35 Denton (formerly NX35 and 35 Conferette) was an annual 3-day music festival that took place in the burgeoning arts corridor of downtown Denton, Texas. The festival was programmed each March the week prior to the music portion of SXSW in Austin, Texas.
During SXSW 2005, festival founder Chris Flemmons planted the seeds of 35 Denton in the soil of Big Red Sun, a floral design boutique in Austin. Thirteen Denton acts performed on a stage in the business's outdoor garden for an invite-only crowd of international journalists and industry types. The beer was free, the Tex-Mex was homemade, and the goal was uncomplicated: Show the world what Denton's all about. Flemmons called the event NX35: The Afternoon Party of the Other, Smaller, Music Town in Texas. In 2006, it took place at Club DeVille, and in 2007 and 2008, the party moved to Momo's. Some notable performers from the event's years in Austin include Centro-matic's Will Johnson, Midlake, Sarah Jaffe, and the Baptist Generals.
2009 – 2016: The Denton Years
In 2009, after four years in Austin, Flemmons and a small staff of volunteers brought the day party home and turned it into a multi-day festival. The goal of showcasing Denton's performers and people did not change, but the name did: NX35 Music Conferette, which opened with a keynote address led by American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar.[1] Before the inaugural festival ended, more than 4000 people had watched over 120 acts play on the stages of Denton's numerous clubs and coffeeshops.
In 2010, more than 250 acts performed on and around Denton's downtown square – to an estimated audience of 20,000 people. The event began with keynote speaker Steve Albini and featured a now storied[2] free Saturday night performance by the Flaming Lips and Denton's own Midlake at the North Texas Fairgrounds. Also instituted this year was daytime programming with speakers and panels addressing a broad range of topics concerning cultural planning, urban development, gender issues, tech entrepreneurship, and the music, art, and film industries. This programming emerged as one of the recurring highlights of the festival. Other notable performers from this era include Neon Indian, Centro-matic, HEALTH, The Black Angels, The Baptist Generals, Brave Combo, Sarah Jaffe, Monotonix, Riverboat Gamblers, Shiny Around the Edges, and True Widow.
In 2011, the festival changed its name to 35 Conferette. The name wasn't the only big change, as the fest expanded into the streets of downtown Denton with the addition of three outdoor stages, one of which was on the courthouse lawn. Performers included a growing roster of national talent like Big Boi, Mavis Staples, Dr. Dog, Reggie Watts, Japanther, and Damien Jurado. In the months that followed, 35 Conferette was named Best Promotional Event of 2011 by the Texas Downtown Association. Festival founder Chris Flemmons handed the event's future to a new leadership staff led by Creative Director Kyle La Valley and Programming Director, Natalie Dávila. The festival's name changed to 35 Denton in July 2011.[3]
After 2013, La Valley and Dávila left the festival leadership and the organization's primary investors withdrew funding.[4] The festival did not take place in 2014, opting instead to take a year off to reorganize and locate new investors. During this time, a new Denton music festival in Oaktopia was formed to run opposite 35 Denton in the fall of each year.
The 2017 event was canceled without firm plans to revive the festival.[5]
Evolution of a brand
NX35 Music Conferette 2009 Banner with Logo
NX35 Music Conferette 2010 Banner with Logo
35 Denton Music Festival 2012 Logo
35 Denton Music Festival 2013 Logo
35 Denton Music Festival 2016 Logo
An interesting aspect of the festival is its evolving name and image. Each change reflected either a need to distinguish the festival from SXSW or of the evolving core staff crew that led the event.[6]
"Drink and Think: Is Midlake Better Than Miley Cyrus?"; (If, how so? If not, then what the hell are we doing?)
Saturday
"The Ever Shifting Live Music Landscape in DFW"
"The Changing Nature of Music Journalism"
Sunday
"Words and Music By:"
"40 Bands/80 Minutes!"
"Many Songs Told"
The Eight Track Museum:
Earotica Music storeowner and music producer Bucks Burnett brought his extensive and unusual eight track collection to NX35.
The event presented rare tapes, promotional materials, and ephemera related to the popular history of the format. Materials of note within the museum collection include 500 sealed eight tracks by The Rutles (with the original shipping cartons), a three-pack eight track box set of recordings by The Beatles, and thirty sealed eight tracks by Elvis Presley (in their original RCA Records shipping carton).
In conjunction with the exhibition opening, Burnett curates a special exhibition entitled "Metal Machine Music: 35 Years" focused on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the release of Lou Reed's infamous 1975 double album, featuring eight tracks of many of Reed's legendary projects and associates, including rare sealed tapes from The Velvet Underground, Nico, and more.
In May 2012, 35 Denton announced a one-day end of summer party to take place on September 1, 2012 entitled 'The Hot Wet Mess.' The festival's first venture into event production outside the 35 Denton festival took place at the North Texas Fairgrounds and featured Black Lips, No Age, Reggie Watts, Big Freedia, Unknown Mortal Orchestra as well as local acts Fergus & Geronimo, DJ Sober and RTB2. The event was sponsored by Vitamin Water and Corona Light, and consisted of attractions such as a water slide to overlook the stage.
Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 20th-most populous city in Texas, the 177th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
The U.S. state of Texas has long been a center for musical innovation and is the birthplace of many notable musicians. Texans have pioneered developments in Tejano and Conjunto music, Rock 'n Roll, Western swing, jazz, Piano, punk rock, country, hip-hop, electronic music, gothic industrial music, religious music, mariachi, psychedelic rock, zydeco and the blues.
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Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, on two consecutive three-day weekends and is inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series Austin City Limits. The festival is produced by Austin-based company C3 Presents, which also produces Chicago’s Lollapalooza.
The Austin Aqua Festival was a ten-day festival held the first week of August on the shores of Town Lake in Austin, Texas from 1962 until 1998.
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both scope and size every year. In 2017, the conference lasted for 10 days with the interactive track lasting for five days, music for seven days, and film for nine days. There was no in-person event in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin; in both years there was a smaller online event instead.
Midlake is an American folk rock band from Denton, Texas, formed in 1999. The band consists of Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Scott Lee, Eric Nichelson, Jesse Chandler, and Joey McClellan.
The Baptist Generals are an American indie band from the town of Denton, Texas.
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Sarah Allison Jaffe is an American singer-songwriter from Denton, Texas. Known for her distinctively clear vocals, she has worked as a singer-songwriter across many musical genres, including acoustic-folk, indie pop and hip hop.
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