Thank You Beth and Randy Judy

Beth and Randy Judy with Vassar Clements and his daughter, Midge

Thank you for 14 wonderful years of great music at Suwannee Springfest and Magnolia Fest. All of us fans are very grateful for your hard work !

J Grey and Mofro Hit Tallahassee's Engine Room Tonight

JJ Grey and Mofro bring their soulful bad selves to The Engine Room tonight in Tallahassee. He and his band Mofro are touring for their great new release, Georgia Warhorse. This record explores a little more of JJ's soul crooning than the gritty swamp funk of past records, and it is beautifully put together. Put this disc on your Christmas list.

Tickets for tonight's show are $25 at the door. Northern Lights and Joathan Tyler join JJ and Mofro.

Magnolia Fest Was Sublime

Sunny days, cool nights, a full moon, and a ridiculous amount of talent conspired to make the 14th Magnolia Festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL. a lovely event. The park was full of happy campers, but as is usually the case, it never felt too crowded.

Suffice it to say -- whether on stage or in the campground in the wee hours, these folks were here to PLAY. Standouts were the super-fast picking of Keller & The Keels, Cornmeal, the transcendent Dread Clampitt-Tornado Rider late-night jam on Saturday night, the slow and easy Seven Walkers set, Wet Willie's rocking vocals and cool sax, the super loose Donna The Buffalo family show Sunday night, and Joe Craven, a unique performer with a big heart.

There was a lot of talk about this being the last Magnolia Fest, and a lot of folks have been asking me about what's next. That remians to be seen. Founders Beth and Randy Judy are transitioning out of their role as main producers. We're all so grateful for the fatastic events they've put on all these years, starting back with Big Cosmo's Sunshine Daydream.

Paul Levine anad Lyle Williams (of Bear Creek Music & Art Festival) are taking over for the March 2011 Suwannee Springfest, and they have already announced that The Avett Brothers will headline.YES!

Paul and Lyle have excellent taste and new energy, so I'm thinking it's all going to work out just fine.

I'll post some Magnolia Fest videos later, but in the meantime, here are some pics from the weekend!

Joe Craven plays the jawbone

Peter Rowan with Keller & The Keels

18 South Rocks It!

Scramble Campbell paints Joe Craven

Peter Rowan tells it like it is

Sam Bush plays with Dread Clampitt

Seven Walkers Playing Magfest, Releasing New Album

A lot of folks are psyched that Seven Walkers, the new collaboration from Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzman (that's him with the backwards baseball cap and black T-shirt,) will be playing at 10 pm on the ampitheatre stage at Magnolia Fest this weekend at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl.

Check Out Seven Walkers Video
Our friends at Jambase posted that video, and here's what they have to say about the new project:

"Famed drummer and Grateful Dead co-founder Bill Kreutzmann and voodoo guitar master Papa Mali come together as 7 Walkers for their self-titled debut release, due out November 2, 2010 on Response Records. With nearly all of its songs co-penned by Papa Mali and longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, 7 Walkers is a hybrid of classic Bay Area rock and New Orleans funk.

Together with legendary New Orleans bass man George Porter Jr. (The Meters, Funky Meters) and multi- instrumentalist Matt Hubbard (Willie Nelson, Fastball), the highly anticipated release features a batch of brand-new originals, a guest performance by Willie Nelson on “King Cotton Blues,” and a few smokin’ instrumentals.

In this sneak peek video, Kreutzmann and the rest of 7 Walkers talk to Billboard about making the album and offer a preview of "King Cotton Blues" featuring Willie Nelson off the new album.'

I'm going to predict that Donna The Buffalo's Tara Nevins sits in. She popped up at Wanee Festival a few years ago with Kreutzman's BK3.

See you Saturday night, People!

MVY RADIO

A bunch of y'all have been asking me to recommend Internet radio stations. My very fave Americana station is WMVY (Marthas Vineyard.) They have a fantastic site, though it does require a bunch of poking around their site to find all the treasures.

They have TONS of archived concerts, including Merlefest, Newport Folk Festival, etc., as well as downloads, and great commercial-free streams customized for your mood. I love the archived  Shakedown Street, natch. Take the time to explore, it is worth it! I send them a donation ever so often in deepest gratitude. Lots of interviews as well. I listened to a Gourds concert, a Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks concert, a Campbell Brothers concert, a Betty LaVette concert, and a 1985 live performance/interview with The Duhks. A great Sunday sound track while packing for Magnolia Fest!

Zach Deputy atThe Engine Room Friday

Super-nice, super-cool and funky Zach Deputy plays the Engine Room in Tallahassee Friday night. Deputy has become a welcome regular at Bear Creek Music and Art Festival, and North Florida fans even chipped in a year or two ago for a special benefit after someone stole all his one-man-band looping equipment.

He's been touring nonstop and has watched his star rise accordingly. Zach's a looper, yes, but he's also a killer guitar player, a great singer, and a good songwriter. His shows are a lot of fun. Friday's show is with the band Wisebird. Tickets are $10 advance and $12 day of show

Here's an excerpt about Deputy from Relix:

“Imagine Ray Charles, James Brown and Michael Jackson all having an illegitimate child and it growing up in the Virgin Islands,” Zach Deputy says of his sound. And it’s precisely this sound of new-age soul that’s garnering national attention for the South Carolinian. His debut album, Out of the Water (2008), utilized the talents of bassist Sam Sims (Michael Jackson) and drummer Sonny Emory (Earth, Wind & Fire); and more recently, the calypso-kissed funk and beatboxing improv of 2009’s Sunshine won him the Home Grown Music Network’s Studio Album of the Year award. But its Deputy’s live performances that truly earn the 27-year-old his keep. Accompanied only by percussionist and life-long friend Paul Kearns, Deputy charms audiences with the soulful dexterity of an R&B crooner while live-looping his acrobatic rhythms and fiery guitar leads to deliver full, band-like sounds. Even with 300 yearly performances, the aspirations remain simple: “I just hope the music helps restore balance in people’s lives.” He quietly adds, “That’s why I do it, to hopefully change people’s lives for the better.”

New RR Earth Album Tomorrow

Railroad Earth drops a new album tomorrow, just in time to come down and play for us at Magnolia Fest at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park! Only nine days until we gather for an awesome time!

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Dumpstaphunk, Mofro Playing Monster Smash

It is going to be a killer show Oct. 30 at the Southern Monster Smash in Pompano Beach Oct. 30! Check the lineup and know that the show ends with a "Monster Jam" that will include members from all of the bands.

JJ Grey & Mofro
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Ivan Neville & Dumpstaphunk
The Lee Boys
Bobby Lee Rogers Trio
Hill Country Revue
The Heavy Pets
Crazy Fingers

The show is at the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre, and tickets are $60.85 including fees.

Free Shows in Pensacola Beach Oct. 17!

Willie Nelson and some fine New Orleans musicians will give a free day-long concert on Pensacola Beach Sunday, Oct. 17, thanks to money from Gulf despoiler BP.

The free shows happen on the final day of  DeLuna Fest October 15 and 16.  You can get two free tickets per person. Check the DeLuna site (linked above) for details on that.  Also on the Sunday lineup: Galactic, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Kermit Ruffin,and Honey Island Swamp Band. Nice!

Headliners for the two paid days of DeLuna Fest include Stone Temple Pilots, Daughtry, 311, Bush, Dierks Bentley, 30 Seconds to Mars and Michael Franti & Spearhead. In all, the two paid days encompass more than 20 acts on three stages.
Weekend passes, which include admission to all three days of the festival and guarantee admission to the free third day, are $90 advance, $99 at the gate. You can buy single-day passes for $47.50 per day advance, $55 at the gate. Purchase of single-day tickets doesn't guarantee admission for the free day. Complicated enough for ya?

No camping for this one, they want you to suppport hotels on Pensacaola Beach, which is probably a good thing considering the hellish summer the Gulf Coast has been forced to endure.

The Songwriting God himself hits the Tallahassee Civic Center on Monday, Oct. 11, and there are still tickets available -- $32.75 for college students with valid i.d. and $54.50 for everybody else. I am SO not a fan of the civic center's boomy, muddy acoustics, but you don't have any choice here if you want to see Dylan.