Shake It at Upcoming Aura Music & Arts Festival

Campground lake. Jason Koerner photo.

Our Southeastern spring music festival season is kicking off -- yes!! Let the boogie begin at the dance-tastic Aura Music & Arts Festival, coming right up March 3-5.

The ENO hammock pod with DJ booth! Aura photo.

Now in its seventh year, Aura has grown into a fest that manages to be both intimate and big-time, showcasing some fine national touring acts with high-end sound and lighting production. This year features The Disco Biscuits, Thievery Corporation, Snarky Puppy, ALO, Turkuaz, Mike Dillon Band, the Main Squeeze, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Particle, The Heavy Pets (doing an '80s tribute with Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman,) the New Deal, the Werks and more. (full lineup is below.) To hear what's in store check out Florida Music blog's Aura playlist. 

I love the vibe at this fest -- it's a fuzzy-lovey ball of music and art, all cradled in the Spanish-moss draped oak forest at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. At night, the lasers come out.

Jason Koerner photo.

Aura's lineup is surprising and genre-spanning, including live electronica, jazz, funk, soul, jam, world beat, rock, lounge, R&B, indie, Americana, and reggae. Every year I discover new music here. There's even a band that fuses Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish tunes (Pink Talking Fish) and, improbably, it works. Expect plenty of sit-ins and artist collaborations during the weekend.

festgrrl photo

Don’t miss Snarky Puppy, a posse of 13-plus musicians who play jazz, in-the-pocket funk, and world music. They won their second GRAMMY this year for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Funk fans should not miss Turkuaz from Brooklyn, one of the best funk bands on the scene today, and Chicago's The Main Squeeze, which fuses funk and rock (They describe it as Stevie Wonder meets the Red Hot Chili Peppers.) ALO, out of San Francisco, is a feel-good jam band fronted by Jack Johnson's keyboardist Zach Gill. When the main stages close down, the Silent Disco rages all night.

Aura has a robust yoga & healing arts program, which will offer more than 25 classes and workshops including Flow Arts, AcroYoga Immersion, Yoga Nidra, Lazy Man’s Yoga (Restorative/Yin Yoga), BoomYoga’s Shake Your Asana, Qi Gong, Thai Body Work Circus, Crystal Bowl and Song Sound Healing, and Using Essential Oils as Spiritual Tools.

Visual artists will be doing painting and sculpture throughout the grounds all weekend. 

festgrrl photo

Weekend tickets, (include primitive camping) are $189 advanced, $199 at the gate. Kids 12 and under free. Single-day and VIP tickets available.


You can see the daily schedule here, and here's the full lineup for you:

AURA Music & Arts Festival 2016 Line-Up: 

The Disco Biscuits

Thievery Corporation

Snarky Puppy

ALO

theNEWDEAL 

The Werks

The Main Squeeze

Particle

Turkuaz

The Heavy Pets '80s Tribute featuring Jennifer Hartswick & Natalie Cressman

Tom Hamilton’s American Babies

Mike Dillon Band

Pink Talking Fish

The Bright Light Social Hour

Jimkata

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

NUNCHUCK (Chuck Jones, Scott Zwang, Mike Dillon & Craig Brodhead) 

Fusik

Greenhouse Lounge

Broccoli Samurai

Aqueous

Bedside (live band)

CBDB

The Resolvers

The Fritz

Backup Planet

Dank

Crazy Fingers

ROAR!

Displace

Lucky Costello

Third Nature

Holly Bowling

Garrin Benfield

Ben Sparaco Band

Lather Up!

Fat Mannequin

AURA Silent Disco/ENO Lotus Lounge

ACKDADDY

Beat Thief Inc.

Bells and Robes

Craig Heneveld

DuBBle James

Eazybaked

Lurk City

DJ Miles Maximus

Mineo Loops

Monarchy

MZG

Rosa Sparks

Scotty Solomon

Selfmayde

Shark Anthony & Ahsleigh

Telekinetic Walrus

Tomboi

Tony D

Vlad the Inhaler vs. Matthew Connor

Weazildust

Willie Evans Jr. DJ Set

Zwang Bang and Chewie

See you there! festgrrl photo

Soul Man Charles Bradley Touring Florida

Electrifying soul performer Charles Bradley has three Florida dates this week -- Tallahassee on Feb. 23, Ponte Vedra on Feb. 24 and Gainesville  Feb. 25.  He will do a fourth  Florida show at Tampa's Gasparilla Festival on March 13 before he heads off on a European tour.

Bradley was born in Gainesville, and he'll be playing a FREE concert at a downtown  plaza dedicated to another Gainesville legend - Bo Diddley -- on the 25th.(The Savants of Soul and Little Jake & The Soul Searchers also play this free outdoor show, which runs 6-10 p.m.)

If you've never seen the documentary about Bradley's life: Soul of America, you should check it out. Bradley led a hardscrabble life and worked for years as a cook and a James Brown impersonator called "Black Velvet" before a Daptone record producer caught his James Brown act in a New York club and asked him to start recording for Daptone.

Expect killer pipes, lots of theatrics, and a show you will be talking about later.

Coming Right Up: Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival

Virginia Key Beach Park

One of the coolest roots and world-beat music festivals in the southeast is happening at a little county beach park outside Miami  Feb. 18-21. The Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance has camping, dancing, and a roster of more than  40 bands over the weekend.

This year's lineup includes The Family Stone (of Sly and the Family Stone infamy,) Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, The Wood Brothers, Donna The Buffalo, Danay Suarez, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Magic City Hippies, Big Mean Sound Machine, Locos Por Juana, and many more.

There's also a hands-on "culture camp" that happens in the days before, February 14-17, with instrument, dance, movement & cooking workshops on the beach. This is a very family-friendly fest, with kids' activities available.

This is the fest's 5th year, and it is run by a nonprofit group affiliated with the Cajun-inspired New York jam band, Donna the Buffalo. They say: "GrassRoots works to nurture local artists and talent while reaching around the globe to bring world music and culture to new audiences, creating environments that inspire creativity and foster community building. The impact of GrassRoots expands far beyond that which occurs during these four-day festivals. For over 25 years, GrassRoots has served to both engage and give back to the local and regional communities in which we exist by providing financial and organizational support to impact positive change."

Donna the Buffalo. festgrrl photo. 

Donna the Buffalo. festgrrl photo.

Believe it or not, this fest includes actual camping in Miami! It happens in a coastal county park with a beach. The campgrounds are located on the festival grounds, a very short walk from the beach. The festival site has big shade trees, palms and grassy lawns. The organizers note: "We encourage Tent Campers to bring drop cloths or tarps to lay under tents – the park’s native plant landscaping is beautiful, but a little prickly sometimes! Camping is primitive, there are no water or electric hook-ups. There is a bathroom and shower building nearby as well as portable toilets. No campfires allowed."

Virginia Key Beach Park. Miami Aerials photo.

Weekend tickets are $100 advanced and $120 at the gate. A 4-day youth ticket (ages 13-15) is $50. Kids 12 and under are free. Single day tickets are also available, and there are separate fees for camping, parking, and for the culture camp. Click here to peruse the options.