Hello, people. I want to start this week's news off with a hearty welcome to everyone visiting Athens for AthFest. Sure, you're here for the music, and I get that. But I'd also encourage you to amble past the immediate downtown area and explore our town a bit. The local music scene wasn't born in a vacuum, and couldn't exist without Athens itself. So go out and absorb some of the look and feel of the Classic City. In the famous words of our own William Orten Carlton (“Ort”), “This is one of the most Zen places on earth.” To you locals, don't sweat this week's column being so ultra-positive and AthFest-oriented. We'll get back to the usual nitpicking program next week, but we're Southerners, and this week, we've got guests. It's not polite to complain when you've got company.

Now, on with the show…

Bid Early And Often: The annual AthFest autographed Gretsch guitar auction is happening again this year June 17-26 via eBay. As always, the proceeds will benefit AthFest Educates, which aims to "educate, inspire and foster an appreciation of the arts in students at the elementary and middle school levels" by providing instruments to local schools and contributing to various music-related scholarships, among other programs. The guitar itself was donated by Gretsch Guitars, whose CEO, Fred Gretsch, is a particularly enthusiastic supporter of the cause. This year's guitar is autographed by country music superstar Jason Aldean, who sold out Sanford Stadium this past April. The guitar itself is a Gretsch Nashville model 6120 SSU (aka the “Brian Setzer Model”) and was built in 1998. Oh, and a snazzy case is included for the winner. Head to eBay to place a bid. If you need to ask any specific questions, direct them to Jeff Montgomery via [email protected].

Building Your Dream Has To Start Now: Looking for something that straddles the tiny thin line between madness and genius? Then get yourself to the Go Bar Saturday, June 22 and see Xanadu…Alive! Before you ask, no, 33 years isn't enough time to totally bury the memory of the truly execrable Olivia Newton-John vehicle, so the memory and the music live on. And when you lower your defenses enough, you’ll find the music is actually quite entertaining. This project is the brainchild of James Husband (ex-of Montreal), and he'll be joined this night by Marie Davon, Michael Jefts, Sarah Robbins, Nicholas Robbins and Stanley Walker II. Where else are you going to see both an Olivia Newton-John and Jeff Lynne (ELO) impersonator in one place? Exactly. It starts at midnight, so coffee up.

Download-N-Load: Need something to help you filter out some of the confusion and feelings of being overwhelmed by all the choices you'll have to make during the AthFest club crawl? If our 20 Most Athens Bands of AthFest feature isn't enough for you, download the AthFest Club Crawl Mixtape. Consider this set of tunes a companion piece to the official 2013 compilation CD, because it focuses solely on artists performing after the street stages are closed. It's a really solid bunch, too, including Thayer Sarrano, murk daddy flex, Cracker, Blue Blood, Glasscrafts, Bambara, Manray (who chose its track “Gordon Lamborghini” for inclusion. Thanks, y'all!), Easter Island, pacificUV, The Rodney Kings, Hope for Agoldensummer, Four Eyes and more.

Neat In The Street: Remember when I talked about venturing outside of downtown way up at the top of this page? Well, the Athens Welcome Center (280 E. Dougherty St.) can help you do just that. There are several self-guided walking tours you can get information about (and maps), and since you're here for the music, why not go ahead and take the self-guided Athens Music History Walking Tour? This tour was developed initially in 1998 by the Welcome Center itself, revised the next year for inclusion in the 1999-2000 Flagpole Guide To Athens by then-music editor and scene mainstay Ballard Lesemann and revised three times hence. The current incarnation was overseen by Paul Butchart (The Side Effects), Greg Reece (Redneck Greece Deluxe)and Van Burns, all under the direction of Welcome Center director Evelyn Reece. Head to athenswelcomecenter.com for more information.

Take Home A Sackful: If you're in town for the first time this week, or one of those folks that returns intermittently, you're probably going to discover a whole bunch of bands that you'd like to hear more of. But, in addition to scanning your local entertainment listings to see if your new favorite group of rapscallions is coming to your burg, why not satiate your ears in the interim with some quality live recordings? There are two wonderful resources available to you: the unmatchable Southern Shelter, and Patch & Dent. Between the two, there are literally hundreds of archived live recordings, of which my thumbnail sketch says over 90 percent skew toward Athens artists. Do a quick scan yourself, and you'll recognize lots of names from this week. Head to either one and stream or download to your heart's delight. But, you know, if you're gonna pig out, at least consider donating a few bucks to the cause. Bands may play for free sometimes, but bandwidth charges march on.