Slightly Stoopid, Stephen Marley, Steel Pulse Headline Upcoming Blackwater Fest

Slightly Stoopid headlines

Blackwater Music & Arts Festival, happening August 21-23 at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla., has annnounced its lineup, which includes Slightly Stoopid, Stephen Marley, Steel Pulse, Gramatik, The Expendables, Tribal Seeds, Easy Star All Stars, CAKED UP, Fishbone, Michal Menert, The Revivalists, and more.

Yes, we know that August in North Florida can be brutally hot. But remember there's a river beach on the Suwannee to get your cool on. 

Weekend tickets, which include primitive camping, are $140 now and $160 at the gate. 

You can keep up with the latest at the Blackwater Music & Art Festival Facebook page 

Blues Player Seth Walker Has a Fine New Album, Touring Southeast Now

Seth Walker at Magnolia fest. festgrrl photo.

One of the nicest new recordings to come across festgrrl’s desk so far this year is Seth Walker’s  new album, Sky Still Blue.

If you like slinky modern blues guitar, swinging soulful vocals and a steppy groove that’ll have you dancing in your kitchen, you’re going to love Walker’s album. This is a carefully balanced record that has elements of jazz, blues, gospel, swing, and funk, and showcases Walker's blues guitar work.

Walker came out of North Carolina’s roots tradition, and made his way through the music-soaked environs of Austin, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee, and now calls New Orleans home. He is an excellent live performer who gets everybody dancing.

Lucky for us he’s got a Southeastern tour happening now, with stops in New Orleans (June 20,) Tallahassee (June 21,) St. Petersburg (June 22,) Charlotte (June 24,) Asheville (June 25,) Greensboro (June 26,) Chattanooga (June 27,) Decatur, Georgia (June 28,) and Montgomery, Alabama (June 29.)

Check out this tune from the new record:

Magnolia Fest Reveals Powerful Lineup

Dr. John headlines. Michael Wilson Photo.

What a treat -- the lineup for Magnolia Fest, the Americana fest that happens each fall at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. every year, just came out. This year's dates are Oct 16-19.

And there are some fine, fine musicians on the bill. We're talking Dr. John and the Night Trippers, Lyle Lovett, The Indigo Girls, Jason Isbell, Bela Fleck, Marcia Ball, Abigail Washburn, (the a-maaaaazing) March Fourth Marching Band, Keller Williams, Donna The Buffalo, The Wailers, Honey Island Swamp Band, and more.

This is a family-friendly fest with wonderful campground picking all weekend. Heads up: Tickets are $150, and go up tomorrow to $170. They will be $200 at the gate. VIP tickets are available for $300.

Be prepared for some powerful acoustic magic in the woods for this one. This very well-run festival gets better and better every year. I can say with confidence that you will not be  disappointed!

Make Your Plans, Peeps! Suwannee Hulaween Lineup and Early Bird Tix

One of the best events that festgrrl attended last year, and as y'all know, there were MANY, was the inaugural Suwannee Hulaween at Sprit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak. The psychedelic "Spirit Lake" art installations were outstanding, the music top notch and the crowd took its costume responsibilities seriously. So happy to hear that Suwannee Hulaween is back this fall, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

A limited number of early bird tickets go on sale Friday, June 20, 2014 for $149 including all taxes and camping fees. There's also a fancy option: Ultimate Incident VIP Packages. To reserve cabins, golf cart rentals and RV hook-ups, call (386) 364-1683. Here's a look at the lineup:

The String Cheese Incident (3 nights)

Thievery Corporation

Big Gigantic

Beats Antique

The New Deal

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead

Greensky Bluegrass

EOTO

Conspirator

Future Rock

Nahko & Medicine For The People

Rising Appalachia

The Soul Rebels

Van Ghost

The Heavy Pets

Greenhouse Lounge

Cope

Bonnarooooooooooooo!!

The Fountain -- Welcome Relief!

The big daddy of Southern music fests happens this coming weekend in Manchester, Tennessee --- Bonnaroo. Some 80,000 people are expected for the four-day extravaganza, which features Elton John, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Cake, Slightly Stoopid, Yonder Mountain String Band and a TON more. (Lineup posted below.) The 700-acre site becomes an impressive city, with "streets," stores, bars, comedy and dance clubs -- you name it, it's happening, 24 hours a day.

Tickets are still available! A 4-day ticket (including fees)  is $313.30. That includes primitive camping on the 700-acre site. You can camp with your vehicle, but be aware, once you've parked your car, you can't move it until the festy finishes. There are various limited options for RV camping and the like here.

The keywords for this 12-year-old festival are Be Patient and Be Prepared. Have what you need for all weather conditions. Bring lots of water, but also know they promise to have fresh water stations available onsite to fill your bottle, showers for a fee, and, of course, port-o-lets. Here's a handy "Alternative Bonnaroo Festival Guide" which is definitely worth a read.

If you can't be there in person, Bonnaroo offers a webcast -- on XBox and on the festival website.  Now, about that impressive lineup:

• * Elton John
• * Kanye West
• * Jack White
• * Lionel Richie
• * Vampire Weekend
• * The Avett Brothers
• * Phoenix
• * Skrillex
• * Arctic Monkeys
• * Frank Ocean
• * The Flaming Lips
• * Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
• * Kaskade
• * Damon Albarn
• * Neutral Milk Hotel
• * Wiz Khalifa
• * The Bluegrass Situation Superjam
• * Disclosure
• * Cut Copy
• * The Head and the Heart
• * Zedd
• * Ms. Lauryn Hill
• * Funkiest Dancer
• * Chromeo
• * Broken Bells
• * Tedeschi Trucks Band
• * James Blake
• * Bobby Womack
• * Umphrey's McGee
• * Ice Cube
• * Ben Howard
• * Slightly Stoopid
• * Fitz and The Tantrums
• * Cake
• * Janelle Monáe
• * Grouplove
• * Amos Lee
• * CHVRCHES
• * Cage the Elephant
• * Die Antwoord
• * Andrew Bird
• * Mastodon
• * Capital Cities
• * Jake Bugg
• * Chance The Rapper
• * Dr. Dog
• * Yonder Mountain String Band
• * John Butler Trio
• * Little Dragon
• * City And Colour
• * The Glitch Mob
• * The Naked And Famous
• * Taran Killam
• * Phosphorescent
• * Drive-By Truckers
• * Washed Out
• * Danny Brown
• * Warpaint
• * Sam Smith
• * A$AP Ferg
• * Darkside
• * Seasick Steve
• * Shovels & Rope
• * Lucero
• * Carolina Chocolate Drops
• * The Wood Brothers
• * The Master Musicians of Jajouka
• * Bachir Attar
• * Billy Martin
• * Marc Ribot
• * DJ Logic
• * Shazad Ismaily
• * Pusha T
• * Meshuggah
• * Poliça
• * DakhaBrakha
• * Goat
• * ZZ Ward
• * Seun Kuti
• * Blackberry Smoke
• * MS MR
• * Hannibal Buress
• * First Aid Kit
• * Rudimental
• * A Tribe Called Red
• * Omar Souleyman
• * The Bouncing Souls
• * Greensky Bluegrass
• * Ty Segall
• * Sarah Jarosz
• * Vintage Trouble
• * Okkervil River
• * White Denim
• * Jonathan Wilson
• * Robert DeLong
• * Cloud Nothings
• * Typhoon
• * Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
• * Valerie June
• * King Khan & the Shrines
• * Cherub
• * Banks
• * Break Science
• * The Black Lillies
• * Real Estate
• * The Lone Bellow
• * Caveman
• * Big Sam's Funky Nation
• * Jon Batiste
• * La Santa Cecilia
• * Classixx
• * Allah-Las
• * Cass McCombs
• * Vance Joy
• * Haerts
• * J. Roddy Walston & The Business
• * Those Darlins
• * Deafheaven
• * Lake Street Dive
• * St. Paul & The Broken Bones
• * The Wild Feathers
• * The Preatures
• * Blank Range

See The Allman Brothers, The Avett Brothers, Gov't Mule and More from Your Couch This Weekend

Southern festers, when it gets super hot, fear not. For what will appear? Couch tour is here!!!

Set up the screen and speakers, and check out the  Mountain Jam webcast this weekend.

This fest , now in its 10th year, happens in Hunter Mountain, New York, and it has a big-ticket lineup: 

The Allman Brothers Band, Anders Osborne, Antibalas, The Avett Brothers , Beats Antique , Blitzen Trapper , Bob Weir and RatDog , Chris Robinson Brotherhood , Citizens Band Radio , Connor Kennedy , Damian Marley , Dark Star Orchestra , The Dough Rollers , The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger , Gov't Mule, Jackie Greene , Jeff Tweedy , Jonathan Wilson , Lucius , Michael Franti & Spearhead , Moon Taxi , Paul Green Rock Academy , Pretty Lights , Reignwolf , Sean Rowe , Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds , Tedeschi Trucks Band , Trampled By Turtles , Treetop Flyers , Umphrey's McGee, and more.

Let us give thanks for the Internet, for air conditioning, and for frosty beverages. 

 

A Great Lettuce Set

Here's a great recording of the kick-ass set from the great funk band  Lettuce at the 2012 Bear Creek Music and Art Festival . Thanks to our friends at TheFunkItBlog for taping this epic event. This show was such a blast!.