The 5th annual Pygmalion Music Festival, held in the twin towns of Champaign-Urbana, Ill., kicks off next week on Wednesday, September 16th and runs until Saturday, September 19th.

Day One of August 2009 Outside Lands Festival held in San Francisco in the Golden Gate Park Polo Fields kicked off the unparalleled music weekend with Pearl Jam headlining the bill. Pearl Jam is the only remaining Seattle grunge band from a scene so powerful in Washington State in the early 1990s that it swept across the entire nation and took over popular music.

MONOLITH FESTIVAL presented by Esurance returns to Red Rocks Amphitheatre on September 12th and 13th with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlining Saturday night, and The Mars Volta topping the bill on Sunday. The festival debuted in 2007 as the first multi-day, multi-stage festival ever held at Red Rocks - Colorado's beloved outdoor venue. Monolith was instantly adopted as an indie fan favorite and a staple of the summer festival season.

Now in its fifth year, the Pygmalion Music Festival, happening September 16 – 19, 2009 in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., has emerged as a surprising player in what seems like an endless sea of new music festivals across the nation. Combining the ease and cred of festivals such as SXSW or CMJ, with a humble, gentle Midwestern backdrop, Pygmalion Music Festival seeks to engage a devoted group of music fans each fall by presenting both established and emerging artists in venues no bigger than a small theater.

Quote of the day, heard while in the audience for the last few minutes of an enjoyable-but-forgettable set by Tea Leaf Green:

"They all died at 27 full of drugs and insane, so I made a conscious decision to make my role models change."

One landmark gig at this year's 10KLF was Everyone Orchestra – a staple of this festival, playing their fifth consecutive year.  EO is an ever-changing super-group of musicians collected by conductor Matt Butler to jam on extended guided improvisations.  Using a dry erase board, B