Railroad Earth Headlines Cool Upcoming Ga. Fest

The Fly Free Fest (check out the cool video from last year above) happens at Cherokee Farms in LaFayette, Ga. (up on the Tennessee-Georgia line)  Oct. 10-12, with a great mix of Americana and a little funk.

festgrrl has never made it to this venue, but has heard great reviews, and the video looks like a very good time indeed.  Tickets (include primitive camping)  are $110 advanced, $125 at the gate. VIP, RV, and single- day options also available.

It's a fantastic lineup. In particular,  I highly recommend Angel Snow, Paper Bird, The Motet, The Main Squeeze, and the  Jonathan Scale Fourchestra!

Here is the complete lineup:

·         Railroad Earth

·        * Dan Deacon

·        * The Motet

·        * The Octopus Project

·        * Desert Dwellers

·        * Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

·        * The Main Squeeze

·        * Paper Bird

·        * Seven Handle Circus

·        * Curtis Harding

·        * Strung Like A Horse

·        * Opposite Box

·        * Arpetrio

·        * Copper Into Steel

·        * Kansas Bible Company

·        * DYNOHUNTER

·        * Backup Planet

·        * Jonathan Scales Fourchestra

·        * This is ART x Amerigo Gazaway

·        * Soul Mechanic

·        * Smooth Dialects

·        * Empire Strikes Brass

·        * Fine Peduncle

·        * Teaspoon Sun

·        * Skymatic

·        * New Planet

·        * Cutlass Cult

·        * Sirius Colors

·        * Okinawa

·        * The Mad Scientist

·        * Brightside

·        * Danimal Planet

·        * Boss Awesome

·        * Roots of a Rebellion

·        * Magmablood

·        * Dextrous

·        * UTR90

·        * Rossdafareye

·        * Cuddlefish

·        * Cosmoore 

           Angel Snow

Two Fests To Check Out This Weekend

Gram Parsons

The Gram Parsons Guitar Pull and Tribute Festival happens at the Okeefenokee Fairgrounds in Waycross, Ga, and the Bamboo Jamboo Wellness and Campout Festival .happens in DeLeon, Fla, both Sept. 26 &27.

The Georgia country-roots camping and music festival honors the late Parsons, who died in 1973. Parsons is a legendary musician who was a pioneer of the alt-country genre, singing partner to Emmylou Harris, brief member of The Byrds, co-founder of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and a pal of Rolling Stones wild man Keith Richards. He came from Waycross, and they've been honoring this hometown hero for several years now. Click here for tickets and RV info, and here's the lineup:

· * Elizabeth Cook

·        * Ian Dunlop

·        * Low Jobs

·        * Donna Frost

·        * Dakota Dodge

·        * Greg Henderson

·        * Ross Pead

·        * Brent Kirby & The New Soft Shoe

·        * Deepwell

·        * Freddy's Finest

·        * Fred Kopp

·        * This Frontier Needs Heroes

·        * David Kraai

·        * Amy Laber

·        * Marlin Brackett & His Hillbilly Bruzers

·        * Chris Hutson

·        * Hickory Wind

·        * Pine Box Dwellers

·        * Crabgrass Cowboys

·        * Devils in Disguise

In the North Florida Panhandle town of DeLeon Springs,the Bamboo Jamboo Wellness and Campout Festival is a small, all-inclusive festival, with wellness activities in addition to the music, and meals provided. The organizers say: 

"BambooJamboo is a Music, Arts & Wellness Campout Festival in Deleon Springs, FL September 26-28, 2014 at the Bamboo Arts Celebration Center. BambooJamboo is Florida's first inclusive festival, which features two community meals per day, free massages and kayaking,wellness and community-building playshops, and the best music and art from around Florida. There is no VIP option, and everything is included for everyone in the cost of a weekend pass. Children 12 and under are free. 18+ Unless accompanied by an adult. PLEASE NOTE: BambooJamboo is an exclusive event with limited capacity. Only 300 passes are available. Day passes will be made available closer to the event if capacity limits allow.

Your Paypal receipt is your proof of weekend pass purchase, just present it at the gate.

We will have day passes available at the gate for $20. Weekend passes at the gate will be $40.

Please, No Pets unless absolutely unavoidable.

Please, no drums or loud noises after 11pm...it upsets the bird sanctuary next door.

Food will be made available at meal times, roughly 10am - 12pm and 5-7 pm. Delicious grub will also be available for purchase through The Red Lion Pub Family Kitchen.

In an effort to remain as paper free as possible, BamJam schedules will be available online and through the BambooJamboo IoS and Android Apps.

If you show up with an Earthdance wristband, you can get Early Bird admission at the gate on Friday. Check them out on Facebook, and here is the lineup:

* The Legendary JC's

·        * S.P.O.R.E.

·        * Displace

·        * Beartoe

·        * Holey Miss Moley

·        * Ancient Sun

·        * Buster Keaton

·        * Good Morning Love

·        * The Happy Campers

·        * Ajeva

·        * Paddington Ambush

·        * Dem Lil Econ Boys ft She the Slut and Bear With Me

·        * Planetary Funk Machine

·        * We're All Gonna Die

·        * The Groove Orient

·        * Legacy

·        * Endless Flow

·        * Josh We Know

·        * Adi Raja

· * The Psychadelic Monks

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival Coming Up

Donna The Buffalo

North Mississippi Allstars, Nahko & Medicine for the People, Donna the Buffalo, The Soul Rebels, The Duhks and more will hit the stages at Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival  Oct. 9-12 in in Silk Hope, North Carolina, just down the road from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Burlington, and Greensboro. 

A 4-day weekend ticket is only $100 advanced and $110 at the gate. Info about single day and other ticket options, as well as fees for parking and camping, are available here. Shakori has a lot of super-cool roots and world-beat bands, and it's family friendly (kids 12 and under are free.) Make sure you check the website for may details, including some restrictions on entering and leaving the festival campgrounds.

Note, also, the fest says to bring a cup with you, cause they have a "no public display of alcohol policy." Just put it in a cup.

And dontcha just love this little statement from the folks at Shakori Hills?

"This festival embodies play! After a 4-day adventure at Shakori Hills, so many people say to me that they are sad to go “back to reality.” I notice, while walking around back in the “real world,” that we don’t talk to one another, we don’t give random high fives in the grocery store, or stop to really observe what other people are doing for each other. People aren’t helping each other out of the mud, we don’t just sit around on the sidewalks and pull out our instruments for a jam. But here, we can do that. We can play! Our mission here, our agenda, our to-do list only includes playing together."

If you don't want to mess with setting up camp, check out Donna's Outdoor Edventures , and you can pay to have your camp ready when you get there. Sweet!

Magnolia Fest is Almost Here!

Lyle Lovett

Hard to believe, this time next month we will be gathering in the woods for Magnolia Fest, Oct. 16-19.

This is the 18th year for this outstanding Americana festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. and the lineup includes Lyle Lovett & His Acoustic Group, Jason Isbell, The Indigo Girls, Dr. John and The Night Trippers, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Marcia Ball & Terrance Simien “Boogie on the Bayou,” Keller Williams with More Than A Little, Donna the Buffalo, The Wailers, North Mississippi Allstars, The Duhks, Rodney Crowell, Anders Osborne, Jim Lauderdale, Tim Reynolds & TR3, Tornado Rider, New Orleans Suspects, Willie Sugarcapps, American Aquarium, The Lee Boys, and a festgrrl fave -- the A-Mazing acrobatic, stilt-walking, booty-shaking March Fourth Marching Band all the way from Portland, Oregon.

March Fourth Marching Band

This is a great time, all around. Magnolia Fest manages to be both laid-back and world-class at the same time, a magic combination. Campfire picking goes all night, it's family-friendly, it brings some of  the finest string players in the world together, and you can easily camp by your car in shaded sites. RV hookups are available too, and cabins (if they aren't sold out. Call Spirit of the Suwannee to check.)

Every Magnolia Fest, the talented bluegrass musicians from Wisconsin's  Sloppy Joe band turn their Slopryland camp by the cypress lake into an after-hours picking wonderland and they make the best ever jack-o-lanterns.

Tickets are $185 advanced, $200 at the gate, and include primitive camping. Single-day tickets are also available if you want to come hear the music but not camp.

And don't forget to go to the park's beautiful river beach  to say hi to the Suwannee, y'all:

Here's the complete Magnolia Fest lineup (The schedule is here:)


Lyle Lovett & His Acoustic Group

Jason Isbell

The Indigo Girls

Dr. John & The Night Trippers

Bela Fleck/ Abigail Washburn

Marcia Ball & Terrance Simien

Keller Williams w/ More Than a Little

Donna the Buffalo x2

The Wailers

North Mississippi Allstars

The Duhks

Rodney Crowell

Anders Osborne

Tornado Rider

New Orleans Suspects

Rushadicus The Cello Goblin

Jim Lauderdale

Nikki Talley Trio

Tim Reynolds & TR3

Willie Sugarcapps

American Aquarium

Marchfourth Marching Band

The Lee Boys

Big Cosmo
Bloodkin

Honey Island Swamp Band

Sloppy Joe

Grandpa’s Cough Medicine x2

Quartermoon

Canary in the Coalmine

The Steppin Stones

Flagship Romance

Jacksonvegas
The Vegabonds

Parker Urban Band

Juke

Bryce Alastair Band

Chelsea Saddler

Heywire

Tyler Denning Band

Rusty Shine

Boogie Wonderland: Earth Wind and Fire Touring South in October

Dance-a-liscious R &B powerhouse Earth, Wind and Fire, which has been performing in one incarnation or another for 43 years, is playing nine Southern shows next month, six in Florida.

The band was founded by the great Maurice White, who has Parkinson's disease, and can't tour now for health reasons. White, bandleader, songwriter, percussionist, producer, and singer, was nominated for 21 Grammy Awards and won 7 over the course of his career.

Three Earth Wind and Fire originals -- singer Philip Bailey, bass player Verdine White and singer Ralph Johnson -- still tour with the current 12-person ensemble that plays irresistible groove hits like "September," "Shining Star, " Boogie Wonderland," and festgrrl personal fave (that horn line intro!) "Got To Get You Into My Life." The band has racked up 26 Gold and Platinum albums.

Catch 'em while you can, the reviews of shows this year have been stellar. Here are the Southern tour dates:

Oct. 4- Robinsonville, Mississippi
Oct. 5- Mobile, Alabama
Oct. 9 -Raleigh, North Carolina.

And the Florida shows:

Oct. 11- St. Augustine
Oct. 12 - Fort Myers
Oct. 15- Hollywood
Oct. 16- Clearwater
Oct. 18- Melbourne
Oct. 19- Orlando

These cats have been bringing it for 43 years:

Bassist Verdine Whilte

Singer Philip Bailey

Singer Ralph Johnson

And just 'cause it's so damn awesome, here's one from Back In the Day: