Cage the Elephant’s Matt Schultz performs at Starry Nights Music Festival in 2011. The band has been involved with the music fest since 2010 and aims to create an intimate festival experience for all patrons.

By Anna Meany–

Sept. 28 and 29 mark the 5th annual Starry Nights Music Festival, taking place in Bowling Green, just two hours down I-65.

Curated by Bowling Green natives Cage the Elephant (CTE), Starry Nights is an attempt to create a big music festival that feels like a camping trip with close friends. Although the festival is the brainchild of Michael Graves, band members started their involvement in 2010. Take the word ‘involvement’ lightly – this music festival is their baby.

Brad Schultz, guitarist in CTE, said the band started propelling Starry Nights in efforts to “expose people to bands and music…and have people coming from all over the world to discover Bowling Green bands.”

They’ve partnered with C3, a kind of music festival guru company that takes charge of producing entire festivals, including ACL, Counterpoint and Lollapalooza.

Fans could call Starry Nights a warped, hipster version of a very cool family reunion. “We’re friends with the bands that we’ve brought in. Some of the bands are friends of friends.” Schultz explained that they’re close with tour mates Manchester Orchestra and Sleeper Agent, as well as Morning Teleportation and Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s. Members of CTE are no strangers to giving fellow musicians a lift – hometown neighbor Sleeper Agent gained serious stardom after CTE brought them on tour. They’ve even opened five slots at Starry Nights to be filled by local bands handpicked by fans via online voting.

“They look at music the way we look at music – and that’s to bring people together. We try to get bands that have the same mindset we want people at Starry Nights to feel.”

“Our whole mantra to the festival was to do things that other festivals wouldn’t dare do… it’s not like we’re doing something super extreme, but we’re doing stuff out of the box.”

Besides having one giant graffiti wall, which will be a collaborative effort by all artists, they’re planning to have what he calls a “hammock haven” – literally a bunch of hammocks set up in the shade so patrons can relax. Starry Nights will even have an organic pancake breakfast – and for downtime, fans can join in a giant game of disc golf in the center of the festival or go up in the hot air balloon. There’s no telling how Cage the Elephant rigged all of these perks, but attendees will surely never be bored. Schultz said they’re “bringing people together and creating a sense of community that sometimes gets lost at other festivals.”

They even have a DJ competition – opening up the contest to any mixer to submit their best remix of “It’s Always Something” by CTE. And the winner receives a full DJ set at Starry Nights.

He also said that they grabbed inspiration from other music festivals they’ve played and attended that “more sense of community.” He described his favorite festival experience “in the rain at Lollapalooza 2011. I’ve never experienced a moment quite like that.”

Schultz said the band hopes to grow Starry Nights to the size of more widely-known festivals, like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. He even sounded shocked to hear himself talk about ticket sales. “We sold tickets in the UK and Australia and 33 different states this year. I don’t think it’s even reached the midway point.”

Tickets cost $45 for the two-day September festival – a price Schultz describes as affordable compared to most music festivals. Look to www.starrynightsfestival.com for more information and ticket sales.

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Photo courtesy AndrewMPearson/Yellowberri Music