Rothbury unveils Think Tank program

By Nick Frazier

Every big music festival pays lip service to sustainability and green practices, but the upcoming Rothbury Festival (July 3-6, Rothbury MI) is looking to differentiate itself by devoting a complete program of panel discussions, workshops and hands on activities to the environmental awareness.

The festival today announced details for the Think Tank program. Sessions run all afternoon Friday, Saturday and Sunday in three venues around the JJ Ranch site. A distinguished faculty of environmental leaders—Eban Goodstein, Hunter Lovins, Stephen Schneider and lots more—will host the panels.

Typical session topics include "The Path to Energy Independence and a New American Energy Revolution" and "How America's Youth Are Driving the Energy Revolution." Several of the sessions feature a "focus on the festival" in looking to apply global topics to the festival experience.

Some sessions will also feature musical guests such as Michael Franti, Citzen Cope and others. The nationally syndicated radio program eTown will provide coverage from the conference that will air on XM and 240 radio outlets following the festival.

Speaking of music, the festival also announced more additions to the music lineup, most notably Trey Anastasio (formerly of Phish). Also added: Kraak & Smaak, Underground Orchestra, DJ Harry, Pnuma LIve and Fiction Plane.

The complete lineup, which is headed by Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic and John Mayer, remains one of the best music menus of the summer, so you have to wonder how many Rothbury attendees are going to sacrifice seeing bands for attending the Think Tank. The detailed music schedule has not yet been posted by the festival, so it isn't possible to see what the conflicts will be.

Hopefully, for many attendees, the conference sessions will provide a change of pace and they will take the time to attend a couple of the panels. Rothbury deserves credit for devoting resources and attention to raising awareness, and it will be interesting to see what kind of impact the conference has on the festival audience and the rock music market generally.