Moonsville Collective Step Into The Sun at the Long Beach Folk Revival Festival

Ask yourself this– do you dig craft beer, banjo plucking, pie eating, and artistically crafted beards? September 19th, the Long Beach Folk Revival Festival plans to present all of the above alongside musical guests Deer Tick, He's My Brother, She's My Sister, Legendary Shack Shakers, The Tillers, The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, Lovely Outlaws, Moonsville Collective, and more truly American tunes. From 11a.m. to 11p.m., the Rainbow Lagoon's grassy lawn will serve as a blanket for SoCal tushies enjoying the best in Folk, Roots, Americana, and Bluegrass. Children will flock to the interactive kids area where they will be encouraged to make their own instruments and craft folk journals. Between musical acts be sure to partake in the “Vintage Bazaar” shopping extravaganza and keep your eye out for a square dancing partner to accompany you on the Family Stage (12:30 or 5p.m.). Tickets for $30 will be available for purchase at the door.

We had the chance to catch up with Seth, Ryan, and Corey of Moonsville Collective about their set, upcoming album slated for release next month, and other folky/hipster shenanigans.

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OC Weekly (Taylor Morgan): It's incredible that there are seven members in Moonsville Collective. Is that ever chaotic practicing/performing or does that keep energy soaring? 

Yes and Yes. We are always working to find the best balance of sound.

I read, on your website, that you consider Costa Mesa to be your musical birthplace. How did you all meet and from there how did you cultivate your sound?
Ryan, Seth and Corey all grew up about 15 minutes from each other in Southern LA County, but didn't really start running together until 2008. Seth had moved to Costa Mesa by then, and invited everyone he knew to play music in his backyard which was the beginning of our Backyard Hootenannies. Dan, Seth's dad and our mentor, would kindly let us play with him and mess up his Old-Time tunes with our chunky picking and loud singing. He then let us visit his gold mine in Los Osos, CA where there is a strong Old-Time music community. They took us in and inspired us. A few years later, we came out with our first record. Since then we've been modifying and polishing, adding a bit of bigness and groove here and there while never losing grip of the roots.

What advice would you give to beginning musicians? Especially those interested in pursuing old time, folk, country and rhythm and blues. 
'Old fashioned' doesn't always equate to 'authentic'.  Emulating your favorite artist(s) is just the vehicle to finding out what kind of artist you are. It doesn't end there. It takes time, and we are all in it.

When you're not performing what can we find you doing in OC? 
Matt and Drew (mandolin N drums) both live in Orange County. It's either work or family time. The rest of us weave in and out of Orange County on a pretty regular basis, usually to get to work or take a dip in the sea.

Tell me about your album slated for release this October– 
The album is about love, rambling, death, partying, settling down, ache and fun. We wrote about what we know. It's been an evolutionary year as a band, musically and personally, and our new album is a sonic document of that growth. Our music runs a few different rivers of style into one lake. We call that lake “California Goodtime” and our new album, “Heavy Howl” defines that.

What can fans expect from your performance at the Long Beach Folk Revival?
They can expect it to be hot . We play around noon, so bring an umbrella.

Will you partake in the beer/mustache contest? Who are you excited to see perform? 
Our beards/mustaches/stubble are nothing to write home about, so that's a little unlikely.
We're excited to watch Smooth Hound Smith this year and we always enjoy listening The Good Luck Thrift Store.

See also:
The 50 Best Things About the OC Music Scene
The 50 Worst Things About the OC Music Scene
The 25 Greatest OC Bands of All Time: The Complete List

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