Today the dust is settling after the inaugural Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival. Everything’s been packed up and the grounds are healing in advance of this weekend’s Country Jam action. It’s likely clear that we at Volume One have been pretty amped up about Eaux Claires for the last several weeks – a vibe that certainly continued straight through the weekend on our website and social media feeds. So if you’re of the camp that’s looking forward to us getting on with other things – which is understandable – after a couple of mentions in this issue you can likely breathe easier the rest of the year. As for the fest, so much could be said about the experience and all its levels of localness. As well as a needed dose of non-localness. Personally, I spent the better part of the first day wrapping my head around the fact that this was all happening here, in this town we’ve all worked so hard on. It was a fairly emotional thing. We were thrilled to play a small part in it throughout planning, onsite through our Local Store presence, and through our special “Music Capital of the North” issue in print and online. We received so much positive feedback for it all, and we thank you for that. We hope recognizing and investing in music here on a larger scale is a conversation that can continue, so watch for more on that in the coming months. For all these reasons and more, it has been a summer to remember here at Volume One. And we hope it has been the same for you, too.