What’s happening?
A new music and arts festival is coming to Baltimore City this Saturday, Sep. 10, Ian Kibria reports for BmoreArt. Shiny Fest—hosted by local record label, Shiny Boy Press, and artist-owned venue, Le Mondo—will feature musicians from the city, as well as ceramics, prints, and other crafts by local visual artists.
What inspired the Shiny Boy Press to start this festival?
The group hopes Shiny Fest will establish a “musical family tree” in the city by connecting and encouraging collaboration between artists, regardless of genre or experience in the music industry.
Much like the festival, Shiny Boy Press was created as an inclusive artistic collective in Baltimore City. The label was founded in 2020 by Collin Schnitker, Dan Gurley, and Walsh Kunkel shortly after the death of their childhood friend and bandmate, Alex Lori. Now, Shiny Boy Press hosts nine acts of various genres, including an indie group called Billy Basement and rock band Gods vs Gods vs Giants vs Reptiles.
“We became a helping hand for our friends and anyone whose music might not be heard,” Schnitker said. “Having a label to help mix and master an album, create merch, make music videos, and rally on social media creates this veil of importance, an image that makes people want to pay attention.”
Schnitker hopes the Shiny Fest festival will serve as the starting point for growing their label into a full-scale production house.
Anything else I should know?
Shiny Fest will take place on Sep. 10 from noon to 1 a.m. The music lineup includes performances from Bobbi Rush, Infinity Knives, Moon Tide Gallery, and more. You can find tickets here and preview the Spotify playlist here.
You can read more here.
