Suwannee Springfest Adds Acts, Ticket Prices Go Up Soon

The bluegrass/newgrass wonderland that is Suwannee Springfest at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl March 21-24 just got better. 

The lineup already had some great national acts -- newgrass psychobilly band Leftover Salmon, Peter Rowan, The Traveling McCoury's. Keller and the Keels, Elephant Revival, Donna The Buffalo, to name just a few --  and has added some fantastic musicians to its lineup, including Jerry Douglas, Cornmeal, Dread Clampitt, and the wonderful Nathan Moore (The Slip, Surprise Me Mr. Davis)

Four-day tickets are $135 through Dec. 28, then go up to $150 on December 29,. Gate price is going to be $180, so get 'em now -- you know you'll want to be there! 

You can see the fill lineup here, and here's a rundown of the additions: 

Jerry Douglas

Mike Marshall and Darol Anger

Cornmeal

Mamajowally, featuring Joe Craven, Mamadou Sidibe, and Walter Strauss

Tornado Rider

Larry Keel & Natural Bridge

Dread Clampitt

Tony Furtado Band

The Hackensaw Boys

Bill Evans Soulgrass

Nathan Moore

Dangermuffin

Sol Driven Train

Nikki Talley

John Stickley Band

Steve Pruett Back From The Brink

Sarah Mac Band

The Screaming J’s

The New 76ers

Von Grey

Grant Farm

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra

Big Cosmo

Habanero Honeys

Quartermoon

Sloppy Joe

Canary In A Coalmine

Red Clay Revival

Free Range Roosters

Mickey Abraham & the Acoustic Ensemble

Wanderfoot

Festing for New Year's? Yup, right here in Florida.

Feel like spending New Year's Eve with festy friends?

Maddox Ranch near Lakeland, Fl. is the spot for a New Year's Eve fest this year -- The Home Team New Year's Rally has 3 days of  camping, dancing, the whole works. Tickets are $60 advanced. The roster is filled with bands coming out of the Orlando scene. Here are the details for your planning pleasure:

Viking Guy Productions Presents:

The 2012 Home Team New Year's Rally!

Attention Home Team! Keepin' it safe on New Year's Eve!

Three days of music, camping and ringing in the New Year! Hotels also available nearby if camping isn't for you. :) Tickets available at:www.Hometeamrally.eventbrite.com

Saturday, December 29th:
Artist at large- Dennis Stadelman
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Alex Foster
1:15pm – 2:15pm: Smilin’ Bill
2:30pm – 3:30pm: John Clark Band
3:45pm – 4:45pm: E. T.
5:00pm - 6:30pm: The Commoners
6:50pm - 8:20pm: Skull and Bone Band
8:40pm - 10:10pm: Between Bluffs
10:30pm - 12:00am: Beebs and her Money Makers
12:10am - Legacy

Sunday, December 30th:
Artist at large- Kenny Stadelman
11:00am – 12:00pm: Louie Palma
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Tangled Mangos
1:15pm – 2:15pm: Holey Miss Moley
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Savi Fernandez Band
3:45pm – 4:45pm: Nook and Cranny
4:30pm - 6:00pm: BlessEd & the Divine Derelicts
6:15pm - 7:45pm: The Stick Martin Show
8:15pm - 11:00pm: Uncle John's Band
11:20pm - 12:50am: The Applebutter Express
1:00am - Juanjamon Band

Monday, December 31st:
Artist at large- Fil Pate
12:00pm – 12:45pm: Josh We Know
1:00pm – 1:45pm: Sunset Bridge Band
2:00pm – 2:45pm: Displace
3:00pm – 3:45pm: Shoeless Soul
4:00pm - 5:30pm: Free Range Roosters
5:50pm - 7:20pm: Christie Lenée
7:40pm - 9:10pm: Green Sunshine
9:30pm - 11:00pm: Honey Henny Lime
11:20pm - 12:50am: The Applebutter Express
1:10am - Charlie Dandelion

Tickets only $60, AVAILABLE NOW!!! www.hometeamrally.eventbrite.com

Yummies for your tummies by Free Lovin' Foodery!
Art by Bean Spence!

www.Hometeamrally.eventbrite.com

Single Day Tickets available at the gate only, $30
3-day passes $80 at the gate

Dr. John in Tallahassee Saturday night

You can be in the right place at the right time this Saturday night in Tallahassee, Fl. when Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr., aka famed New Orleans musician Dr. John, joins jazz trombonist Sarah Morrow for a benefit for B. Sharp's Jazz Cafe on Brevard Street. The intimate jazz club has been struggling, and this is a fine way to contribute to the cause of great music. 

Dr. John put out a new record this year, Locked Down, which was named one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone magazine.

Tickets for the 8 pm show are $55, plus fees. You can buy tickets for this worthy event here

30A Songwriters Festival Brings Talent to the Florida Panhandle in January

Time to get your tickets to the 30A Songwriters Festival which happens in beautiful South Walton County in the Florida Panhandle January 18-20.

festgrrl has seen some truly amazing shows at this unusual fest, which happens in bars and restaurants along coastal Scenic Highway 30A. It is sort of like Nashville-by-the-sea scene. Not to say it's a country music festival -- no, more folky, bluesy. Many of the performers are the folks who write the country hits, and there is something really special about hearing these songs in their stripped-down, pure forms.

This year's roster of singer-songwriters includes more than 125 performers and 200 shows.

Confirmed artists include Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jeffrey Steele, Nanci Griffith, Suzanne Vega, Fastball, Tift Merritt, Allison Moorer, Charlie Mars, Eliza Gilkyson, Freedy Johnston, Randall Bramblett, The Shadowboxers, Joe Leathers, Gretchen Peters, Brigitte DeMeyer, Tommy Womack, Vicki Peterson, Susan Cowsill, Chas Sandford, Shannon Whitworth,
Tommy Talton, Daphne Willis, Geoff McBride, Grayson Capps, Jeff Black, Reed Waddle, Don Dixon & Marti Jones, Cory Chisel, David Olney, DeAnna Cox, Webb Wilder, Cooper Carter & the Royal Senders, Wesley Cook, Andrew Combs, Blue Ribbon Healers, Brian White, Dannica Lowery,David Berkeley, Davin McCoy, Diane Durrett, Eliot Bronson, Gabriel Kelley, Hannah Thomas,
Humming House, Jill Andrews, Karyn Williams, Kellin Watson, Kelsey Anna, Kyle Jacobs, Max McCann, Ray Bonneville, Ruston Kelly, Steve Bogard, The Owsley Brothers, Seth and May, Jeep Rosenberg, Sterling Fletcher and Jessica Cayne.

This is not a camping festival. Your weekend ticket -- which costs $150 at this point but will go up as the fest gets closer -- gives you entree into the many different bars and restaurants which host performances. 

There are vacation rental places all over that area, and there's also pretty nice camping (and swanky, big cottages) at nearby Grayton Beach State Park.

Bring plenty of cash, there are some amazing places to eat everywhere, I reccommend The Red Bar in Grayton Beach (especially the Bloody Mary's);  Bud & Alley's main restaurant in Seaside, Bud& Alley's Pizza Bar, also in Seaside,  (wow, super thin pies in a wood oven), and Bud & Alley's Taco Bar in Seaside. 

Bear Creek Music Festival Shines Again

As a live music freak, festgrrl goes to many, many shows, and has for many years (Not to get too numerically specific here, but let's just say she was riding the rail when Bob Weir rocked those Daisy Dukes for real.)

Some fests tend to roll together in the mind's eye as one hazy, twangly, amplified dream... and some, well, some, jump out and get down like a James Brown Dancing Machine.

Tony Hall lays it down with Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk

Enter Bear Creek Music and Art Festival, which triumphantly concluded its fifth year at Spirit  of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida November 8-11.

As always, this fest was notably well-run and well-curated.

Since it is, above all, a dance festival, the crowd is always exceptionally funky, fun, friendly, and, above all -  enthusiastic:

Promoters Paul Levine and Lyle Williams know music, and they are always on the hunt for new treats for Bear Creek. This year had returning Bear Creek crowd favorites Soulive, George Porter Jr. (of The Meters) and The Running Pardners, Perpetual Groove, Eric Krasno and Chapter 2, Zach Deputy, The New Mastersounds, Umphrey's Mcgee, and Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk.

New Orleans funk legend George Porter, Jr.

The lineup brought some older funk and soul stalwarts together with progressive rockers, jambands, jazz, late-night electronica acts and some of the brightest lights in the current power-funk scene. Plus Burlesque acrobatic Klesmer music!

As is Bear Creek tradition, sit-ins were legion. Artists-at-Large Pee Wee Ellis (James Brown Horns), Roosevelt Collier, Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman, Will Bernard, Robert Walter, Alecia Chakour, Andrew Block,  the Atlanta Funk Society Horns, Billy Iuso, Freekbass, Jonathan Scales and Michelle Sarah went stage to stage, spreading pixie dust.

Bear Creek 2012 also  featured fabulous multi-artist showcases with two big players on the neo-funk/R&B scene: Daptone Records and Royal Family Records.

Some highlights of the packed musical weekend:

- March Fourth Marching Band. These Portland, Oregon performers work hard for the money. They take the marching band genre and twist it up into a funky Burlesque spectacle  with sexy outfits, killer dancing acrobats, stilt walkers, pole dancing, at least 14 people on stage, PLUS they are a kick-ass, power-horn, rock-and-roll, world-beat band. Their two shows -- especially the one in the Technaflora Music Hall stage on Thursday night, were tops for the weekend.

- Dr. Klaw. Hot, sticky funk from members of Lettuce and Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk. This year's super-late night show was an absolute THROWDOWN. One of the top shows of the weekend.

- Daptone Records soul revivalist Charles Bradley (originally from Gainesville, Fla.) electrified the crowd with dramatic dirty dance moves, rhinestone jumpsuits (he had a costume change in the middle of his set), and a solid Daptone backing band. Bradley is a former James Brown impersonator who went by the name "Black Velvet," and he signed with Daptone a few years ago.

Charles Bradley photo via http://www.jelmerdehaas.com/

-Kung Fu -- This Connecticut funk/fusion band simply KILLED it. They will be playing at Spirit of the Suwannee at the Aura Festival February 15-17, doing a Stevie Wonder Tribute with Nigel Hall.

- Sharon Jones and the Dap Tones brought the high-energy horns, and Ms. Jones' "History of Dance" performance interlude in her fringed dress was a show to remember, especially when she broke out the Boogaloo.

Photo from http://www.dailyrindblog.com

- The Royal Family Affair's stable of talent included sets by impeccable funksters Lettuce, Nigel Hall, Alecia Chakour,  Eric Krazno and Chapter 2, Soulive, and the Alan Evans Trio.

- Umphrey's McGee. these technically gifted prog-rockers didn't slouch once in their three-show run during the weekend. They packed the crowd in and delivered stunning arrangements with wildly fast changes and a super cool light show. Wow. Just wow.

- Naughty R&B singer Bobby Rush, who said he was celebrating his 84th birthday on Saturday, delivered solid stuff strutting in his white suit at the ampitheater stage with two booty-shaking side singers in tow. A hoot.

Bobby Rush, kdhx.org photo

- Grant Green Jr. & Friends -- Grant Green  Jr. laid down soulful funk on a sunny stage, and the vibe was just right.

Grant Green Jr.

- Savi Fernandez Band -- bouncy, happy and technically sound reggae/Latin funk out of Orlando. This is a band to watch.

Savi Fernandez

-Flannel Church -- this jazzy/funky New Orleans band is made up of folks who have played with longtime psychedelic blues rocker Col. Bruce Hampton, and the band is anchored by drummer Duane Trucks (brother of guitarist Derek.) They delivered two intriguing sets over the weekend. 

All weekend, I heard nothing but raves from everyone I talked to. We created a beautiful, peaceful musical city in the woods for five days, and for that, I am grateful. The "Orchestra At Large" on Sunday, with a stage packed with various performers, was especially groovy.

Horns from the collaborative Orchestra At Large

Bear Creek has been building audience and reputation every year now. I agree with what the blogger over at Headstash Magazine had to say:

"For those in the New Orleans-based funk/jazz/rock scene, Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival has become one of the “holy triumvirate” of festivals, along with JamCruise and Jazzfest. In its fifth year, the fest has gained a reputation as a funk-fueled family affair – a well-deserved descriptor that has attendees returning each year raving about the music, venue, setup and fellow fans."

Here here!

Out Sick!

Gone Festing!!

Follow festgrrl's posts from Bear Creek Music and Art Festival here

Bear Creek Festival: 10 Things To Know Before You Go

1. There’s a silent disco for late nights – everyone wears headphones at this all-night dance space, near Rees Lake in the campground, so as not to disturb sleeping campers or the park’s neighbors. It kicks off Friday night, when you’ll be dancing to the sounds of Skerik and Freekbass starting at 2 am.

2. Bear Creek has a special attribute that most other fests at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park lack: a stage in the campground on cypress-lined Rees Lake. This is great for a number of reasons, the first of which is that you can bring your own beverage to this stage. To get to all the other stages in the park, You have to go through a checkpoint and you are not allowed to bring in your own beverages, other than water. 

The campground stage

3. The white sand Suwannee River beach is not to be missed. Be aware that the river is a long walk from the fest site -- grab a bike, a ride, or a golf cart. Sooooooo worth it. 

Beach on the Suwannee River

4. Sunday night is awesome for those lucky enough to stay around for it. The musicians are loose and happy, the fest workers are loose and happy, there’s only two alternate stages running during the day (no decisions to make), then Dumpstaphunk and Lettuce (yes!!) close out the weekend in a funk frenzy. Plus, if your feet are all played out, you can chill in a hammock. The informal rule is you can use anybody's hammock until they get back. 

Hammocks in the Ampitheater

5. There's a giant bat house! It is just beyond lake camping in the field. At sunset, you can grab a beverage and go watch incredible numbers of bats fly out! Be aware, the people sitting closest to the bat house get sprayed with bat piss, so back off a bit. “Sprayed with bat piss” is a sentence I never expected to write. I also never expected to be sprayed with bat piss in my life, which is why I am warning you now. Back off a bit and enjoy the amazing bat show. 

The bat house

6. The on-site Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park restaurant has a good breakfast buffet. They have nice bathrooms. Also a really cool hand-painted mural of local wildlife. You can also get liquor drinks and good food from the restaurant while watching shows in the Technaflora Music Hall Stage.

7. This year, there are free, handy Bear Creek phone apps with schedules, maps, and other info.

8. The bathhouse on the road that says “Special Persons Camping,” just past the Purple Hat Meadow Stage, usually has the most hot water in its showers.

9. It can get chilly at night in North Florida, so don’t skimp on sweaters and blankets. We have been known to call this festival Brrrrrrr Creek. Fleece and ample firewood are your best friends. Bring your funky warmies -- the costume theme for Saturday night is “Warm and Fuzzy.”

10. There's an emu living at the park, back behind the horse camp. He's a freaky bird!

New Bear Creek Phone App - Handy dandy

Wonderful Wild Rumpus replica painted by Beth Hutchinson.
Get the Bear Creek App and Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!!

I don't know about you, but I have a great capacity for losing my printed fest program about six seconds after I arrive at my camp site. I usually find the program when I am packing up to leave -- then take it home in pristine condition for my vast collection of fest memorabilia.

So I am thankful to the folks putting on Bear Creek Music and Art Festival this week at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. Because now the schedule and other info will be on my phone, which I do a better job keeping track of, since I use it as a camera and to blog (if I remember to) during the weekend.

So here is where you can get this wonderful app:

Apple users can download the app here 

Android users can download the app here

And here's a video to get us all psyched up for this weekend!

Riverhawk Festival near Tampa

Such a sweet stage and venue!

Bluegrass, folk. and roots music rein at the Riverhawk Festival, which happens at the lovely Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville, Fla., outside Tampa Nov. 8-11 (Unfortunately for many music fans, it's the same weekend as Bear Creek at Spirit of the Suwanee Music park in Live Oak, Fl, but hey, the more the merrier when it comes to fests.)

The lineup looks great:

FRED EAGLESMITH TRAVELING SHOW

THE WAYBACKS

THE WIYO'S 

THE STEEL WHEELS 

RAY BONNEVILLE
TONY FURTADO BAND

THE RAGBIRDS
HARPER & THE MIDWEST KIND
PAUL CEBAR AND TOMORROWS SOUND
EASTMAN STRING BAND 

BEARFOOT
FRANK SOLIVAN & DIRTY KITCHEN
CABINET

CLUMSY LOVERS 

JOHNSON & LESTER
THE WHOLETONES 

APPLE BUTTER EXPRESS 

PASSERINE 

Sertoma Youth Ranch is a super-chill venue that is very family-friendly. There's a neat stream running through the rolling property, nice bathhouses, and everything is close together. There are scheduled activities for kids. And you can bring dogs!

Sertoma Youth Ranch entrance

A 3-day ticket, which includes primitive camping, is $110 at the gate. Click here for more ticketing options, including extra days, etc. Water and electric sites are sold out at this point, and if you want to bring in an RV and camp in a primitive site, its an extra $60.  

If you can't make Riverhawk, consider String Break at this venue April 11-14.

Happy Halloween!

Bear Creek Next Week!

The Groove Patrol

The funk fantasia that is Bear Creek Music and Art Festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl., is almost here -- it happens Nov. 8-11.

If you like the funk, this is the place. Funk players from all over the world convene for this throw-down in the moss-draped woods, and you will see shows you will talk about for years.

It's hard to put your finger on what, exactly, makes one festival good, or even great, and another festival Epic. Bear Creek has that Epic Something. There's the smiling fest family vibe, the New Orleans joie de vivre,  the booty-shaking atmosphere everywhere you look, and the kick-ass performances.

The musicians are there to get down, the crowd is there to get down, and it's all good right there in paradise. This is what we're supposed to do in life, right?

Da Bear

All tickets include primitive camping. A 3-day pass is $165 online now. Thursday tickets cost another $50. Sunday's music lasts til 8  pm or so, and it's always a great night filled with collaborations, so plan on taking Monday off work if you can swing it.

Everybody loves the bear!

You can see the full schedule here. And click this link for a rundown of the performers we'll be shakin' it to.

See you soon!

Reese Lake camping

Put A Spell on You: Voodoo Experience in New Orleans This Weekend

Neil Young and Crazy Horse headline Friday night

New Orleans hosts an all-star lineup for The Voodoo Experience this weekend -- Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Metallica, Jack White, The Avett Brothers, Skrillex.... and lots more, as you can imagine in this musical city. A 3-day weekend pass is $175, day passes are $90. Some 80,000 people are expected to attend over the 3 days.

This extravaganza takes place in New Orleans City Park, and this year marks the first time that there is camping available for an extra $150-$215 charge. You can't camp next to your car, though, and once you're in, you're in. All sites are primitive. No open fires allowed -- not even tiki torches or grills.

Our friends at Fuse TV have a handy guide to all you need to know for this festival, and the folks at NOLA.com have lots of great info as well.

Here is a look at the lineup:

Neil Young & Crazy Horse The Avett Brothers Kaskade Gary Clark Jr. Bootsy Collins JFK of MSTRKRFT Die Antwoord Nervo The Pimps Of Joytime Say Anything George Porter Jr. & Runnin' Pardners Delta Rae Supagroup Thomas Dolby Infantree Skerik Mike Dillon Johnny Vidacovich CC Adcock and the Lafayette Marquis Beverly Skillz Andy Suzuki Big History COYOTES TBC Brass Band Force Feed Radio

Magnolia Fest 2012 Delivers Great Performances

festgrrl is just back from a lovely Magnolia Fest at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla., where the vibe was a bit different this year than past Magnolia Fests -- a bit less bluegrass and more soul, rock, blues, and pop. The mix was lovely, and the musicians brought their best to the beautiful park.

Fest stalwarts Donna the Buffalo, Col. Bruce Hampton, Tornado Rider, The Mosier Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, The Lee Boys, Quarter Moon and Sloppy Joe were all represented. But promoter Judy Van zant used her rock n' roll connections to bring in some big guns -- Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, the Jimmy Herring Band, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, the Del McCoury Band, and Little Feat alums Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett. She also brought lots of folks from her hometown of Jacksonville -- the fantastic, bluesy kLob, and JJ Grey and Mofro, to name just two. 

Bonnie Raitt put on a stellar performance Saturday night under a clear sky. The sound was absolutely perfect, and Raitt delivered soulful renditions of new and old tunes with her kick-ass band. As my friend said: "She didn't just sing her hits tonight, she SANG."

The Jimmy Herring Band blew all the guitar-heads' minds in a stirring ampitheater set which featured a spot-on cover of the Beatles' "Within You Without You."

The Honey Island Swamp Band out of New Orleans continues to deliver killer sets, and  -- most appreciated by festgrrrl -- they prepared completely different sets for their two performances of the weekend.

JJ Grey and Mofro have grown up  a lot since their first days at Suwannee, and the now silver-haired JJ Grey owned the main stage early Saturday night with a fat horn section and a glitzy stage show that had the crowd roaring.

With all that talent, there were fantastic all-star jams both Friday and Saturday late-night; and, of course, picking 'til dawn in the campgrounds.

The whole fest was well managed and easy to navigate, smiles all around, a nice crowd in a beautiful place. We are so very, very lucky.

Here are some pics!

All-star jam with Emmylou Harris in the center

Jeff Mosier raging at the all-star jam

My crazy friends

All star jam

AJ Ghent, KILLER lap steel player for Col. Bruce Hampton

Slopryland pumpkin!

Kip Kolb of kLob. This guy is WILD

Sloppy Joe from Wisconsin -- absolutely wonderful