A Kickstarter page has been set up in hopes of funding the inaugural iteration of Athens Slingshot, local artist and musician Kai Riedl's music/art/tech event that's being set up to coincide with South by Southwest. A few of the performing bands have already been announced, including of Montreal side project Harouki Zombi, Reptar side project Thick Paint, Miracles of Modern Science, Grape Soda and Baby Baby. (Others here.) We'll update the list as details arrive.

From the fundraising page:

The date of March 9 is specifically chosen to "slingshot" national and local acts passing through the southeast on their way to the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, TX (March 12-16). Athens Slingshot is a unique opportunity for national acts to perform in the music capital of the Southeast, and be part of a concentrated event that harmonizes the local and national stage. Athens has been needing an event that takes full advantage of its established reputation and unique location. If you live in Athens, you know this already.

The art dimension of Slingshot makes it unlike any event that has occurred in Athens, and brings together local, national, and international artists. The event highlights non-traditional art forms: interactivity, new genres, social media, performance, sound, site specific works and locative works, especially works integrated with the urban environment.

What is emerging is a festival that breaks boundaries - boundaries between genres, boundaries between popular and alternative culture, boundaries between art, performance, music…The combination of art and musical acts promises to be something new in music and art festivals.

To date there have been a small handful of people who have done SO much work just to get this off the ground - a true sign of how Athens, GA can rally! Help us get started this year, so in years to come we can build something that will help the entire community and be a resource for the Southeast. We are trying to raise money for the bare minimum to make the event grow, so we can:

• Rent Cine theatre and lab space for artwork and films ~ $600
• Rent projectors, audio, and lighting equipment for works throughout the urban environment ~ $1000
• Hire two people to help install works the previous week ~ $500
• Provide meals for all participating artists ~ $400
• Rent other necessary equipment ~ $500
• Buy a small amount of advertising and incorporate~ $600
• Have photographers and videographers on deck for the event ~ $400
• We also want to pay the bands what their worth, so any extra will go to them also. There are also key speakers on art/technology/funding that we would love to bring, wouldn't that be great for Athens.
• Did I mention our awesome web developer has been working long hours for free so far?