Here's a Sweet Wanee Moment

Everybody plays a tribute to Levon Helm of The Band at Wanee last weekend

Sweet String Break Fest This Weekend

For those of you not heading west this weekend to the epic musical mecca that is the New Orleans Jazzfest (April 27- May 6), there's an intimate roots-bluegrass fest called String Break  at the lovely Sertoma Youth Ranch outside Brooksville.

Have Gun Will Travel, Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, The New 76ers, the Aaron O'Rourke Trio, the Packaway Handle Band, Blue Highway, Gatorbone Trio and more perform. Check out this link to hear the bands' music.

This is a family friendly fest with a nice vibe. The music is wonderful and the whole experience is so relaxing. The campground is lovely, everything is close by, so it is a good place to take kids. Kids 13 and under are free, and they have a bunch of activities for them.

It's $99 for the weekend, which includes three days of music (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and two nights of primitive. You can also get a Friday-Saturday only ticket for $84. RV sites are extra. For more pricing info, click here.

Here is video of a lovely song from Bradenton's Have Gun Will Travel, who plays String Break on Saturday at 12:45 pm. Love this sweet band!

Wanee 2012- A Musical Communion in Paradise

Bruce Hornsby. festgrrl photo

Phil Lesh. festgrrl photo.

Beneath the shade of live oaks and swaying Spanish moss, headliners the Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead alumni band Furthur delivered intriguing, hours-long jams at Wanee Festival  over the weekend.

This is the Allman Brothers' festival, and the Brothers graced the large crowd with two soulful nights of music with plenty of sit-ins at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. The crowd came from all over the U.S. and beyond, spreading over the 600-acre park. Though the crowd was large (I don't have numbers yet), the vibe was friendly and things seemed well organized.

Wanee is always a bountiful smorgasbord -- besides the Southern rock and blues offered up by the Allmans and their many offshoot bands, the promoters cram the weekend with funk, jazz, jam, electronica, psychedelia, and even a soupcon of bluegrass.

The Allman's first night was a high-energy dancefest that featured a heartfelt tribute to The Band's late Levon Helm -- a thrilling performance of "The Weight" with Susan Tedeschi, The Tedeschi-Trucks horns and Bob Weir of Furthur sitting in. The second night's set was more blues-y, with standout performances of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic" and Jimmy Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" with a haunting trumpet solo.

To get a detailed setlist for each night, visit our friends at the Allman Brothers forum here.

Warren Haynes' Government Mule played six songs on Saturday before a booming thunderstorm cut the show short.

A rumored Grateful Dead reunion of sorts didn't materialize, even though GD drummer Mickey Hart, bassist Phil Lesh. guitarist Bob Weir and sometime GD keyboardist Bruce Hornsby were in attendance. Mickey Hart Band delivered a spaced-out tribaly- afternoon set to introduce their new record, Mysterium Tremendum, which features sounds collected in deep space. I don't have words for it except to say it was cool as hell.

Furthur warmed up the crowd both Friday and Saturday nights with sunset sets which were a compendium of the band's most beloved songs -- from Ripple to Stella Blue to Shakedown Street, Franklin's Tower,  and everything  in between. Here are links for Friday's and Saturday's setlists. Look how much fun these players were having...

Bob Weir. festgrrl photo

John Kadlecik. festgrrl photo

Buddy Guy. festgrrl photo

Buddy Guy was electrifying on the Peach Stage, delivering a sassy blues show during which he turned his guitar around to face him and played it with his ...um crotch ... now I can say I have seen everything.

More later...

Gone Festing

Follow festgrrl's Wanee Festival coverage here

Wanee Pre Party Tonight

Beebs

Arty, high-energy Orlando band Beebs and Her Money Makers kick off The Allman Brothers' Wanee Festival pre-party tonight at Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park  in Live Oak, Fl, followed by Miami blues rockers Juke.

New Orleans funk peddlers Flannel Church come on next -- this band is made up of folks who play with longtime psychedelic blues rocker Col. Bruce Hampton, and the band is anchored by drummer Duane Trucks (brother of guitarist Derek.)

Extremely talented Tampa jam band  Cope wraps up the night.

Pacing, people.

Wanee kicks off officially on Thursday and runs through Saturday night. Tickets are available at $199 plus fees (advanced sales end tomorrow -- after that you can buy at the gate.)

Worth checking out -- this  Wanee preview from Glide magazine

Tedeschi Trucks Sweetness In Store For Wanee

The Tedeschi Trucks Band was a spanking new phenomenon this time last year at the 2011 Wanee Festival. 



Of course, power blues singer Susan Tedeschi and guitar phenom Derek Trucks (husband and wife) have been touring and playing with their own excellent projects for years, and joining together some, but the Tedeschi-Trucks Band has broken out like a standing ovation since they rocked Wanee's breezy Meadow Stage last year.


Their inaugural album, Revelator, won the Grammy for best blues album this year.

This year at Wanee, Tedeschi-Trucks Band is one of the most anticipated acts. The festival kicks off officially this Thursday at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak (But actually starts with a preparty tomorrow night at the park.) 


Tedeschi Trucks Band is getting ready to release a live album, Everybody's Talkin', soon. They play Friday afternoon on the Peach Stage from 3:15 to 4:45. Here's a sweet taste for you: 

   

Wanee Festival: 10 Things To Know Before You Go

The Allman Brothers and most of the alumni of The Grateful Dead (Furthur, and Mickey Hart Band and Bruce Hornsby) come to headline the 12th annual Wanee Festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida this weekend.

This the Allman Brothers' festival, and it is a big, wild affair with top-notch talent -- Hot Tuna Electric, Government Mule,  Buddy Guy, Leftover Salmon, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Particle, EOTO, Big Sam's Funky Nation, North Mississippi All Stars, and this year's Grammy award- winning Tedeschi-Trucks Band. And that's not everybody who is playing. Check out the crazy-good schedule.

Tickets are $199, plus fees, and that includes primitive camping and music, which starts officially Thursday at noon.

There's also music Wednesday night in a Wanee pre-party that starts at 5. The music is free, but you do have to pay the park's extra night camping fee. Beebs and Her Money Makers, Juke, Cope, and Flannel Church -- which has the amazing drummer Duane Trucks -- will perform.

Here are 10 Things to Know Before You Go:

1. This year, for the first time, you will be able to buy a stiff drink at Wanee. Before, you could only get beer and wine at the Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park's on-site bar. The county law's been changed, so you can get your liquor on this year if that's how you roll.

2. There’s a good sit-down restaurant by the  camp store and bar. In the morning, it a good breakfast buffet and nice bathrooms. Also a really cool hand-painted mural of local wildlife.

3. There’s a swimming pool you can use next to the restaurant that also has a small, open-air outdoor shower.

4. People will be selling firewood on the road on the way into the park if you want to wait and buy it then instead of bringing it from home. They sell firewood inside the park, also, but it’s pricey.

5. The great Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kakounen is holding the "Fur Peace Ranch" music workshop for aspiring guitarists -- it has separate fees for entrance. Q&A groups will be held by Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Mickey Hart, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes, and other performers.

6. There's a super-cool, giant bat house! It is just beyond lake camping in the field -- ask other campers where it is. At sunset, you can grab a beverage and go watch incredible numbers of bats fly out!

7. Bring your hammock. The park and the Mushroom Stage (a natural ampitheater)  are full of trees.

8. The Suwannee River beach is not to be missed. There's a rope swing, gorgeous limestone banks, and white sand as fine as powdered sugar. The river's a long walk from the fest site -- grab a ride, a golf cart, or your bike.

9. The Suwannee's water is dark (dyed by tree tannins), but it is spring-fed and the river bottom is clean and sandy.

10. There's a beautiful cypress lake which has swans that light up at night in the primitive camping section. The sites tend to be sloping, but it sure is pretty!

Worm Gruntin' and Hope This Weekend

Worms! Music!

One of the quirkiest of all fests  happens in the small town of Sopchoppy this weekend (about a half-hour drive south of Tallahassee on the gorgeous wild Sopchoppy River.) It's the annual Worm Gruntin' Festival, which celebrates the folk custom of rubbing two sticks together to make worms squirm to the surface, and then the worm grunters collect them to use as fishing bait.

Anyhoo, Sopchoppy is a cool, tiny -- and I mean tiny -  community with a recording studio, the Sopchoppy Opry,  and a lot of local musicians, and they like to play. This is not a camping festival, but there is a nice campground nearby at Ochlockonee River State Park along the Ochlockonee River.

Here what the organizers have to say:

This annual event is held each April from 8:00AM when the booths open for business, with the fun continuing until 11:00PM when the dance ends. Throughout the day there will be a wide assortment of live music and other entertainment including games for children and the Wakulla County Horseshoe Championship. We will also crown our Worm Monarch! (It might be a King and/or a Queen this year.) In the evening, celebrants of all ages and points of view will dance under the stars at the Worm Grunter's Ball with one (or both) hands waving free while their pets scramble about wondering what in the world is going on. Free Admittance.

In Tallahassee on Sunday, the one-day  Sounds of Hope Music Fest  happens at Eastside Unity Church. It's $10 (kids under 12 are free) and a benefit for Refuge House,

Here is the schedule:

Main Stage

1:00                    Dayve Stewart & the Vibe

2:00                    New 76ers

2:45                     Harvest Gypsies

3:35                     Sarah Mac Band

4:25                     Tallahassee Boys Choir

Woodland Stage

1:00                    Hot Tamale

1:40                    Ned Devines

2:20                    Royce Lovett

3:00                    Del Suggs

3:50                    Scott Campbell

4:35                    Drew Matulich and Erik Alvar

Community Stage

12:30            Hot Tamale

1:00              Unity Eastside Choir & Band

1:20              Unity Eastside Youth Choir

1:35              TutuOla Cultural Performance Collective

2:00              Raa Middle School Dancers

2:40              Eclectic Acoustic

3:20              East Gadsden High School Chorus

4:00              Karate Demonstration

 

NOLA French Quarter Fest This Weekend

Grammy Winners Rebirth Brass Band Perfom

The free, four-day  French Quarter Festival happens this weekend  in New Orleans, with the "World's Largest Jazz Brunch," Cajun dance lessons,  art displays, and more than 800 local musicians.

The lineup includes 2012 Grammy winners, the Rebirth Brass Brand; Troy ‘Trombone Shorty’ Andrews and Orleans Avenue; Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington; Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra; Jeremy Davenport; Soul Rebels; Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys; Don Vappie & the Creole Jazz Serenaders; the Royal Southern Brotherhood with Cyril Neville; Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders; Deacon John; New Orleans Bingo! Show; George Porter, Jr. and his Runnin’ Pardners; Papa Grows Funk; Gina Brown & Anutha Level; the Iguanas; and Bill Summers & Jazalsa. 

Count on second-line parades, battle of the bands, educational workshops on New Orleans music, fireworks, parties, street jazz dances, kid's events, a crawfish-eating contest and even an opera exhibition. The full schedule is here 

A Lovely Time At Farm To Family

The Farm To Family Full Moon Fest near Ginnie Springs outside Gainesville was wonderful over the weekend -- small, heartfelt, stress-free, inexpensive ($20-$35 for the whole weekend), and with folks playing their hearts out on the single stage. The campgrounds were blessed with lovely community bonfires and great music.

Campground Pickin'

It's worth it to plan on making the next one -- June 1-3. It is hot that time of year, but the cold clear waters of Ginnie Springs are right next door, and there's a boat ramp on the Santa Fe River a short drive from the fest site. Also, the organizers have misters and shade cloth to keep you comfortable.

Verlon Thompson and Sue Cunningham delivered a standout performance to a hushed crowd Friday evening just before the blood-red moon rose through the live oak trees.

Here are some of the other players worth a mention:

Brian Smalley and Daisy on the bass

Brian Smalley -- Singer songwriter with poetic lyrics, joie de vivre, and mad guitar skills. Here he is playing the fun song "Tiki Hut Repairman:"




kLoB -- Soulful, high energy blues band out of Jacksonville. Put on a great, emotional, rocking show. Here they are doing "All the Time:"



The Jesse Smith Project -- blues, funk, and jazz band made up of Florida State University music school grads. Here they are doing The Beatles' "Come Together:"

Nook and Cranny

Nook and Cranny Nice newgrass sound out of Gainesville with lovely girl singer Dana Myers. Here they are playing "Summer Skies."



Uproot Hootenanny Fast picking and lots of energy on stage. Here they are playing "That's Why I Drink:"



Morningbell -- Arty, psychedelic progressive rock band out of Gainesville, tinges of the Flaming Lips and Prince. Here they are doing "Sun Come Out:"

Farm To Family Fest This Weekend

What a beautiful weekend it is going to be for camping and music, and the place to be this weekend  is the Farm To Family Full Moon Festival  on a nice shady piece of paradise near Ginnie Springs, outside Gainesville. Gate price is only $35!

This little grassroots camping fest is family friendly, has just one stage and some nice vendors, including the hard-working Grilled Cheese Wagon, and area artists and crafters. You can bring your beverage of choice, and the folks and music are wonderful. Primitive camping is free and electric and water RV sites cost $80 for the weekend.

This is a recurring festival with folk, bluegrass, jam, jazz, and world-beat acts. What I like best is that you get there, set out your chairs and your cooler, and that's it. No decisions to make between this performance or that -- we're all watching the same thing. No chores to do. Just listen, visit, and have fun.

The headliner Friday night is the incomparable Nashville singer songwriter Verlon Thompson . Other acts include jazzy-jammy kLOB, de Lions of Jah, Brian Smalley, The Jesse Smith Project with Hannah Barber, Quartermoon, and hellacious up-and-coming pickers Uproot Hootenanny.

Here's a nice video of Verlon Thompson:

Grant Peeples Kicks Off Tour Friday

Grant Peeples, a highly unique singer songwriter who speaks truth to power, celebrates the release of his new CD and kicks off a nationwide tour in his hometown of Tallahassee Friday at the American Legion Hall.

Show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $10.  The Sarah Mac Band opens, and dulcimer virtuoso Aaron O’Rourke and violinist Mark Russell will sit in with Peeples to perform songs from the record.

Peeples' last CD, Okra and Ecclesiastes, was a really strong record -- haunting and poetic. It was also a critical success and hit number 20 on the Americana chart.

This new CD is called Prior Convictions.  It’s the second Peeples project produced by Texas roots music icon, Gurf Morlix, known for his work with Lucinda Williams,  Robert Earl Keen, Mary Gauthier, and others.

Grant says this is the only show he'll be playing in Tallahassee this tour, so catch this fine talent this weekend if you can.

Fest-Packed April-- Here's the lineup

It's April, the weather's fine, and the outdoor music fests are bursting out all over these parts...for planning purposes, I give you this selected rundown for this month...

April 6-8 The lovely Farm To Family Full Moon Festival outside Gainesville near Ginnie Springs. This is a recurring  festival with camping. Sooooo relaxing, small, easy, family friendly, and sweet. One stage. reggae, folk, world beat, jam, jazz. The wonderful Nashville singer songwriter Verlon Thompson is a special guest this time, along with fiddler Sue Cunningham.

April 12-15 French Quarter Festival  A New Orleans music throwdown on 22 stages -- and it's free. Not a camping festival. Happens in New Orleans' French Quarter.

April 19-22 Wanee -- The Allman Brothers' giant fest with camping at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. with big-name national acts. This year is a special treat for Deadheads -- Futhur will be there, along with the Mickey Hart Band, and Bruce Hornsby. Not so family-friendly, just because the crowds are large and rowdy.

April 20-21 Southern Music Rising in downtown Monticello, Fla. Lots of bluegrass acts, not a camping festival. Kickoff concert Friday night is $30 at the Monticello Opera House.  $15 for an all-day Saturday ticket. Special stage for kids.

April 25-29 Festival International de Louisiane  Free world music festival in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. Not a camping festival. Crazy great world-beat lineup.

April 27-29 String Break A camping festival at the gorgeous Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville, Fl. Bluegrass, family friendly.

April 27-May 6 New Orleans Jazzfest. 'Nuff said. The big mama of southern music festivals -- Everybody from Bruce Springsteen to small, local gospel choirs. Not a camping festival.

Lost Rager

This drunk guy, singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the back of a police car, is simply awesome. Our lost rager!