The Giving Tree Band

The giving tree band will be having their CD release show to debut their first completely carbon free album, Great Possesions. Their CD Release show will start at 6pm and end at 8pm. The Giving Tree Band will be our headliner of the Carbon Day Holiday Festival.

• The Giving Tree Band is a group of Illinois boys who keep one foot in the city and one in the country. Every lyric is thoughtful and supported by intricate vocal harmonies and interesting musical arrangements influenced by the group’s diverse backgrounds in rock, jazz, and classical music. Described as progressive old time, outlaw bluegrass, and even “eco-billy hippie folk”, their all-acoustic sound is always exploring new ground. Using songwriting and performing as a vehicle for community service, the band does its best to promote a culture of sustainability and peace.

Bio of Great Possesions: Years back, the idea was born to go deep into the woods to write and record music while living harmoniously with nature, and then to produce and distribute that music without harming the planet in the process. Great Posessions is the manifestation of that dream. For one month, The Giving Tree Band camped in Wisconsin’s Mirror Lake State Park, ate local organic produce, and rode bikes more that 500 miles total, commuting to and from the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center- the first building to be recognized as carbon nuetral by the US Green Building Council. Using only solar energy, they recorded their indie folk music with acoustic instruments built naturally fallen trees. Since then, CD’s have been manufactured with renewable wind energy, packaged with 100% recycled materials, printed with veggie innks, and “shrink wrapped” with biodegradable corn cellulose. And trees will be planted to offset pollution created from shipping. There is a communal spirit and timeless quality to this music, which resonates as something honest and real, something kind of sincere, and something  hopeful and familiar. With Great Possesions, a dream is shared and a common vision remembered. But the album doesn’t preach. It simply inspires.

Cobalt & The Hired Guns

Cobalt & The Hired Guns will be the second headliner of the Carbon Day Festival. They are playing at 4:20pm.

• Bio-Cobalt & the Hired Guns is a boot-stompin’, tambourine-shakin’, irresistibly genuine good time. Seamlessly blending upbeat genres from Americana to Ska, this dynamic four piece puts on a rambunctious show filled with sharp musicianship and emotion. Cobalt & the Hired Guns is about love and guts, energy and enthusiasm – refusing to pretend they aren’t having fun. Their new record Jump the Fence, created at Chicago Recording Company with producer/engineer Brian Humphrey (State Radio, The Hives, Stephen Kellogg), is a fresh blend of dance-fueling vigor and introspective sentiment. Jump the Fence is also a carbon neutral album – all of the greenhouse gases associated with the recording, production, and direct promotion of the CD were offset via investments in wind energy.

Stage Schedule

10:45am Speaker: Karen May (State of IL Representative

11:00am Speaker: Susan Malec-McKenna (Commissioner of the Environment

11:30 am Evolution of Rhythm: Reid Muchow

12:30pm The Roots Rockers

1:45pm Toad King

3:00pm Jaik Willis

4:20pm Cobalt & The Hired Guns

6:00pm The Giving Tree Band (CD Release of First Completely Carbon Nuetral Album: Great Posessions)