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Down here in Austin, people love their dogs. I mean LOVE their pups, but there are many dogs to be adopted and taken into great homes. Recently, we gave a couple sets of bandanas to the Austin Humane Society to give the pups some “flare” to intice adoptions. Check out some of the photos of these cute rescue dogs sporting a SLT bandana!

Good luck! — @SweetLeafDanny

As I sit here, two days after ACL, with my feet covered in blisters and a sunburnt nose, I can only look back on this past weekend and smile. If someone were to ask me a week ago if I were attending the Austin City Limits Music Festival, I would have had to answer reluctantly that I would not be even though my love for music and especially my love for many of the attending artists is immense. But, much to my own very pleasant surprise, last Thursday evening, as I was checking my e-mail inbox after a long day of work, I found out that I had won two 3-day passes to the festival. The wonderful Brand Marketing Manager, Charla Adams, left me a simple yet sweet message that made me jump up and down, squealing, while my dog stared at me as if I were a crazy person. I contacted Charla immediately and soon, ticket pick-up plans were made, work shifts were covered, and before I knew it, I was on my way to the festival!

Attending my very first ACL was truly an experience which I will sweetly keep in my heart for years to come. I know that not everyone was fortunate enough to attend the festival, therefore, if you were not one of the approximate 65,000 individuals daily at ACL, allow me to give you my run down of the three-day musical spectacular that was the Austin City Limits Festival of 2010. To be completely honest, there really wasn’t much about the festival that one could complain about or dislike. With the temperature highs reaching the upper 80s/lower 90s, and the skies reaching the bluest of baby blues with only a few wispy clouds lazily hanging around, the weather could be described as perfect. Zilker Park, in all its natural beauty, was blanketed in a colorful sea of umbrellas and quilts as festival-goers relaxed while listening to a wide selection of musical acts. But the music wasn’t the only thing in abundance at ACL and I was actually quite surprised at the amazing food vendor selections. Being new to Austin, it was nice to be able to try some new restaurants by simply walking from one booth to the next as opposed to driving around town! Another cool feature of the festival was the extensive art section that included some very talented jewelry designers, painters, and other artists displaying their unique items in small, adjoining tents. It was fun to walk through the booths, talk to the artists and look at interesting pieces of work while waiting for the next band I would like to see. But of course, the most note-worthy aspect of the festival was the music!

The artists at my first ACL included an amazing mix of more widely-known artists such as Muse, Silversun Pickups, and The Black Keys fused with some up-and-coming gems that included Miike Snow, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, and Two Door Cinema Club. Being a music fanatic, I was worried that some of the smaller bands would be overlooked by many due to their alternative sound and their under-exposure. Therefore, I was in shock to see how many individuals actually came out to support these bands and were loyal fans, just like me! This really solidified in me that Austinites are true music enthusiasts, and that they know their stuff! It was an amazing feeling being engulfed in a crowd of people, all diverse individuals in many ways, yet all dancing and singing to the same song; that was the true beauty of the festival! Along with the Sweet Leaf balloons playfully bopping up and down through the crowd, it really was a truly unique and amazing weekend for me.

When I look back at my first ACL weekend, I will always smile and remember the good times, the good tunes and the good people. But most importantly, I will always remember sipping crisp Sweet Leaf Tea and knowing that without them, my amazing memories would not be possible. I would like to again thank Sweet Leaf Tea for giving me the opportunity to attend the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Rest assured they have found a lifelong supporter in me!

I cannot wait for ACL next year. My mind is already running wild wondering which bands will be in attendance. I truly believe that music is one of the only constants in our lives that keeps our souls afloat and our minds sane and festivals give us a way to share that feeling with friends, new and old. I am so thankful that I was able to attend this year and let me be the first one to tell you …

Only 363 days until ACL 2011! See y’all there, with a Sweet Leaf in hand!

Peace, Love, and Music,

Olga Rose

Hey music lovers! ACL is coming up THIS WEEK!  WOOT WOOT!

Personally, I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than laying out on the Zilker grass, drinking an ice cold Mint & Honey Sweet Leaf [maybe mixed with some "water" I brought in], and watching The Strokes……..UNLESS, I was playing along to “Is This It” on my BRAND NEW SWEET LEAF EPIPHONE GUITAR!

Thanks to Epiphone, this ACL we are giving YOU the chance to win THIS BABY, and all you have to do is take a sweet pic at ACL and upload the photo to www.sweetleafsweetspot.com or post it on twitter and attaching #sweetleafsweetspot + #acl.

Stop by one of the two Sweet Leaf Tea Booths and look for this [see below] to learn more.  We are also creating a few “Sweet Leaf Sweet Spots” each day across Zilker where we will be giving out TEA, STICKERS, SWEET LEAF LIPBALMS, and mini Epiphone TATTOOS!  We will be walking around the park with a guitar cutout during the day so you can snap a few photos with it and enter it into the Sweet Spot contest!  Click HERE for more details.  Can’t wait to see ya’ll around ZILKER!  – @SweetLeafDanny

Oh Yeah!  Follow @Epiphone and @gibsonaustin for ACL updates and festival tidbits.  They are really cool peeps!

Sweet Beats!

Hi Sweet Leaf Friends!  Innovation Manager Megan here.  So for my A.C.L. pick, I think it’s only appropriate to recognize a very innovative artist set to hit the stage in Zilker this year:  British/Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A.

If you don’t know M.I.A. well, you may recognize her as:

A)    The female rapper whose did that song with the gun shots in Slumdog Millionaire. (a.k.a. “Paper Planes”)

B)   That pregnant woman in the ladybug outfit rapping with Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Jay Z at the Grammy’s.  Oh yes, she’s got Bjork-like fashion chutzpah.

Here’s what’s instore for you at her show:  a danceable mix of hip-hop, electronic, various kinds of world music, rock, and whatever she happens to be into at the moment…AND a deep undercurrent of political messages focusing on war-torn communities and third-world issues.  M.I.A. grew up during the Sri Lankan Civil War, which paid a heavy toll on her family and has influenced her as a musician, activist, and philanthropist.  (Read more here.)  Don’t miss her high-energy, thumping show at 8:30-9:30pm on Saturday at the AMD stage.

Sweet Eats!

After the show, head over to G’Raj Mahal, one of the many popular eateries in the Austin trailer movement that’s sweeping the city.  Great Indian food, with a focus on organic and local sourcing, and open until 3am on Saturdays.  Pop next door for a drink at Lustre Pearl, a funky old house turned bar with a great back yard.  Make sure to take a few spins on the hula hoops!

Howdy! It’s that time of year again when we’re all hella-busy getting our ACL schedules ironed out. You never want to miss a show by having to walk a million miles across Zilker Park to the next stage, and it’s bound to happen. Did you get stuck in the Dillo Dirt of 2009? It really made traffic across that place a challenge. This year we are going to think positively and if it rains, we’ll still be cool, right? We won’t miss shows because of any “mud”.

Well, when you’re building the purrrrrrfect schedule be sure to keep the following musical geniuses in mind:

FRIDAY:

Sonic Youth – Kim and Thurston are 2 of the coolest rockers out there and have been plugging away at what they do since I was in the first grade. (1981 in case you were dying to know.) I actually had the honor of meeting Kim and Thurston one day at Whole Foods Market a couple of years ago. We discussed the best place to go for a burger in town (at the time my argument was for Casino El Camino because I noticed they were reading the latest version of the “Fearless Critic“. They asked me where the closest bus stop was and after telling them, I got my car, and swung around to the bus stop and picked them up myself. We discussed Austin hipsters vs. Minneapolis hipsters and I shared my ATX hipster theory with Thurston: take a handful of rocks and throw them out of your car window and you will hit one. Thurston laughed but argued that there were way more in Austin than in MN. He’s probably right…Anyways, if you have the time, go see them play.

Sonic Youth – Kool Thing
Uploaded by universalmusicbelgique. – Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Phish – Have you seen this band before? What? You haven’t? Why? Because you’re not into the Grateful Dead or other jam bands? Well I wasn’t into that either until I got dragged to a Phish show at the now defunct-but-chock-full-of-shopping-goodness Southpark Meadows back in 1997. (The last Phish show I saw was 1999, check out that set list!) My buddy Dave had been talking about how great they were and how I needed to see them. He finally convinced me by saying, “you like anything with a “scene” involved, and there is one hell of a scene! You’ll never get to experience the parking lot party at a Dead show, so come see Phish. If you hate it, I won’t make you pay me back for the ticket.” Well, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED every wacky, sweaty, swirly second of the experience and that means that I can’t WAIT to see them fire it up here in Austin for a killa 2 hour set. If you see me spinning, don’t sweat it. I’m fine! Just look at the smile on my face!!

SATURDAY:

LCD Soundsystem – If you are faithful reader of my blog posts then you know how much I love these guys! When they were here back in June, I had the honor to meet James Murphy, tell him how his voice has the power to make me melt and that I had the insane urge to tug on his beard. He introduced himself to me, because what kind of crazy rock star wouldn’t want to actually know who the big-mouthed, crazy chick, that had the guts to grab his beard with both hands, pat him on the face and walk away was. And yes, that’s exactly what I did. That being said, get up there and dance yourself clean, you’ll be happy that you did! Trust me when I say there is a lot you can do with an hour-long LCD set.

Oh yeah, what about the EATS?

If you find yourself cruising Dirty 6th for an after-party/show, allow me to suggest trying Casino El Camino for burgers or Parkside. Do yourself a favor by going to Parkside. The gazpacho is amazing as is everything I’ve ever tried here. They are open late & even have fancy cocktails!

Wondering about one of the many fantastic food trucks around town? Dude, check out Kebabalicious! I didn’t discover them until last year during ACL and their gyro meat is so good, that it’ll have you craving it for months afterward. Sad thing is, you’ll go to other Greek/Mediterranean places thinking you’ll find something as kebab-wait for it-alicious as what you had at the truck and it’s just going to disappoint. Don’t be sad little monkey, just find one of the 2 trucks. You’ll thank me later. Just don’t walk up to me during Phish..you might get knocked out by my giant hula hoop.

See you at Zilker and be sure to follow my tweets of fun: @SweetLeafApril

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