The last time you got a text that read, “Hey, we’re throwing a party, and by the way, there will be singing and playing instruments at it,” it was probably from your wanna-be musician friends who interpret the word “instrument” rather loosely. But those words are actually how Justin Mayfield, co-owner of Kitchen Table Promotion, describes the Locals Only music festival.
On Friday night, this city’s musical forces will join together to perform and party with locals for an all-around helluva night put together by Kitchen Table Promotion.
“(We) correlated an idea to throw a music festival of sorts on Nov. 30 for no reason other than we think that music in Columbia is particularly good,” Mayfield says. “We want to give the people of Columbia the opportunity to support the bands.”
The 18+ party gets started at 8 p.m. and goes until close at Roxy’s, located above The Penguin Dueling Piano Bar (The stairs are to the left. Don’t get lost like I did). There will be tons of merchandise for sale, raffle drawings and food, as essential to any good party. Entrance is $1. You heard right — that means you’ll hear eight bands for a buck (approximately $0.125 cents per band!). If that’s not a bargain, I don’t know what is.
“It’s very music-oriented people throwing a very music-oriented event for very music-oriented people in a very music-oriented town,” Mayfield says.
Each band will get a 20-minute set to play anything from original songs to their favorite covers. Unlike concerts and other music festivals, Locals Only won’t have lengthy sound checks, Mayfield says. The idea is that attendees will get a feel for the sound of each band without sitting through an hour-long set.
“It’s eclectic intentionally, and we’ve crafted it to where there’s a nice little flow to the evening,” he says. “So it’s not going to be jumping around all over the place.”
Locals Only will feature, well, only locals. Eight bands from mid-Missouri will showcase their very best work for your listening pleasure. The line-up includes everything from instrumental groups to classic hip-hop beats.
Don’t Mind Dying will play what they’ve dubbed “high-octane blues.” The Flood Brothers, self-described as a “two-man thump machine,” as well as MoonRunner and their indie folk rock tunes will grace the stage at Roxy’s. The Last Kings will perform their hard rock meets blues sound, and RVS will mix it up and drop the beat with some throwback hip-hop. Be There in 5, a new band out of MU, and Trio Desterrados will also be present. Coward, a well-established Columbia band, will close the night with an instrumental set.
“The idea in general is to raise awareness about music in Columbia and show people the talent here,” says John Marino, who co-owns Kitchen Table Promotion with Mayfield.
Marino and Mayfield say they see this as a chance to remind everyone that Columbia has a music community that warrants attention. Local musicians say talent in the area has potential to produce some big stars in the future.
“The community of musicians is getting stronger and stronger,” Mayfield says. “It’s something that deserves encouragement and respect to some degree, but also just recognition.”
_Click to check out our quick profiles on the acts [RVS](http://move.themaneater.com/stories/2012/11/30/locals-only-rsvp-yes-see-rvs-friday/) and [Coward](http://move.themaneater.com/stories/2012/11/30/locals-only-coward/)._