Wizrocklopedia

No, today’s band has nothing to do with actual Time Turners. However, this band has been officially done for a little over a year and a half. So it’s like we’re travelling back in time to re-visit them in all their glory. Ginny and the Heartbreakers was one of the first bands I ever listened to after Harry and the Potters. Because of this, they will always be one of my favorite Wrock bands. There always seems to be a special place for the bands that really got you started into a musical style, isn’t there?

So, while they aren’t still making new music, their old stuff is still absolutely brilliant! So if you are a newcomer to Wizard Rock and haven’t heard of them because they have been inactive, educate yourself! If you knew about them but haven’t listened to them in ages, remind yourself of the glory! But either way, get over to their Myspace and get listening!

When and/or how did you learn the extent of Wizard Rock and its potential impact on the world?

I wish I could say that the first time I heard a Harry and the Potters song, I just knew. But I didn’t. In fact, I was listening to HatP for at least a year, maybe even two years, before I so much as started to realize what Wizard Rock was doing. I got a hint of it when I was just roving Myspace pages, well before I even signed up for one (with the sole purpose of following Wrockers, naturally). When I discovered the Wizrocklopedia and saw the band listing, I realized just how much more there was. That was when I signed up for Myspace and sent friend requests to every single Wrock band listed on the ‘Pedia at the time. It wasn’t until a little later, when I started to see the bands raising money for charities and the like that it all started clicking. Then the Harry Potter Alliance came to my attention and it was over. There was no way I could un-know how brilliant this musical movement I had stumbled upon was and is.

So my story is sort of a gradual realization. There was no epiphany, no moment where the world stopped and slapped me in the face with the awesome of Wizard Rock. So what’s your story?

Welcome to this week’s Wrock Wrap Up! Don’t forget to keep us updated on your Wrock news!

General

The Whomping Willows will be touring in the month of February and has a few dates open for house parties. Check out the band’s blog for more information.

The Potterwatch Project is celebrating its one year band anniversary by having the song “Life According to Remus Lupin” available for free download.

Several Wizard Rock bands are showing their support to help Haiti, including The Silver Doe that will be donating all profits from the CD “Lily’s Last Breath” sales to the Red Cross that are sold from now until Valentine’s Day will help support Haiti.

The Blibbering Humdingers are also doing their part by having an interesting fundraiser entitled Hufflepuff Sandwiches for Haiti. The band’s blog will give you more information.

Siriusly Hazza P has launced a new band site that will be updated more frequently than the band’s Myspace. Make sure to check it out.

Become fan of The Lord of the Strings on Facebook. 

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Today’s #MuggleMusicMonday is one that many Harry Potter fans are already familiar with. Almost everyone who reads this will have heard of (and watched numerous times) the Potter Puppet Pals. Neil Cicierega, the creator of the Puppet Pals and of today’s band, is widely viewed as a premium nerd. Okay, so maybe that’s just how I view him.

In any case, today’s band, Lemon Demon is freaking awesome. Probably most well-known for the song ‘The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny’, Lemon Demon has some particularly strange yet truly amazing songs to their name. All I can do is recommend that each and every one of you check them out and give them a listen! You can check out their Myspace or their Official Site!

In a week’s time, the city of Vienna, Virginia will be overrun wizard rockers and fans alike. The city is playing host to Sonorous – Virginia’s first wizard rock festival – organized by Matt Bufford and Grace Kendall.

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Happy #MuggleMusicMonday! I was originally going to write about this band last week but, due to a lack of money, decided to wait until this week so I could purchase the full album first. My reason for this? At first I just went to the iTunes page for their album to listen to the previews… When I did this, I felt incomplete. As if I couldn’t accurately portray how brilliant this band is without owning the album and listening to it in its entirety.

So here I am, one week later, listening to the full album Revealing Secrets from Lewis. Many of you know this one great guy who happens to be a Wizard Rocker as well – Jarrod Perkins. Well, this is his Muggle band. So be prepared for some brilliant music!

Lewis’ style is more of a mellow rock, not quite as hard-hitting with the badassery as Jarrod’s Gred and Forge. I’m trying to find an accurate comparison, but the closest I can get is to say that Lewis sounds like a combination of Weezer and Muse with its own unique twist, and seems to be made up of some seriously bitchin’ dudes.

To be honest, at this point, I just wish I had known about Lewis sooner than the email I got from Jarrod informing me of the band just a couple weeks ago. But at least now I know, and now I get to tell the rest of you about this glory!

You can check out Lewis at their Mysapce or you can purchase their album Revealing Secrets on iTunes right here!

Okay, I’d like to start this with one big fat WOW! For those of you who weren’t privy to the onslaught of tweeting yesterday or who were unable to make it to the Helping Haiti Heal event organized by the HP Alliance, you missed out! But you don’t have to stay out of the loop! The 6 hour broadcast was recorded and is being replayed for the time being.

Helping Haiti Heal was the multi-fandom event arranged by the HP Alliance in order to bring together people from as many fandoms as possible to raise money for Partners In Health, an organization that has been helping in Haiti for around 20 years and has no intention of leaving anytime soon. They already have strong relationships with the people of Haiti, so helping them is a direct line to helping the people of Haiti on a personal level.

The most amazing part about this event is what came from it so far. To be honest, I’m not sure what I expected, but I know I wasn’t prepared for us to raise over $34,000 in a mere 6 hours! Oh my effing G! It was so awe-inspiring to be present for this entire event. But how did we raise so much? Well, we got donations from the various fandoms involved, including a signed UK edition set of of the Harry Potter books with a card saying “Thank you for helping Haiti” from J.K. Rowling herself! In addition, there are a ton of Wizard Rock-related prizes available as well! One of the key Wrock prizes available is a keyboard that has toured with Harry and the Potters and was played at approximately 200 live shows! It’s not defunct, but a definite collector’s item for the Wrock-savvy!

So drop on by the prize page to donate to Partners In Health on the items you most want to win! You have until January 30th, so don’t think it’s too late for you to get your name in!

Before I finish this, I just wanted to put out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated, who organized the event, and who donated to this event! Without each and every one of you, this could not have happened! You are all so fantastically amazing and give me so much hope for the future!

Welcome to this week’s Wrock Wrap Up! Don’t forget to keep us updated on your Wrock news!

General

Into the Pensieve is now on Twitter. Follow them @intothepensieve.

The Whomping Willows Street Team needs your help to find venues that the band can return to year after year. For more information check out the band’s blog.

In some not so musical news, the Harry Potter Alliance is in search of volunteers to help with the site and other things with the organization.

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Happy #WrockWednesday everyone!

Today, I’m going to focus on two bands. Each of these bands is quite well-known, but I wanted to bring them to the forefront because both of them are doing what they can to help raise money for Haiti. In fact, both of them are giving of their own profits in one way or another to help raise that money.

Matt from The Whomping Willows is donating 50% of all his CD sales between now and February 1st to disaster relief in Haiti. So if there are any Whomping Willows albums you haven’t gotten your hands on yet, or you can think of someone you’d like to give a gift of some Whomping Willows CDs, now’s the time to get those albums!

The other amazing donor is Lena from The Butterbeer Experience. She is auctioning a signed Butterbeer Experience CD Pack including Non-Alcoholic, Accio Hot Guy, and Songs from Beedle the Bard. The starting bid was $15 and it has been going up slightly since then. The auction runs through the end of today, so get on over there now! You can bid on it at this LiveJournal thread.

So what are you waiting for!?

Also, if you know of more Wizard Rockers raising money and awareness for Haiti, feel free to tell us all about it in the comments!

It’s getting closer to that time again… the Wizard Rock Peoples’ Choice Awards are coming up (no dates specified yet!), so I figure it’s better to start reflecting on the Wizard Rock of 2009 now, wouldn’t you say? With that in mind, I’d like to ask the question:

What was your favorite live Wizard Rock experience from 2009? It could be one you attended, one you were told all about, or one you watched live streaming or on youtube! If you didn’t attend one, which performance(s) do you wish more than any others that you could have been at?

For me, 2009 was a year of amazing Wizard Rock. Out of all of it, I can’t seem to narrow it down to any fewer than three bands/performances. These three (in no particular order) were Harry and the Potters at LeakyCon (hello plates of bacon! And the first and last time I was called up by friends to join the Wrocker dancing at the end of a set), Diagon Alley at Wrockstock (I’d been waiting ages to see them play live and was not at all disappointed!), and Creevey Crisis at Wrockstock (holy crap, I was so freaking blown away! And the way the audience got into it during ‘Nagini’! Wow!!).

So those are my top three from the year. What about you?