NORTHBOUND & DOWN
Music festival coming to Salado next month
The up-and-coming Indie rock band Popsiclestickairport will be one of the bands performing at next month’s Northbound & Down Music Festival at Barrow Brewing in Salado.
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
Get ready for some cold beer and hot music.
The fourth annual Northbound & Down Music Festival will take place March 18-19 at Barrow Brewing Company in Salado, and the musical lineup includes talent from around the state and as far away as New York City.
“For the past several years, Barrow Brewing has held Northbound & Down as an alternative to the frenzy of activity happening in Austin during the South-by-Southwest Music Festival,” said KD Hill, co-owner of the popular Salado brewery.
“It is an opportunity for Barrow to host musicians that normally would not be in this part of the world,” she said. “Bands in the past have told us they are delighted with the small town atmosphere, family friendly nature and overall slower pace they find when performing in Salado.”
This year, there is no charge for the event, a move Hill hopes “will encourage more people to visit Salado and enjoy the music.”
Salado is a certified Texas Music Friendly Community and Barrow is a member of the Music Association of Central Texas. KD and her husband, fellow Barrow Brewing co-owner Graydon Hill, say venues like theirs can foster creativity and a sense of community.
“The village will have shuttle service running all weekend,” she said. “Bring your own lawn chairs and blankets to spread out on the brewery grounds and enjoy the entertainment, and of course, great craft beer.”
New York-based Nisa, opens the festival on March 18 at 2 p.m. Her debut album, Guilt Trip, released in 2021 and her latest EP, Exaggerate, are described as adrenaline-inducing and energetic.
Boy Golden, the founder, minister and principal songwriter at The Church of Better Daze, takes the John Deere stage at 3:30 p.m.
“His songs, like hymns, are hopeful, fresh and upbeat,” KD said.
Popsiclestickairport, a five-piece Indie rock band from Arizona, will deliver a captivating, high-energy performance reminiscent of The 1975, Wallows or Bleachers. The group is always a crowd favorite.
At 6:30 p.m., Clayton Walker, a Mississippi native and the driving force behind dream-rock project Rock Eupora takes the stage, and Saturday night comes to a close with a performance by Southern rockers Rhinestone Pickup Truck.
In addition to music, the brewery will be hosting vendors, food trucks and fun activities for the entire family all day Saturday.
“Sunday will be pared down with live music at 2 p.m. from Neopolitan, an alt-rock band from Austin,” KD said.
According to KD, Northbound & Down was inspired by Alissa McClure, founder and director of Salado Montessori School.
“Alissa had a lot of contacts in the music world,” KD said today. “Since a lot of International bands are in Texas this time of the year for SXSW in Austin, we decided to see if some would be interested in driving north to Salado.”
The festival serves as a fundraiser for Salado Montessori.
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March is going to be a busy month at Barrow Brewing.
“Our seven-year anniversary is April 1, and we will be planning for a big event with that,” KD said. “And, we’re hosting the first ever Texas Pizza Festival on March 4. We have a lot of good times coming our way.”
“The Texas Pizza Festival idea was brought to us by Frank Riggle, co-owner of Bahler Street Pizza,” she said. “Working together, it took us a minute to figure out the logistics to make this work, but we are hoping for a successful first year, and we already have plans to make next year's festival better.”
Bahler Street will be one of five of Central Texas best pizza trucks participating in the festival. Others include Treno Pizzeria, Happy Pizza, Pizza Pieros and Stony’s Pizza.
“We are limiting the event to pizza makers who meet three criteria: they must be mobile, wood-fired and from Central Texas,” KD said.
The festival will feature a friendly competition between the pizza businesses to see which is the most popular with visitors. Tickets to the event include tokens, and each token can be redeemed for a slice of pizza. The vendor with the most tokens at the end of the competition — about 5 p.m. — will win a pizza-themed award.
Tickets can be purchased at centraltexastickets.com. Additional tokens can be purchased at the festival.
Two of Central Texas’ top bands will be appearing at the festival, including Austin-based Automatic Weekend and Temple-based Madstone, a crowd favorite in the area.
Automatic Weekend, a Laredo band that recently moved to Austin, is known for its hard-hitting South Texas rock ’n’ roll that blends rock with country and soul. Madstone plays a blend of country, and classic and Southern rock.
“We are so excited about the Texas Pizza Festival,” KD said. “We want to showcase the different wood-fired pizza concepts. They are all pizzas, but they are very different.”
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