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It’s now 9 days away and I am already starting to recall the sights and sounds of one of my favorite music festivals taking place in one of my favorite cities.

Sweet Beats

Phoenix is a band that I was introduced to by my past boss, Clayton Christopher. Scrambling one day to get him tickets for an Austin show, I decided to take a minute to listen to one their songs. Ever since then I’ve been hooked. Now it’s finally my turn to see them live! Soundgarden is one of those bands that immediately takes me back to early 90s MTV (when they still showed music videos). This should be a great time to see these guys back together and rocking it out under the Chicago skyline. As she returns to a land that once in 2007 no one really knew who she was, Lady Gaga is back at Lollapalooza! I am looking forward to the music, art and the crazy fashion sense she brings to the stage.

Sweet Eats

When we arrived in Chicago for last year’s Lollapalooza, co-workers and I stumbled upon a pizza and pasta joint in the heart of the city called Giordano’s. After the plane ride we needed to eat something to carb us up for the weekend ahead. I have a strong feeling that I will need to do the same this year. Friends Sushi – is just that. Great Sushi with friends on a street side patio was awesome. Let’s see if we will get a chance to do it again. Chow town is the food court at Lollapalooza that offers a wide variety of the local eateries in Chicago. I have always been huge fan of vendor food. That being said, the most food I will eat during the entire trip comes from the festival.

Ahhhh, how I love the month of August so. No, not because I love the sweltering Texas heat, no not because school is back in session and traffic begins to suck again….no, it’s because I get to enjoy some of the best shows of the year at LOLLAPALOOZA and explore the amazing city of Chicago. You will see me fighting to the front of the stage for Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Arcade Fire, Phoenix, The Black Keys, The National, Yeasayer, Metric, and the list goes on and on. In between the shows I will be grubbing down on Chicago dogs from Superdawg, The Uno’s Deep Dish Sundae, and plates of sushi at Friends. But as hard as it was, I needed to single out my one top eat and top beat for all you readers out there. So here you go…

Sweet Eats

Wow Bao. Bow chica bow wowww. I found this little restaurant on my first trip to Chicago. My fellow immature coworkers and I loved the sign outside advertising “hot asian buns”. I absolutely fell in love with these small steamed creations and look forward to them all year long. The teriyaki chicken bao is to die for as well as the bbq pork. However, my favorite is the coconut custard bao. Sooo yummm. As much as I miss this place year round, I don’t even want to know how many pounds I would put on if there were one in Austin.

Sweet Beats

The xx.

I bought this cd at the beginning of the year and I have yet to tire of it. Every single track is amazing. Whether I am cleaning the house, laying out at the pool, or running my dog I can jam out to this cd. The lyrics capture your attention and the sound leaves you begging for more. So do yourself a solid and don’t miss this show!

Oh yeah, follow me on twitter to get the scoop about some cool events and my dog Bently! – @SweetLeafBarber

It’s true. The cat is out of the bag. The 2010 line-up for Lollapalooza August 6-8 in Chicago has been released to the world. And boy, oh boy, I couldn’t be more ecstatic! How does this sound for starters: Spoon (personal fave), Phoenix (I’ll finally get to see them!), MGMT (hot with new release), Black Keys (jam), Los Amigos Invisibles (a little espanol to mix it up) and this is a big surprise—Lady Gaga (Dan’s personal fave)!

Not to mention there’s quite a few bands that have a liking for animals and therefore must be good such as Frightened Rabbit, Deer Tick (although I’m not a fan of ticks), Wolfmother (makes me think of Jacob), both Grizzly Bear and Minus the Bear, and the list goes on. Seriously, there are a lot of animal references in this line-up. In fact, the tea drinker with the best answers to these 3 questions will win a 12-pack of their favorite flavor.

1. How many animal named bands are there on the 2010 line-up?

2. Which band are you most excited to see?

3. Why does this band rock your world?

It’s pretty simple music lovers. Get on it and win. (Send your answers to sltfan@sweetleaftea.com)

Oh, and be sure to stay tuned for contests and Lollapalooza ala Sweet Leaf updates. We plan on making this year at Lolla one that you and the tea’m won’t forget!

Well here we are, folks.

The end of 2009 is finally upon us, even if it feels like just yesterday that we were celebrating it’s beginning.  This year has truly been an amazing year packed with festivals, traveling, and all-around good times, and since everyone else is doing it, I thought I would reminisce my top nine things/events/moments/trips of 2009 for anyone that’s bored enough to read it.

Here we go (in no particular order):

• Girl Talk at Rothbury Music Festival: Hands down my favorite festival moment of 2009. Before this year, I had never ventured to the land of Michigan, much less a camping-style music festival, and for both of those reasons, Rothbury was an amazing experience. The highlight of the entire weekend was seeing Girl Talk at the Sherwood Court stage at 2 in the morning. Every one of the thousands of people in the crowd was dancing big, but there was enough room not to bump into each other. The music and energy really sucked us in. ‘Til 5AM. It was nuts. My brain a-splode.
  

  Girl Talk making brains a-splode at Rothbury Music Fest

• Sonoma Wine Country: Another first for me. Before I visited and took a winery tour, I never truly appreciated wine. Learning the process up close and personal did that for me. And if you’ve never experienced the wine country, you need to. Its gorgeous.
  

  The vineyards at Ravenswood in Sonoma, CA

• City Museum in St. Louis, MO: Yet another maiden voyage for me this year. Other than Chicago (for Lollapalooza), I haven’t spend a great deal of time in the midwest, but work brought me to St. Louis for Life is Good Festival. I had a few hours to kill before hopping back on my flight back to Austin, so I chose to venture to the City Museum.  The best way to describe it is like a giant playground for all ages — tunnels, caves, slides, and other structures made from junk that are all seamlessly put together in the old 11-story International Shoe Company warehouse building. They have a freaking 10-story spiral slide made from the old package chute. Awesome.
  

  City Museum in St. Louis, MO

• Monolith Festival / Denver Trip: Back in September, a fairly sizable group of my Austin friends ventured to Denver to catch the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks, and despite the less-than-perfect weather (constant rain and cold), we had an amazing time. It was almost a religious experience to see some of my favorite bands (and some new favorites) at such a beautiful venue with the world’s best natural acoustics.
  

  Monolith Music Fest at Red Rocks Amphitheater

• Photography: I’ve always been a shutterbug, but this year is the first in which I’ve ever owned the proper equipment. Last winter, I got my hands on a Nikon D60 and haven’t been able to put the damn thing down. Since 1/1/09, I’ve taken over 16,000 photos, 5,500 of which were usable. Yeesh! It’s a time and resource suck, but its a hobby I’ve really come to enjoy.
• Music Music Music Music Music: 2009 was an awesome year for music. For me, it was more about new bands and sounds that I discovered either through events like SXSW or through recommendation of friends. Albums that were on repeat all year:
  • Matt & Kim - Grand
  • Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
  • Passion Pit – Manners
  • Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11
  • Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster
  • White Denim – Fits
  • T-Bird and the Breaks – Learn About It
  • Astronautalis – Pomegranate
• Twitter: The Twitterverse really took off this year.  I never thought I would allow myself to admit it, but, to be honest, Twitter has changed my life. True, I can admit that I’ve become somewhat of a social media whore, but I really believe that it has revolutionized the way people interact and exchange information. The kicker for me has been experiencing this medium translate social media in the online realm into in-real-life relationships, business-related and otherwise. This phenomenon leads me to the next item on my list…

• My friends (the #HTM): Never before have I met such an interrelated group of people who love life just as much as the next person. With a common interest in live music, we’re also all immersed in the world of marketing/promotion in some form or fashion. Looking forward to the future with these cats, and to think we all came into each other’s lives through some extension of social networking. That’s just silly.
• My Tea’m: Majority of this list wouldn’t have been possible without having worked for Sweet Leaf Tea. I know I sound like I’m just preaching the cool-aid, but I’m being serious. The people I work with are incredible, and I’m thankful every day that I get to promote a brand that I believe in. We’ve been through a lot of changes and faced some intense challenges, but its incredible to think about where we’ve come from and, even more so, where we’re going. The adventure continues!

So there it is: My Top 9 of 2009. Looking forward to another great year in 2010, even if I’m doubtful that I can ever get used to saying ‘twenty-ten’.

Happy New Year!

Post by Jon Edwards; Intern/Balloon-Launching Bad-Ass.

Hey there Sweet Leaf readers!  It is now two days post ACL Fest 2009, and I think my body has finally recovered.  What a weekend!

Just getting everything ready for ACL was a job in itself, but I learned a lot.  I got to set up the booths and do some work in the VIP and artist lounges.  We were cruising around in the only yellow golf cart to make it happen!

It’s great to see how many local businesses and people love and support SLT.  I can’t even begin to guess how many people screamed out “Yeah! Sweet Leaf!” over the course of the weekend.  Keep on sporting those SLT bandannas and thanks to all the people that let us tattoo you!

“Impostor Granny” was a big hit.  Thanks to all you guys for rocking out and taking pics with me in my Granny costume.  It was a pretty close resemblance to the real Granny, besides my giant beard.  If you caught me at the rock band booth, you may have had a taste of Granny’s sweet Pearl Jam voice.  Not quite like Eddie Vedder but with just as much enthusiasm!

If any of you were there, you probably saw some of our balloon launches!  We launched giant balloons at about 15 different shows filled with confetti and glow sticks.  That was a lot of fun because I’d get to stick around for a few songs and hang out.  I got to see some of my favorites like Thievery Corporation, STS9, Girl Talk, Pearl Jam, and Ghostland Observatory.  I even got backstage for Phoenix!

It was great how the rain and mud didn’t slow people down but it was a shame about all that awesome new grass they planted in Zilker Park that got squished.  I am hopeful that they’ll re-sod it.  By the end the festival people were slip and sliding down hills and walking barefoot through the mud.

Thankfully, the festival went on rain or shine, just like they promised. For all of you that actually made it to the festival, congratulations on surviving!  For all the rest of you that wish you could have been there, check out the Sweet Leaf Tea website soon for picture updates.

Thanks for reading and check back soon!

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