Splice Records Announces Fascinating New Art Program

Splice Records announces fascinating new art program featuring Journey Through, Black Cassidy and the Input Output Creativity Lab for their fourth annual River Revival Music Fest taking place the weekend of Sept. 27 – 30, 2018 along the Guadalupe River at the KL Ranch Camp “On the River” and “Cliffside” campgrounds in New Braunfels, Texas.

The River Revival art program is about bringing artists from the city and allowing them the freedoms to make the campgrounds beautiful in their own creative way. There will be a collective of various artists camping with the rest of the attendees all weekend creating all kinds of installations and live art.

Everything will either be made with the nature that is around the campsite or with the consciousness of the nature that surrounds the festival. Journey Through is the alias of fine artist Heath Brodie and was created to remove individual acclaim in order to portray the bigger message of promoting awareness of local environments by using the natural resources that are close at hand.

Black Cassidy is a muralist and multidisciplinary artist based in Houston, Texas whose style is extremely versatile, specializing in a wide variety of mediums and surfaces to paint and draw on. Input Output (@1nput0utput) is a creative lab that researches, designs and develops digital experiences. The artists from Input Output participating in River Revival this year include Gelson, Alex Ramos (@alexramos8485) and Billy Baccam (@waveofthefuture).

“The lights, the look and the feel of the campgrounds will be like an open canvas of creativity on the grounds,” said Splice Founder and Owner Shaun Brennan. “We hope the art and artists will inspire and enhance the beauty of the river. In years past Journey Through made me a bird sculpture from the clay he dug up from the ground at River Revival. That year he also hid a handful of them on the grounds for people to find and keep. He not only camps with us but he constantly creates art from the clay, from the pecans and from other natural things he finds on the grounds and turns into natural paint or ink. He has such a unique perspective of River Revival as he has been there from day one documenting a whole art collection over the years that will be displayed locally in a Houston art gallery after this year’s event.”

“Black Cassidy with the Input Output Creativity Lab has assembled a handful of local artist that research, design and create experiences working with projection mapping, lighting visuals, live painting and who will build art installations that will randomly be displayed and performed all weekend,” said Shaun Brennan. “They are making their River Revival debut this year, they will be camping with us all weekend and I believe they will bring a visual perspective to River Revival that will help create a beautiful camping experience.”

Black Cassidy

Splice Records is also thrilled to announce that Chefs Jason and Becca Kerr (Little Kitchen HTX, Eat My Pralines) will be overseeing the food program and providing meals for campers throughout the entire weekend. Husband and wife culinary duo, Chefs Jason and Becca Kerr run and operate Little Kitchen HTX, a Houston-based catering service that hosts intimate, farm to table dinner and small and large-scale events. They also operate Eat My Pralines, an authentic praline company, located inside Little Kitchen HTX.

Chefs Jason and Becca Kerr

“I met Jason through the tube while watching an episode of Chopped, that showcased a couple of Houston chefs,” said Shaun Brennan. “I thought he was pretty funny on the show and he displayed some incredible skill. I really wanted to meet him around town and I was lucky enough to cross paths with him at a lovely farm to table cooking festival called The Butcher’s Ball. Jason seems very rock ‘n’roll and he is all about cooking and live music.”

“Every once in a while the world invites a person to you that you know you are going to become good friends with,” said Shaun Brennan. “I think everyone on the campgrounds will have that same feeling when they meet Jason and Becca Kerr. Sometimes you choose the festival, but in the case this festival chose them.”

The music lineup for River Revival will include: The Suffers, Bonerama, Jackie Venson, Rosie Ledet and Zydeco the Playboys, Tomar & the FCs, Full Service, John Evans, Buxton, Folk Family Revival, Hector Ward & the Bigtime, Maggie Belle Band, Arthur Yoria, Bayou City Funk, Flower Graves, Tightn’ Up, Swimwear Department and kids entertainer Andyroo and the Andyrooniverse. The late night fireside performances will feature live unplugged music from Vodi, Ancient Cat Society,Pecos Hank, Craig Kinsey, Dem and Tightn’ Up. Listen to a playlist on Spotify of this year’s artists here.

“Assembling a festival musical lineup is not unlike pairing wine with dinner; and in the case of River Revival this year, we’ve complemented nature with music,” said Shaun Brennan. “They all perform on a stage we built 25-35 feet from the Guadalupe River. One could actually watch all the musicians perform from their tube in the Guadalupe River. Does it get any more Texas than that?”

The sponsors and vendors for this year’s River Revival will include: Saint Arnold Brewery, Deep Eddy Vodka, Bloody Revolution, Kind Bars, Sprouts Farmers Market, Kickin Kombucha, Cottonwood Bar, FIX Coffee, Boomtown Coffee, Zanavara, BeanField, Texas Direct Insurance Rick Chester,SignalStars, Kaelin Custom Signs and Printing Winding Road Provisions, Southern Drinking Club, C&D RV, Creamistry, Torresella, Old Humble Distilling Company, Southside Craft Soda,Texas Bee Lady, Gunder & Associates and OnlyinVR.

In collaboration with Saint Arnold Brewing Company, River Revival was created as a place for music lovers to share great times, music, memories, and camaraderie, while enjoying the beauty the Texas hill country has to offer alongside the mighty Guadalupe River. Tickets are all-inclusive and are priced at $250 for a three-day pass, $195 for a two-day pass and $100 for a one-day pass and can be purchased here. Vendor and sponsorship opportunities are also available. If interested, please contact Splice Records at [email protected].

For more information, please see www.splicerecordstx.com/events/river-revival.

“The fourth year of River Revival is shaping up to be the most interesting, dynamic and fun-filled edition of this formerly secret festival that has now blossomed into a nice boutique micro-fest,” said Shaun Brennan. “Having Houston’s own The Suffers be the headliners is something we have wanted to do from day one. They are dear friends and their new album is something we’ve been listening to since it was released. We feel it will complement the scenery perfectly. Knowing they will be the last band to play the main stage for 2018 is sort of a dream come true for us!”

Each year River Revival draws in around a 1,000 conscious campers, all gathered to partake in a variety of activities geared towards bringing people together for a good time. Activities such as intimate campfire concerts, hiking, river floating, canoeing, various workshops, morning yoga sessions, kids music class, activities, a hula-hooping workshop, natural live art exhibits by Journey Through, fire dancing, River Revival giveaways and prizes and so much more.

Whether you camp every weekend or you have never slept in a tent before, River Revival offers a bright light departure with carefully curated artists to enhance everyone’s experience. The design of the festival was created with adults in mind, though children under 10 are free and welcome to attend. Families with children will be assigned a campsite in the family area or across the street at the quieter K&L Camp Cliffside.

River Revival Weekend Activities:

● LIVE MUSIC:
- ● MAIN STAGE—Every evening Thursday – Saturday until midnight
- ● LATE NIGHT FIRESIDE “unplugged” acoustic sets 12:30 – 2 a.m.
● FOR THE ACTIVE: Hiking, tubing, canoeing, paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, rope swings and fishing.
● WORKSHOPS: Nature walk with Pecos Hank
● YOGA: “Darkside of the Moon” Morning Yoga Sessions from Hi-Lo Kick Studio with ChristiWorkman
● KIDS ACTIVITIES: Interactive Kids music performance by AndyRoo and the Andyrooniverse on Saturday morning

● ART: featuring newly designed campgrounds with
- ● Natural live art exhibits by Journey Through
- ● Art installations and projections by Alex Ramos, Black Cassidy, Gelson and Billy Baccam
● GROUP FLOAT: This is provided by an outside outfitter at an extra cost. Tube rental, pickup and drop off are included with an additional price and the float ends at the main stage and then the show begins.
● FLOAT PARADE: A fun new addition to 2018’s River Revival, on Saturday we will host a float competition and parade down the river. There will be live judging and prizes for the most creative float.
● RIVER REVIVAL RADIO: Live radio broadcasted from the campgrounds hosted by comedian, DJ, and River Revival master of ceremonies Mills-McCoin – Commodore of Blue Heron Yacht Club. Music mixed with live sets, guest appearances and campground interviews.River Revival Giveaways and Prizes:
● Most Creative Campsite Award – Tents, campers and campsite creativity is encouraged
● King & Queen Campers Awards – the most enthusiastic Revivalist on the campgrounds getscrowned as the King and Queen of the weekend. It is a very honorable award!
● Should’ve Been at Woodstock Award – the most down to earth hippy soul
● Most Creative Float in the Saturday Float Parade
● Most Creative Style Award

Revival has grown at a very nice pace, and every year the event seems to get better than the “River last,” said Brennan. “We have a strong feeling this year’s event will be no exception. The music and the river have always treated us well. The campgrounds slowly melt together and form a spiritual oasis for three days. This year is unique to past Revivals because the Art and Food Programs will be equally fascinating to the live music.”

About Chefs Jason and Becca Kerr, Little Kitchen HTX and Eat My Pralines:

Chef Jason Kerr has been working in restaurants for almost 30 years – 17 of those have been in Houston. After graduating from an underground culinary school in Austin, Texas in the ‘90s, Kerr moved to Houston and worked with several well-known local chefs before making a name for himself running kitchens like Zula, Cafe Rabelais, the food truck Zilla Street Eats, and Lowbrow. Chef Kerr is known for his meat-centric, lowbrow-take on American comfort food. He is also the co-founder of the annual Butcher’s Ball celebration in Brenham. Kerr now works for Farm to Table and operates the boutique catering business Little Kitchen HTX with his wife Becca Reyenga Kerr of Eat My Pralines.

Eat My Pralines is a small, Houston-based business born from a family recipe for pecan pralines. Winner of Edible Houston’s 2017 Local Hero Award for Best Food Artisan, Becca Reyenga Kerr started the 3-year-old business after seeing the mass appeal and demand for her mom’s homemade pralines. Kerr’s mom, Ruth Ann, is a Louisiana native and has been making these delicacies for years. Eat My Pralines now holds it’s storefront at Little Kitchen HTX in Houston’s beloved Chinatown. Pralines can be purchased and picked up at the storefront, as well as online. See the Eat My Pralines website for more information on products and additional locations/markets where pralines can be purchased.

For more information on Eat My Pralines, please see: www.eatmypralines.com.

In early 2017, Becca Reyenga Kerr of Eat My Pralines and Chef Jason Kerr started a pop-up catering venture called Lowfi Praline. A year later the couple opened their own kitchen in Houston’s beloved Chinatown and now operate the boutique catering business Little Kitchen HTX. The Kerrs specialize in farm dinners, beer dinners and wine dinners, as well as private parties large and small.

For more information on Little Kitchen HTX, please see: www.littlekitchenhtx.com.

About Journey Through:

Journey Through is the alias of fine artist Heath Brodie. It was created to remove individual acclaim in order to portray the bigger message of promoting awareness of local environments by using the natural resources that are close at hand. Journey Through draws inspiration from ancient and indigenous cultures throughout the world to create site-specific artwork in a range of different mediums making the process of creating art as meaningful as the end piece and nature itself. By using the natural world as both palette and paint, Journey Through creates art inspired by the process of how nature transforms and innovates itself as much as how we humans interact with the earth.

Journey Through is an experience of a moment in time from the world that surrounds us. By creating local artwork so everyone can learn to use the resources we have been given within our compass. We have become very removed from our surroundings. Journey Through hopes to open the minds and opportunities for everyone to create something from the world around them! For more information on Journey Through, please see: www.journey-through.com/river-revival.

About Black Cassidy:

Black Cassidy, Muralist and multidisciplinary artist based in Houston, Texas. His style is extremely versatile, specializing in a wide variety of mediums and surfaces to paint and draw on. Currently, he is the Creative Director of BamBull Black, a collective of Houston-based artists that he co-founded with Dom Bam and Hannah Bull; together they curate conceptually immersive and progressive events. For more information on Black Cassidy, please see: www.ohnohedint.com.

About Input Output:

Input Output is a creative lab that researches, designs and develops digital experiences.

For more information on Input Output, please see: www.inputoutput.space.

About Splice Records:

Splice Records was founded in 2014 by a Texas businessman and film producer Shaun Brennan, along with Houston musician and philosopher Craig Kinsey, who fronted the wildly popular and award-winning band The Sideshow Tramps. The pair celebrated the partnership in July 2014 during a sold-out soft launch at Houston’s legendary Fitzgerald’s for the release of Kinsey’s “American Roots & Machines” album. Kinsey and Brennan continue to expand the label by signing Pecos Hank Schyma, John Evans, Ancient Cat Society and Arthur Yoria.

For more information on Splice Records, please see: www.splicerecordstx.com.