There will be all kinds of opportunities to check out great live music at this year’s Fountain Square Music Festival, with an expansive variety of genres being represented. Additionally, however, Musical Family Tree and NUVO magazine have teamed up to present a series of very special panel discussions at Pioneer, featuring several performers from the festival.

Beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, two free panel discussions will take place, with the first being moderated by NUVO music editor Katherine Coplen and the second being moderated by Musical Family Tree executive director Erin Jeter. For the first discussion, Oreo Jones, Yonatan Gat, Serengeti and Lil Bub and her owner will answer questions about how they built a fan base outside of their own hometown. And for the second discussion, Kishi Bashi, Karen Hover of Sound of Ceres, Freddie Bunz (member of Ghost Gun Summer) and Andy D will chat about the ins and outs of touring.

“The opportunity to moderate a panel with these amazing musicians is such a privilege,” Jeter says on her panel. “Kishi Bashi, Freddie, Karen and Andy D all have tons of diverse tour experiences, and I’m excited to help share those with the Indy music community.”

Below, we have more specifics on both of the discussions.

“When I Was a Local…” -- Looking Back on the Scene Where I Started (1 - 1:45 p.m.)

Featuring: Oreo Jones, Yonatan Gat, Serengeti and Lil Bub & Mike Bridavsky

Everybody on this panel once played in a college town basement. Lil Bub and her dude (Russian Recording/Memory Map mastermind Mike Bridavsky), Monotonix’s Yonatan Gat and Chicago rapper Serengeti will answer questions about the days on their own local scene, and how they took the step out to find labels, record, and develop a fan base outside of their musical hometowns. You know this will be good. 

Hitting the Road -- The Ins and Outs of Touring (2:15 - 3 p.m.)

Featuring: Kishi Bashi, Karen Hover of Sound of Ceres, Freddie Bunz (member of Ghost Gun Summer) and Andy D

Continuing the conversation on developing a national audience, we’ve invited successful touring artists to publicly discuss how to tour, get noticed, and actually make money doing it. In the age of digital music platforms and free everything, touring has become that much more essential to musical success, yet even harder to make a profit doing. Tour monster Andy D and Ghost Gun Summer tour mastermind Freddie Bunz represent local touring acts with Karen Hover of Sound of Ceres and Kishi Bashi (of Montreal/Jupiter One) representing non-local artists on the fest. Musician or not, join the discussion on how local artists can successfully tour and be a brand ambassador for the Indiana music community. Every local artist’s success reflects on Indy’s community as a whole. Bonus: Tour horror stories!

Please email any touring questions you have to Erin at erin@musicalfamilytree.com, and she will do her best to pose them to the panelists.