Last year, the DAM! Festival made an impressive debut in our fair city. As the festival gears up for its second year, they've got even more up their sleeve, including performances from indie heavyweights like Cat Power and Cloud Cult, and local favorites like The Beanstalk Library and These United States. The festival is happening this fall, from October 11 through 15.

Founded and organized by BigYawn.net's Eric Boucher, this year's goal was to go "bigger and better." In addition to the smaller venues like Rock & Roll Hotel and DC9 that the festival favored last year, they've brought in sponsorships by Live Nation and The Digital Freedom Campaign, and expanded to bigger venues, including the 9:30 Club and the Historic Synagogue at 6th and I Sts. We know some people have a tendency to recoil when they hear the words "Live Nation," but fear not — Boucher is still dedicated to highlighting the lesser known bands that make the festival special.

In addition to expansion and a great lineup (the full list has yet to be released), this year's festival is adding... a little flair. D.C. musicians participating in this year's festival will be entered into a Rock 'n' Roll Lottery. We weren't sure what that meant exactly, so we asked Boucher:

The Rock 'n' Roll Lottery is sort of based on an event that happens in Seattle once a year. But we have modified the concept a bit. Basically, we will take ~30 DC musicians — likely at the opening night party — and "draft" them into 6 or so brand new bands, with very limited restrictions regarding who goes where; meaning a band could be 5 drummers and a bass player, for instance. Then, as the Festival's closing show, these "new" bands will come back with a band name and 5 new songs to play. They will have about 10 days to write and practice the new material.

The DAM! Fest is ultimately seeking to help give D.C. a reputation in the national music scene more like other cities such as Austin, San Francisco and Chicago. Boucher says he's approaching each year as an individual entity, pushing it to be more and do more.

The festival really hasn't gotten bigger — fewer total bands than last year, unless you count the lottery — but we have been able to expand our scope a little. Having a successful festival behind us, I think people take us more seriously. Not all people unfortunately, but certainly more than last year. We have added some sponsorship, which helps, but we were truthfully hoping for more. That will come though. Inevitably we know people will compare this year to last year, but we hope that doesn't happen too much. This is an organic sort of growth, and hopefully people will take it for what it is, and not think about how much better it is, or how they liked some bands from last year more. Looking at the big picture, we know we have a long way to go, but in the end we are going to be very happy with this year's finished product — and sadly no, heh, it's still not finished. Can I tell you how much I am starting to dislike the month of August?

We're looking forward to another great year. Though Boucher doesn't like comparisons, last year's was pretty damn impressive, and even if they do no more than match it, 2007's DAM! Festival should be pretty great.