Will McLean Festival This Weekend

The gorgeous Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville will host the  22nd annual  Will McLean Festival this weekend (March 11-13) Will McLean was a legendary Florida folk musician, and his legacy is celebrated by singer-songwriters every year.

The fest location can't be beat -- it is intimate, has nice campsites, nice bathrooms and showers, and super-friendly folk.

Weekend tickets are $30 online and $35 at the gate. Friday-only tickets are $15, Saturday-only costs $18 and Sunday-only is $15. Camping with hookups is $20 and primitive camping is  $10.

My friend Grant Peeples (check out his hot new CD, Okra and Eclesiastes) will be playing there, which gives me an excuse to post a You Tube of one of my favorite Grant songs. Trust me , you will laugh and you will love it!!

New Fest on Spring Lineup

Fabulous Afrobeat Funkateers 3rd Stone, above, will play.

Hey folks, check out the Orange Blossom Jamboree, May 21-23 at the gorgeous Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville (home of Riverhawk and String Break)

Looks like a great lineup with Gainesville-based 3rd Stone, Orlando's Funk Us (both bands have new CDs out, BTW), and the excellent Dead cover band, Crazy Fingers, among others.

This is a really nice park to camp at, with lots of bathrooms and showers, a pretty lake and a pretty creek running through it. It's also a small venue, very intimate, festgrrl recommended!

Love that Larry Keel!

Larry Keel and his band Natural Bridge BROUGHT IT at String Break last weekend. His hands moved so fast they were a blur. We were treated to several performances over the beautiful weekend.

String Break is a wonderful, small festival on some of the prettiest land I've seen. Fantastic, clean facilities, and a little creek for kids to play in.

Nice mix of bluegrass, newgrass, folk,and blues.

This is the same site for the larger Riverhawk festival in the fall. Highly recommended!

Fest Season Approacheth

The Spring Fest Season is fast approaching and festgrrl is mulling her many options! I outline the options for Southern festers below for your planning pleasure. Yes, times are tough, but still... if you get your advanced tickets, festing is still a pretty good vacation bargain. Magnolia Springfest advanced was $100, that's $100 for four days and five stages!

Springfest, March 26-29, is the first fest on festgrrl's list. You can see the lineup at the link here:

http://www.magmusic.com/lineupspringfest.htm

I am loving The Gourds and Richie Havens on the lineup this year.

The weekend after Springfest, April 3 and 4, is the Keel Family Function in LaFayette, Georgia -- that's way up there near Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's at TDawg's Cherokee farms, and the price is just great -- only $40 for the whole weekend advanced. I have never been to the venue, but friends report great things. The lineup is simply stellar and you can see it here

http://www.keelfamilyfunction.com/

Promoter TDawg knows all about great music. Here's his post on it:


Eye Dawg Productions is proud to announce the inaugural KEEL FAMILY FUNCTION April 3rd- 4th at beautiful Cherokee Farms in LaFayette, GA. We are very excited about this first-time event and plan on having it around for years to come. Once again, we will be featuring the wind/solar power of Tree Power, a subsidiary of Tree Sound Studios and Tree Leaf Music (www.treeleafmusic.com)

Keel Family Reunion
Tickets: Fri-Sat $40 adv/$50 @ gate, Sat Only $30 adv/$40 @ gate, includes camping. Advance tix available online at KeelFamilyFunction.com. Music starts at 7PM on Friday, Noon on Saturday.

The Keel Family Function Lineup:

~ COL. BRUCE HAMPTON ~ featuring Jeff Sipe on drums, Ike Stubblefield on Hammond/bass pedals, Grant Green Jr. on guitar, plus a few friends I’m sure. www.bratoganibe.com/
~ BLUEGROUND UNDERGRASS ~ www.bluegroundundergrass.com
~ DONNA HOPKINS ~ SPECIAL ARTIST-AT-LARGE
~ LARRY KEEL & NATURAL BRIDGE ~ www.larrykeel.com
~ LAURA REED & DEEP POCKET ~ www.laurareedanddeeppocket.com
~ PAPA MALI w/ Jeff Sipe ~ www.papamali.com
~ RALPH RODDENBERY BAND ~ www.ralphroddenbery.com
~ GRAYSON CAPPS & FRIENDS ~ www.graysoncapps.com
~ ANDERS OSBORNE & NEW ORLEANS JUICE ~ www.myspace.com/andersosbornenola
~ DAVID VIA ~ www.davidvia.com
~ CAPTAINS of the INDUSTRY ~ featuring members of N.O. Juice, Susan Tedeschi’s band lineup, Scrapomatic
~ STOP DROP & ROLL ~ www.myspace.com/stopdropandrollband
~ CAROLINE POND ~ www.myspace.com/carolinepond
~ SAINT FRANCIS ~ www.myspace.com/saintfrancissong
~ EYE of the DAWG SONGWRITER SHOWCASE, lineup TBA soon!
~ BLOODY MARY MORNING BLUEGRASS JAM ~ hosted by Stop Drop & Roll, final details TBA soon!
~ THE LOW DOWN THROW DOWN ~ www.myspace.com/thelowdownthrowdown
~ PAST PLUTO ~

Tickets: Fri-Sat $40 adv/$50 @ gate, Sat Only $30 adv/$40 @ gate. Kids 12&under are admitted FREE. Camping included in the cost of the ticket. $10 additional if you wish to come in on Thursday night. Advance tix available online at http://www.TicketAlternative.com/Venues/302.aspx or by visiting the outlets listed above. Music starts at 7PM on Friday, Noon on Saturday. NO DOGS PLEASE.

We are excited to have Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. on board as a sponsor, along with our buddies Wildman Steve Radio and Tree Leaf Music.

Then it's down to Tampa area, for Stringfest on April 17-19. This is the same venue as Riverhawk in the fall. See the lineup here: http://www.lindentertainment.com/StringBreak/SB09/stringbreak_2009
The Waybacks and The Greencards and Larry Keel are standouts in the lineup. This venue, I hear, is very, very sweet. And April is a great time to be in Florida. Tickets are $65 advance for two nights of camping, $85 if you want to stay Sunday night.

That's all for now, I've got another fest to preview and will do it next post.