UMC is Nashville-based, but our roots are planted in a small former steel city about an hour north of Philadelphia.

We began our journey in the indie music blogosphere in 2016 as Lehigh Valley Underground, a regional publication covering the local music scene in Eastern Pennsylvania. Every August, Musikfest served as an anchor point — a 10-day celebration featuring artists at all levels, from talented locals, to mid-range independent artists catching fire, to some of the biggest names in music.

I had the honor of joining the team at ArtsQuest — the Bethlehem-based non-profit behind Musikfest — as Event Staff in time for the 2014 festival. I tell that story here. Here in the 2020s, I’ve begun taking an annual “vacation” to rejoin the Musikfest family, with the number one goal of making sure you don’t cause a ruckus.

I’m telling you this, because I’ll be a little tied up over the next week or so. I’m also looking at this as an opportunity to find new inspiration from the festival that spawned this publication’s very existence. Expect us to come out swingin’ upon my return from “vacation.”

In the meantime, we’ll still be delivering the goods here over the next week. That includes a new UMC20 (curated by UMC’s own Jenna Rose) and an episode of The Quinn Spinn. Keep an eye out!

And, if you’ve been following UMC since it was LVU, maybe I’ll see you at ‘Fest?