyone in the world.

2014 Team Development, Design, Marketing, Programming, Production Wes Beary, Courtenay Bouvier, Andy Brodie, Kyle Drea, Brendan Hanks, A.C. Hawley, Tanner Illingworth, Emily Kane, Dora Malech, Pete McCarthy, Kembrew McLeod, Andrew Miller, Zoey Miller, Becky Nasadowski, Andre Perry, Matt Rebelskey, Alexi Schlesinger, Joe Tiefenthaler, Chris Wiersema

w i t h Jennifer Percy, Jamaal May

Satu rday, April 5 Saturday, April 5 The Mill 6pm / FREE Presented by M.C. Ginsberg, Hancher, Iowa Public Radio, the Tuesday Agency, and the Iowa Review

Writers with just two books under their pens are not expected to have both of those books short-listed for the National Book Award. In fact, that had never happened. At least not before Rachel Kushner. No short order on content, these novels explore Cuba and Italy at moments crucial to their histories, the controversial profits and practices of international rubber and fruit companies, American expats at times of national revolt, art and politics of the 20th century, and more. Her first novel, 2008’s Telex From Cuba, a historical novel about Cuba’s revolution, made a bid for the National Book Award alongside books by Marilynne Robinson and Aleksandar Hemon. How does a first-time novelist follow that up? With 2013’s nominated The Flamethrowers, a novel on one page racing for land speed records, the next on World War I motorcycle warriors, and the 1970s New York art scene after that. Nominations be damned, American fiction may have just found its driving voice. Kushner will be joined by essayist and fiction writer, Jennifer Percy, who recently released the critically-acclaimed Demon Camp, an exploration of war and the sometimes supra-spiritual effects of PTSD, as well as esteemed poet, Jamaal May. Volunteers Matt Bauer, Josh Bohnsack, Alex Brandt, Audrey Butler, Erin Casler, Matt Epp, Katie DeRose, Kelly Ford, Kaleb Hays, Jake Hopes, Kelli Jackson, Daniel Juhl, Lexi Matthews, Melissa Messer, Lauren Negaard, Morgan Robinson, Kaitlynn Ryan, Heather Utterback, Emma Vodick Additional Contributors (Festival Program) Michael Roeder, Kent Williams

littlevillagemag.com/mcf2014 | 1

with

Earth

Oneohtrix Point Never

Th u r sday, April 3

We dnesday, April 2

The Englert Theatre 7:30pm / $50 General Public • $25 Student / $100 Reception and Meet & Greet To say that Philip Glass is a classical music iconoclast is understating the impact and influence that his over 55 years as a composer and musician has had. Undoubtedly, Glass is the most notorious American classical composer of the last 50 years and has managed to transcend to a point where his name represents the trademark minimalist and repetitive style of music he purveys. Glass is nothing if not prolific: His works span the decades ranging from string quartets, solo piano, orchestra, opera, film and television soundtracks—counting literally in the hundreds. In just the past year he both completed his long-running Etudes series as well as saw a staging of his epic opera Einstein on the Beach in Los Angeles. At 77 years old, his performance—solo on a piano—at the historic Englert Theatre will be a moment we remember for its rapturous, alluring beauty. And, Glass, always a forward-thinker, will have emerging electronic composer, Oneohtrix Point Never, as his opener.

!!!

Mark McGuire

with

Caroline Smith, Trouble Lights

with

Friday, April 4 Gabe’s 10pm / $15

Tuesday, April 1 The Mill 8pm / $10 Adv • $12 DoS

!!! deserve credit for starting a trend for punctuation-mark-named bands. But they also brought back disco years before it became a wider musical trend (see: LCD Soundsystem). In a US musical scene where disco is known mostly for it’s overexposed lame 70s hits, it takes some cojones to wave that flag as unabashedly and originally as they do. This is not KC and the Sunshine Band; !!! are musical grandchildren of Arthur Russell, Larry Levan and Red Greg Carmichael, whose complex yet funky long-form dance music stayed mostly in the gay disco underground. They add a contemporary feel to their music with bursts of dissonant guitar noise and snarly chanted vocals, and unlike their studio-bound disco progenitors, everything they do in the recording studio they can play live, even better. They can turn any venue into a heaving sweaty mass of dancing bodies. It’s pronounced “Chk Chk Chk” but I prefer the computer slang version of their name, “Bang Bang Bang!”

2 | missionfreak.com

w i t h New Bums, Circuit Des Yeux

Jenny Hval, Koen Holtkamp, Idpyramid

Over the past six years, McGuire has been involved in almost six-dozen different titles. Many of those have been under his own name, and some were with his former project Emeralds, a Cleveland-based post-rock band. Much of McGuire’s music is made with a guitar and many pedals. This setup recalls artists like Fennesz and Vini Reilly a/k/a The Durutti Column. Like both of those men, McGuire’s music is layered and textured, exploring a great depth of emotions through ambient soundscapes.

His new album Along The Way sees McGuire adding piano, drums, mandolin, and vocals to the various guitar sounds and textures. These percussive and melodic elements have expanded the space of his recordings while taking nothing away from their ambience or emotional impact. Fans, new and old, can hear an artist who is still bursting with new ideas and creativity.

Gabe’s 8pm / $15 Too much is made of the early half of Earth’s thirty-plus year career. Yes, they named themselves after Black Sabbath’s original moniker. Yes, the down-tuned sub-frequency roar of their guitars and amps cut the path for many in the sludge, doom, and drone sub-genres of metal and rock from the nineties to now. Yes, they cut a track with close friend and singer of another Seattle band of some repute, Nirvana. Yes, volume worshippers Sunn 0))) named themselves in homage of Earth’s prefered amp and tectonic-paced riffs. Yes, the music they are making now is just as (if not more so) intriguing, intransigent, and influential as it’s ever been. Yet, rebirth is not uncommon in popular music; revision and renewal of supposition is less so.

When the creative head and only constant member of Earth, Dylan Carlson, released 2005 album Hex; Or Printing In The Infernal Method after nine years of near silence, it was a statement that doubled-down on Earth’s compositional formula and at the same time heralded the new voice of its delivery. Gone is the monolith of amps. Gone are volcanic eruptions of distortion. Gone are the gutchurning thunder clouds of low-frequency bass. The songs are still slow with tempos stretched, still repetitive and building, still dependant on tension and release. Here now are waves of warm, glowing tones that wash endlessly. Here now are soft, skittering rhythms so sparse and restrained they echo as an almost-memory. Here now is room for each skilled player to soar in improvisation and solo, yet remain stabilized by the core.

Here now is Earth, in pastoral bloom of their patience and talents.

Bookmark Mission Creek events in the LV App. Download now: Text IOWA to 77948 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/MCF2014

Now in its third year, Mission Creek’s food

culture initiative continues expanding, meeting the gustatory needs of festival-goers with 5 separate culinary events. We begin with a celebration of Iowa’s most well-known delicacy — pork — and conclude with a pair of weekend brunches which are sure to nurture and restore your body and soul after a long week; in between, we’re keeping you very well-fed. Menu updates will be posted on missionfreak.com as they arise; pricing may also be subject to slight changes. Unless otherwise noted, event pricing does not include tax and gratuity.

Food

Iowa Pork Dinner with beverage pairing Tuesday, April 1 / 6pm / Motley Cow Café / $45

The festival will begin with a three-course Iowa pork dinner created and delivered with the care we’ve come to expect from the Motley Cow (160 N. Linn).

Each course will feature Iowa pork, in keeping with the restaurant’s consistent focus on the fresh and local. Call for reservations: 319-688-9177

Small Plates Dinner

Wednesday, April 2, two seatings at 6:30pm and 8 pm / Leaf Kitchen / $25

Here’s your chance for dinner at Leaf Kitchen (301 1/2 Kirkwood), where you can reminisce over such favorites as Japanese fried chicken or scallion pancakes, and try some new Asian-inflected small plates. BYOB: There is no liquor served on the premises ($5 corking fee). Call for reservations: 319-338-1909

Talk to Me About Food, You Delicious Filthy Pig Thursday, April 3 / 6pm / Devotay / $50

Devotay (117 N. Linn) will host a hybrid literary/food event, in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-nominated food writer and editor Molly O’Neill. Call for reservations: 319-354-1001

Jason Isbell Friday, April 4

David Zollo & The Body Electric, Jason T. Lewis

with

Blue Moose Tap House 8pm / $20 Adv • $22 DoS Co-presented by Integrated DNA Technologies

Creating songs with depth of character and rich narratives is something that Jason Isbell has spent 12-plus years doing, and doing it on a level to which few can compare. When 21-year old Isbell joined DriveBy Truckers in 2001, everyone noticed his ability to keep up with the band’s duo of talented songwriters while pushing their three-guitar attack to an even greater plateau of southern-fried storytelling. Since his amicable departure from DBT six years ago, Isbell has created several albums thematically similar to his previous work; and his most recent album, Southeastern, is no exception. Recorded following a stint in rehab and completed the day before his wedding, its release has been met with critical acclaim, and rightly so: Southeastern reflects a mature, introspective Isbell, accompanied by a sparse soundtrack haunted with familiar stories of loss, love, regret and personal redemption. These themes, though common to his work, seem tempered by his newfound sobriety and demonstrate a readiness to look back at himself, while moving forward—for better or worse.

Vegan Brunch

Saturday, April 5, two seatings at 11:30am & 1pm / Trumpet Blossom Café / $20 (includes tax and gratuity)

Trumpet Blossom Café (310 E. Prentiss) has designed a nurturing three-course brunch featuring local, organic food, and delicious, creative dishes—including a killer banana split. Call for reservations: 319-248-0077

Hannibal Buress

“Last Call” Brunch Buffet

We dnesday, April 2

Sunday, April 6, two seatings at 11am & 1pm / The Mill / $15

Chef Ben Halperin, from Augusta (in Oxford, IA) will collaborate with The Mill staff on an epic festival-closing brunch, served up at The Mill (120 E. Burlington). Expect hearty hangover cures from all of the food families with the highly anticipated return of Mr. Halperin’s Grits & Grillades (possibly the best dish we’ve ever had—seriously). Tickets will be available online via The Mill’s website as well as at the front bar.

Wednesday, April 2 The Englert Theatre 7pm $25 General Public • $15 Student Co-presented by UI Campus Activities Board

The Head and the Heart with

Basia Bulat

Friday, April 4 The Englert Theatre 8pm

SOLD OUT

Co-presented by SCOPE Productions

The Head and the Heart catapulted to fame almost overnight.

The quiet, lovely honesty of 2010’s self-titled debut arrested listeners; singles “Lost In My Mind” and “Rivers and Roads” offered a dazzling intimacy through the way they chronicled long-distance love and sometimes unattainable love, in a warm, genuine manner. The six-piece indie-folk outfit came together during frequent visits to an open mic night at a pub in Seattle, and their music reflects that sort of happenstance charm. Giving conventional folk a twist with violin and vibrant piano sounds, the Head and the Heart continues their magical streak with their new album, Let’s Be Still.

With two albums—2010’s My Name is Hannibal and 2012’s Animal Furnace—and an hour-long Comedy Central special now under his belt, Buress has quickly emerged as a premier stand-up, selling out shows and winning the 2012 Comedy Award for Best Club Comedian. Buress’ style is observational, targeting diverse topics such as pickle juice, pigeons, white strip clubs, and jaywalking in Canada. His laconic, laidback delivery hides the absurdity and exaggeration that often lies at the heart of his jokes. He takes life’s harrowing, sometimes dark moments—selling personal electronics for crack-money in the middle of the night, debating the perils of firefighting, or negotiating the inane, inexplicable racism on social media platforms that followed Obama’s second election victory—and reduces them to kitty litter… or gold… we are never quite sure. That absurdist streak has informed the television projects with which he is involved—Buress is the sidekick on the faux-talk show The Eric Andre Show, which recently completed its second season on Adult Swim and he is also a regular cast member on the new Comedy Central show Broad City as well as a former writer on Saturday Night Live. littlevillagemag.com/mcf2014 | 3

satu rday, April 5

Kishi Bashi The Pines William Elliott Whitmore

with

Dave Moore

The Englert Theatre 8pm / $20 Adv • $23 DoS When people say minimalism, they think of Steve Reich or Philip Glass, but I think of Will Whitmore. His albums use minimal instrumentation, simple folk/country songs, and plain words to achieve deep emotional impact. His raspy voice sounds like a thousand miles of dirt roads, which rubs perfectly against his spare banjo and guitar playing.

As a live performer, he can make people in a packed theater feel like they’re sharing a jar of corn liquor with him on his Lee County back porch. His subjects stay pretty close to home too: dirt, love, sin, and death. That he finds so much to say in so few words is an enduring wonder. The Pines branch out on their latest record Dark So Gold, augmenting their well-wrought folk-pop songs with subtle washes of electronic guitar effects. They get tagged by journalists and even their record label as “Americana”, but of the multitude of sins that genre tag covers, none of them are pinned to the Pines. They sometimes sound a bit like Bob Dylan, but their songs slip out of Dylan’s shadow, and (to mix metaphors) open up like a door into summer. They’re solidly grounded in the folk-rock tradition but always find a new twist of their own to make a familiar song sound fresh.

of Montreal

with

Nat Baldwin

Friday, April 4 with

The Lonelyhearts

The Mill 9pm / $15 Kishi Bashi’s music trades in celestial currencies. Few other artists channel positive energy like he does without coming off as cloying or overly-twee. Bashi’s compositions are celebratory but also deeply, exquisitely layered. Every song, every verse is a moving picture of orchestral, psychedelic emotion. To see him play live is an act of letting go, an act of letting one’s self being moved. The prerequisite homework is to study 2012’s 151a and let its swirling, undulating arrangements encompass you, from the sun-blasted trip of album opener “Pathos, Pathos” through the closing chants of “Beat the Bright Out of Me”. Where Bashi indulges layers, Nat Baldwin embraces minimalism and yet they end up similar places. Baldwin wields just a double-bass and his voice but his material is full of hypnotic moments, both in his repetitive figures and cunning lyrics. His voice is a compelling instrument—it dwells in low resonant regions before tipping its beak into the clouds, towards the light. If there is a festival show to lose yourself at, this would be the one. Into the woods, into the woods.

Third Man Records Presents

Language Lessons: Vol. I

Saturday, April 5 Gabe’s 9pm / $8 Nashville’s Third Man Records takes over Gabe’s on the Saturday of Mission Creek with an evening of literature and rock-nroll. Third Man founders Jack White and Ben Swank originally conceived the record label to house, produce, and distribute Jack’s music projects and this spring Third Man will expand their operation with the release of an anthology of poetry, prose, and music called Language Lessons: Vol I. Celebrating the release of this new anthology, the night will feature writers Bill Hillman, Janaka Stucky, and many more as well as music by Paul Cary, Samuel Locke-Ward & the Garbage Boys XXL, and Brooks Strause & the Gory Details.

Two floors of lit and rock-n-roll.

Weekend Fake Your Own Death, Common Loon

with

Friday, April 4 Yacht Club 9pm / $8 Although they are rather hard to search for online, the Brooklyn via San Francisco trio is a standout in the currently revitalized shoegaze scene. Weekend made a strong statement with their first album Sports, which is a beautiful mix of noisy guitars, driving rhythms, and claustrophobic atmospherics. Their 2013 release Jinx sees the band keeping those noisy elements and adding early post-punk elements from bands like The Cure and The Wake to the mix. The result is an excellent sophomore album that sounds like a natural progression while keeping the listener entranced, the primary element that made Sports such a magnificent listen.

Ark Life, Dylan Sires & Neighbors

Thursday, April 3 Blue Moose Tap House / 6:30pm / $18 Adv • $22 DoS Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, DJ—Kevin Barnes acts as of Montreal’s front man and drives the wildly eclectic band into uncharted territories of weird. (I mean, they cite “theosis and hydromancy using a sword’s blade (preferably dong fang)” as a musical influence on Facebook.)

The genre-transcending group has incorporated elements of electronica, psychedelic pop, and glam, which combine with their rustic indie beginnings to create an effortlessly unique sound. With over a decade of experience and more than twelve albums under their belt, of Montreal continue to conduct melodies that captivate audiences while maintaining an element of surprise. No strangers to Iowa, of Montreal set Des Moines aflame during 80/35 in 2011. The set featured two pig-men fighting a giant fiddler crab and outfits that would put Funkadelic to shame. Since then, bandleader Barnes has retreated to the stripped-down, psych-pop of his Elephant 6 roots (remember those cascading melodies on Cherry Peel?) though any of Montreal show is bound to be full of rock ‘n roll energy, frantic dancing, and some certain amount of glee.

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Lit

Mission Creek Literary Program Presented by M.C. Ginsberg, Hancher, Iowa Public Radio, and the Tuesday Agency

Brian Evenson - 2014 Festival Writer-in-Residence Brian Evenson comes to Iowa City as Mission Creek’s 3rd Writer-in-Residence, a position created to ensure direct artist interaction with as wide a swath of the Iowa City community as possible; youth programs, undergraduate and MFA students, UNESCO, and more. Born in Ames, Brian returns to the state from the Northeast, where he runs Brown University’s Literary Arts Program.

He has published 14 books of his own work (under four pseudonyms), many by the Midwest’s own Coffee House Press, as well as numerous translations.

Leslie Jamison & Adam Fell Tuesday, April 1 / Prairie Lights / 6pm / FREE

These two Writers’ Workshop grads have gone on to quite the careers postIowa. Leslie Jamison’s The Empathy Exams (2013), her follow-up to the LA Times First Fiction Prize winner The Gin Closet, seized Graywolf Press’ Nonfiction Prize.

Adam Fell just released his second volume of poetry, titled Dear Corporation (H_NGM_N) alongside a video series with readings by some of the best young poets across the country (see: YouTube).

Kembrew McLeod & D. Foy Wednesday, April 2 / Prairie Lights / 6pm / FREE

UI Professor Kembrew McLeod, or Robot Professor as he is known in some circles, reaches out to the world with his newest investigation of forms of media, from past American presidents to modern mischief makers like The Yes Men and Stephen Colbert, in his newest book Pranksters: Making Mischief in the Modern World. D. Foy reads from his new novel Made to Break.

artist roundtable: Jason Isbell & Lindsay Hunter (hosted by Trinity Ray of the Tuesday Agency) Thursday, April 3 / Motley Cow Café / 4pm / FREE

What happens when one of the literary world’s best young short story writers talks with one of the music world’s best young songwriters? Come hear Hunter and Isbell tell stories about their lives and their work.

Sarabande Books 20th Anniversary

Thursday, April 3 / Prairie Lights / 6pm / FREE + reception (read: booze) to follow in Prairie Lights Cafe

you may be seeing for the first time, including: Graywolf Press, Third Man Records & Books, Sarabande Books, Zyzzyva, Forklift Ohio, Curbside Splendor, Coffee House Press, Black Ocean, Spork Press, POETRY Magazine, Hobart, A Strange Object, Hobart, Wag’s Revue, H_NGM_N, MAKE Magazine, Rescue Press, Graze Magazine, [PANK] Magazine, The Iowa Review, Tiny Hardcore Press, University of Iowa Press, Birds LLC, Pretty Lit, Buzzfeed, Ugly Duckling Presse, and more. Oh, and don’t forget: New Belgium Brewery will be handing out free beer samples and Jim Beam will be on hand as well with tasty cups of whisky. Bring a tote, fill it up with books, and leave with quality reading for the rest of the year.

A Discussion with Rachel Kushner Saturday, April 5 / Prairie Lights Cafe / 12pm / FREE

A Q&A discussion with Rachel Kushner hosted by Harry Stecopoulos, editor of the Iowa Review

Rachel Kushner, Jennifer Percy & Jamaal May Saturday, April 5 / The Mill / 6pm / FREE

(see individual write-up on page 1)

earthwords Release Party

Saturday, April 5 / Prairie Lights / 7pm / FREE

The University of Iowa’s oldest undergraduate literary magazine, earthwords releases an issue featuring the best in undergraduate fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, photography, and art from student writers across campus. This will be the first of many, many times in front of a Prairie Lights podium for their contributors.

Louisville’s Sarabande Books has deep connections to the Iowa City literary scene, and now celebrating their 20th anniversary, Sarabande will showcase two of its newest authors, Angela Pelster and Kyle Minor, whose story collection Praying Drunk has been hailed by the likes of Flavorwire and Buzzfeed as a mustread book of 2014.

Third Man Records Presents: Language Lessons Vol. I

Lit Crawl

Was the Word

Writers and publishers from across the country again invade downtown Iowa City businesses for three hours of literary mayhem. In all, more than 60 authors will represent over 15 publishers, including Curbside Splendor, Coffee House Press, Black Ocean, Spork Press, POETRY Magazine, Hobart, A Strange Object, Wag’s Revue, MAKE Magazine, Rescue Press, Graze Magazine, cookNscribble, as well as the University of Iowa’s own Anthology Reading Series, and more. For a full lineup and list of locations, please stay tuned at missionfreak.com.

Iowa City’s own Was the Word once again takes the Englert stage with captivating storytellers and performance poets.

Friday, April 4 / Downtown Iowa City / 5 – 8pm / FREE

5th Annual Small Press and Literary Magazine Book Fair Saturday, April 5 / The Mill / 11am – 6pm / FREE

Presses and magazines will set up shop in Iowa City once again, coming to Mission Creek from Boston and Seattle; Nashville and Tucson; San Francisco and Austin; Savannah and Louisville; and from cities across the Midwest, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Ann Arbor, and from right here in Iowa City. Come find books from some publishers you know, and some

Saturday, April 5 / Gabe’s / 9pm / $8

(see individual write-up on page 4)

Sunday, April 6 / The Englert Theatre / 7pm

Film

2013 was an amazing year for Iowa City: It saw the opening of an independent movie theater downtown—on the Ped Mall no less. We remain ecstatic about the addition of FilmScene to our cultural neighborhood. For the 2014 festival we are co-curating a series of film events at FilmScene. We will have a full schedule in March but expect an event every day of Mission Creek including the Iowa City premiere of These Hopeless Savages, the new film by Working Group Productions, directed by Kaitlyn Busbee and Sean Christopher Lewis.

littlevillagemag.com/mcf2014 | 5

7:30 - Oneohtrix Point Never 8:20 - Philip Glass

CAB & MCF Present: 7:00 - TBD 7:45 - Hannibal Buress

8:00 - Circuit Des Yeux 9:00 - New Bums 10:00 - Earth

KRUI & MCF Present: 8:00 - John June Year 9:00 - Sleepy Kitty 10:00 - The Olympics

KRUI & MCF Present: 9:00 - Annalibera 10:00 - Alex Body 11:00 - Warpaint

8:00 - Idpyramid 8:50 - Koen Holtkamp 9:40 - Jenny Hval 10:30 - Mark McGuire

missionfreak.com

For the most up-to-date info, visit us online at

8:00 - Skye Carrasco 9:00 - Jack Lion 10:00 - Golden Birds 11:00 - S. Carey

9:00 - Ion 10:00 - Toki Wright & Big Cats 11:00 - Dessa

6:30 - Dylan Sires & Neighbors 7:20 - Ark Life 8:30 - of Montreal

6:00 - Kyle Minor & Angela Pelster

9:00 - Drumai 10:00 - Giant Question Mark 11:00 - bTsunami 12:00am - David Last

10:00 - Mating Call 10:40 - Curt Oren 11:25 - Taser Island 12:15 - Wolf Eyes

6:00 - Kembrew McLeod & D. Foy

6:00 - Molly O’Neill Dinner (Devotay)

April 3

Thursday,

6:30 & 8:30 - Dinner (Leaf Kitchen)

Bookmark Mission Creek events in the LV App. Download now: Text IOWA to 77948

6:00 - Leslie Jamison & Adam Fell

7:30 - Laurie Anderson (lecture)

6:00 - Dinner (Motley Cow)

April 2

wednesday,

9:00 - The Lonelyhearts 10:00 - Nat Baldwin 11:00 - Kishi Bashi

10:00 - Trouble Lights 11:00 - Caroline Smith 12:00am - !!!

9:00 - Haunter 9:40 - Ben Seretan 10:30 - Mind Over Mirrors 11:30 - Tim Wehrle

8:00 - Jason T. Lewis 9:00 - David Zollo & the Body Electric 10:00 - Jason Isbell

5-8:30 - ANGRY HOUR Los Voltage, Centaur Noir, Black Clapton, Viet Cong Man Son

Phil Wandscher

9:00 - Alexis Stevens 10:00 - Adam Faucett 11:00 - Jesse Sykes &

11:00am-6:00pm - Annual Book Fair & Rachel Kushner Reading

and the Small Scarys

9:30 - Brooks Strause & The Gory Details 10:30 - Sam Locke-Ward and the Garbage Boys XXL 11:30 - Ultras S/C 12:15am - Paul Cary

5:25 - Fake Your Own Death RSVP

5:00 - Tim Denevi - RSVP

4:25 - Golden Birds - Catherine’s

4:00 - Tarfia Faizullah - Catherine’s

3:25pm - John Lindenbaum - Revival

3:00 - Julian Rubinstein - Revival

SATURDAY | 3-6pm - FREE

Mission Boutique

Whitmore

8:00 - Dave Moore 8:45 - The Pines 10:00 - William Elliott

SCOPE & MCF Present: 8:00 - Basia Bulat 9:15 - The Head and

the Heart

9:00 - Brian Johannesen 9:45 - The Muckrockers 11:00 - Fruition

11:30am & 1:00pm - Vegan Brunch (Trumpet Blossom)

April 5

saturday,

9:00 - Common Loon 9:50 - B Star 10:40 - Fake Your Own Death 11:40 - Weekend

April 4

friday,

8:00 - TBD 9:00 - Foul Tip 10:00 - Dead Rider

7:00 - Was the Word

11:00am & 1:00pm - Carnivore Brunch (Augusta & The Mill)

April 6

sunday,

All times are PM unless otherwise noted • Official Festival Site: missionfreak.com • Event Previews & Coverage: littlevillagemag.com/mcf2014 • Tickets: midwestix.com

700 South Dubuque St. FREE SHOWS

Deadwood

120 East Burlington St.

The Mill

330 East Washington St.

Gabe’s

310 East Prentiss St.

Trumpet Blossom

211 Iowa Ave.

Blue Moose

15 South Dubuque St.

Prairie Lights

221 East Washington St.

The Englert Theatre

13 South Linn St.

Yacht Club

Food Events

April 1

tuesday,