greetings from manchester tennessee!!! we made it to bonnaroo last night after a long day of travel and exploring nashville…
fp jemma and i caught an early morning flight down to nashville and spent the day there as we waited for two other fp girls to get in. which was totally fine with us because we got to check out the scene downtown and do some shopping :) downtown nashville was one big party because the country music festival is going on this weekend too.
we had to take our picture with elvis real quick before we got away from the crowd downtown and drove over to south 12th street to check out imogene and willie, the store i blogged about the other day that i’ve been wanting to go to. and sure enough, their dog was right there in the window to greet us!
they had some amazing vintage belts. the guy and girl who were working were extremely nice and told us that the kings of leon come in all the time! after imogene and willie we made the quick drive over to venus and mars, the vintage shop owned by karen elson. this store had a cat sitting on the patio to greet us :)
the store definitely felt like the home of some incredibly fashionable grandmother with racks of vintage dresses and garments in various rooms that are furnished and decorated with antiques. the wooden steps creak as you walk upstairs and there’s even a room with a bathtub overflowing with vintage treasures.
there was an adorable coffee shop right next door with outdoor seating where i could spend hours sipping coffee outside and reading a book.
and a great place to stop for a beer – 12 south tap room!
bonnaroo is here! the festival officially starts today and i can barely sit still i’m so excited. the four of us will get there tomorrow so if you’re going to bonnaroo look for us with our free people carrier bags! if you spot us we’ll take your photo and add it to our bonnaroo album on facebook and you also could be featured right here on the blog :)
bonnaroo is almost here! three days…it is time to start thinking about packing and luckily i’ve been a couple of times so i know exactly what to expect. here’s a look at what will be in my suitcase!
bonnaroo takes place on a farm in manchester tennessee, and at this time of year it gets brutally HOT – you are in a wide open space with very few trees, and people actually fight over the shade. but even if the forecast is for sunshine all weekend, there is still a very good chance that at some point it will rain. i would not go to bonnaroo without a good pair of waterproof boots and a raincoat!
during the hot days i tend to wear a bathing suit under cutoff shorts and a lightweight top. the chiffon slip would be perfect. throughout festival grounds there are mist tents set up for people too cool off, and believe me they are the BEST. i would bring a reusable water bottle too, because they have water stations throughout the grounds and buying bottled water is pricey (not to mention bad for the environment). sunglasses and sunblock are a must, and i’ll probably wear my straw fedora the whole weekend – i’m obsessed. a blanket is good to have for shows, especially the mellow shows where you just want to lie down, close your eyes, listen to the music and drift away…
karlee bloomfield is a talented gal- she plays keyboard and sings backup for the quincy mumford band, who make music they describe as “earnest pop with a touch of funk and a saltwater twang.” in addition to being the house band at jersey’s historic stone pony they’re on the lineup for a couple of big festivals this year, including gathering of the vibes (in connecticut) and musikfest (in bethlehem, PA). karlee happens to be a big fan of free people and in interviewing her for the blog i learned she’s also pretty rad :)
hey karlee!!
how long have you been playing keyboards?
i have been playing keyboards since i was old enough to sit on a piano bench all by myself. my parents bought a digital grand piano, about a year before i was born – my mom said she had a feeling that she should put a piano in the house. the fact that she thought that is still kind of wild to me. as a toddler, i was fascinated by all the controls on the piano, and eventually i knew just how to work it so that i would get the sounds i wanted. it was pretty much my favorite toy growing up. i started taking formal lessons at the age of 5, and have been playing and taking lessons ever since, so that makes it about twelve years now.
when i was seven years old, i met andy letke, who became my piano teacher and later my most important mentor…he is still my teacher today. i study classical Piano, and attend an after school program where i study bass guitar, drums and vocals.
my true love is playing and jamming with my band. i absolutely love the music we play. we like to call it, “FEEL GOOD MUSIC”. it is the kind of music that makes you feel happy when you listen to it. it is like a really great beach day!
who are some of your personal musical influences?
page mcconnell from phish, john paul jones from led zeppelin, herbie hancock, jeff paris from keb mo’s band, and a local artist named matt wade. oh, and grace potter from grace potter and the nocturals, that girl can rock the hammond organ like no other female musician i know! i actually played a show with her last year, which was a really cool experience. VH1 filmed the show for a documentary about the influence of woodstock on today’s up and coming musicians – definitely an experience for the memory book!
if you could see any band (past or present) live in concert, who would it be?
i’d definitely have to say led zeppelin. their musicianship was amazing, plus robert plant was a hunk back in the day.
(i am totally with you on that one karlee!!)
what is your favorite place that you’ve travelled to?
there are so many places, but i would have to say florida, because we traveled there as a band. we’re like one big family on the road, we have so much fun together. we have played down there a couple of times now, and the weather has always been perfect! it is so nice to leave NJ when it is chilly, and in 20 hours be back in t-shirts and flip flops. and i can honestly say that every time we play in florida or anywhere on the coast, i am always wearing my free people dresses :)
if you were stranded on an island, what three things would you want with you?
first and foremost my keyboard, second, an endless supply of fruit, and third would definitely be my diary! i am a girl who loves to write, draw, eat fruit and play music – keeping it simple!
how would you describe your personal style? what are some of your favorite free people items?
i am a hippie chick through and through. i love wearing little dresses, and as a matter of fact one of my favorite dresses is a floral free people dress with gold trim on it (the ends in sequins dress). it’s so cute, and looks great on stage! in fact, i just wore it to a show we played at.
winter, spring, summer or fall?
i really don’t enjoy the cold weather too much. i love playing out on a warm, breezy summer night – that is the best feeling in the entire world to me.
what is your motto?
whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.
what inspires you on a daily basis?
the desire to improve my art, to bring as many people into my life as possible, and to be happy and to make others happy!
what’s coming up for the quincy mumford band?
this summer, the quincy mumford band is up to some great things. we are looking forward to playing the main stage at the gathering of the vibes festival in connecticut july 29th -aug 1st. at the festival we will be playing with some of the biggest names such as: furthur, robert randolph, damian marley and so many others. we are counting down the days to this festival! i am sure there will be lots of people in free people clothing there. in addition, we are already scheduled to play the summer stage in asbury park opening for umphrey’s mcgee and donavon frankenreiter. we are also the house band for the legendary stone pony in asbury park (home of bruce springsteen), where we host “feel good thursday”, every other thursday -we’re creating a little mini-festival vibe there.
wake up to the sun rising over the mountaintops, shedding light over the nature and beauty of squaw valley, california. breathe in the crisp, refreshing air and stretch your limbs with an energizing yoga class. take a cable car with astonishing views to the mountaintop to explore meadows and streams and lose yourself in nature. come back down to the village where music, bongo drums and laughter fill the air. wander among the booths and shops and indulge in delicious locally grown food as the sun goes down. the stars twinkle above and the village heats up with fire dancers, acrobats and late night music sets by renowned djs like moby, bassnectar and pretty lights.
this is wanderlust, and free people wants to take you there.
we have teamed up with wanderlust festival to bring you the ultimate yoga and music festival experience! now through july 2nd you can enter to win 2 seeker tickets to wanderlust (3 days access to a carefully curated schedule of yoga classes, 3 days and nights of music, 2 nights of lodging, and travel stipend) AND a $200 free people gift card!
two runners up will receive pilgrim and daytripper passes, and a $100 gift card. the pilgrim passes are good for one day of music and yoga and the daytripper passes are good for one day of music only.
if you’re headed to bonnaroo and have the time, try and set aside a day or two (preferably pre-festival so you’re not completely worn out) to explore the city of nashville. the self proclaimed “music city” and birthplace of country music is home to the ryman auditorium (the “mother church of country music”) and a lively bar scene where you can listen to live music any day of the week. broadway and printer’s alley are lined with honky tonks (what they call the bars that also serve as music venues) and just walking down the street the sound of guitar and country music twang will entice you to step inside. at bars like robert’s western world and legends corner you can feel the ghost’s of past musicians in the creaky wooden floors and beat up cowboy boots that line the walls. it is easy to lose an entire day wandering from bar to bar and listening to music – plus a lot of the bands will take requests! i had a fun time trying to get one band to play some stones and the only song they knew was “honky tonk women”. shocking :)
stay tuned for a post on the awesome vintage shopping scene in nashville!
ten days till bonnaroo! i can’t believe it’s already almost here…myself and fp jemma, along with a couple of other fp girls, will be heading to tennessee to soak up the festival atmosphere, listen to some great music and scope out the fashion down on the farm :) stay tuned for many more posts as we prepare for our trip, and live blogging from the festival!
i can’t stop staring at this artwork by christine gray. it’s colorful and trippy and brings to mind the atmosphere at a music festival – probably because the one with the tents and bonfire reminds me of burning man.
i want to be in this last image jumping on the trampoline into fiery night skies…
about her artwork, christine says, “in my work i look at the cultural mythologies that misrepresent nature and our relationship to it. i remake landscapes according to these fictions through both objects and painting, thereby adding to and revealing the fallacy of these representations. the sculptural tableaux i make as models for my paintings are theatrical, temporary situations where the real and imagined collapse into a space outlined by contradictory boundaries. extraordinary outcomes are made feasible by the distortion of the everyday. my most recent body of work focuses on the american myth of the seeker, traveling alone through untouched landscapes in search of a revelatory experience of the divine.”
this is such an awesome idea – one of our designers is heading to the sled island music and film festival in calgary, which takes place june 30 – july 3. to prepare for her trip she is compiling all sorts of information in a little composition book that she brought over to show us the other day – it’s amazing! she cut out and pasted images and hand wrote information about the festival lineup, bars, restaurants and shopping in calgary – even interviews with calgary designers that she has printed out!
i think it’s such a creative way to prepare for and then document a trip – in fact it has inspired us to do something similar for bonnaroo :) we’ll take a closer look at the contents of her journal when the festival approaches, but for now i wanted to share the idea because i thought it was so cool. and all you need is a journal, scissors and glue sticks!
good morning! it’s a dreary tuesday in philly but we want to brighten your day with a little giveaway :) all you have to do is tell us your favorite hobby and your favorite summertime activity – leave your response in the comments and we’ll pick someone at random to receive this adorable little pouch! i love this, i think it would be perfect tied to a belt loop at concerts or festivals.
we’ll pick a winner at random tomorrow morning!
*make sure you leave your email address so we can contact you if you’re selected.
UPDATE: we have a winner! congrats to heather from massachusetts, who said:
“my favorite hobby is taking pictures of EVERYTHING i see, and my favorite summertime activity is going to festivals with my friends.”
my greatest loves are my fiancé, family, friends and my cat. i’m a huge phillies fan and seeing them win the world series a couple of years ago was incredible! i also love spending time with friends and traveling. i recently went to seattle and dublin for the first time, which was amazing – but my favorite place in the world is definitely ocean city, NJ! i spend as many weekends there as i can. being on or near the beach is so relaxing and peaceful. i mostly listen to classic rock and some of my favorite bands are U2, the rolling stones, tom petty, the black crowes and radiohead. i’m a member of the world wildlife fund, and protecting the environment has always been one of the most important causes to me. the work this organization does to preserve nature and protect endangered species around the world is really inspiring to me!
happy thursday! for today’s poll let’s take a look at our hat collection – when our girls were down at coachella they saw hats everywhere, and we have some great ones for festival wear. they also just happen to be one of my favorite accessories… which one do you like best??
