Happy New Music Year!

Thanks for all your feedback and support this year, readers. and here's to many good shows in 2012!

Galactic, Toubab Krewe Hit Jacksonville Jan. 5

Now here's a killer show coming up January 5 in Jacksonville -- New Orleans power-funk band Galactic -- hot off their New Year's Eve gig at NOLA's Tipitina's -- joins the cool, world-beat Toubab Krewe at Freebird Live in Jacksonville Beach. Tickets are $20 advanced  Corey Glover from In Living Colour and Corey Henry from Rebirth Brass Band will be playing with Galactic.

Here is a cool Galactic video with legendary singer Irma Thompson:



And check out this kick-ass show Toubab Krewe did in Tallahassee a few years back at the old Beta Bar:

Save a Little on Suwannee

The fine folks behind Suwannee Springfest (March 22-25) are extending their early bird prices to this midnight Saturday. You can get a ticket for $125, after that it goes up to $150. The newgrass lineup is lovely, with Yonder Mountain String Band, The  Gourds, and more.  The festival is held at the beautiful Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla (see pic of lovely lake camping, above.)  It is a family friendly fest, a good place to bring bikes and hammocks and swimsuits for the pool and river.

The Pinkham Family from Tampa will be there, with the incredible mandolin player, Josh Pinkham. Josh has been playing this festival since he was a little tyke.  Here he is playing last year at Suwannee with David Grisman:

Bond-fire Festival Cancelled

But you already knew that......


Happy Holidays!

Festival Fiasco!

Folks hoping to go to go the funk-filled Bond-fire Art and Music Festival  starting this Thursday and stretching over New Year's Eve got the odd news last night that the entire outdoor camping festival is instead moving to indoor venues in downtown St. Peterburg -- The State Theater and one other facility, Local 662. This fiasco keeps unfolding.

After howling from patrons who paid for an outdoor camping festival (some buying tickets last summer), some traveling by air and some rolling down to sunny Fla in RVs with kids in tow, the promoters got on Facebook this morning and said they have a 50-50 chance of some other outdoor venue -- still unidentified -- and asked fans for ideas. For the latest, check the Bond-fire's Facebook page.


The festival went on the ropes this week when the Lake County Commission denied its permit, citing lateness of application and safety concerns.

Hmmmm. What Would George Clinton Do?

Bond-Fire Festival Change of Venue

Green man, can you help us?

It looks like the Bond-fire Art and Music Festival, scheduled outside Orlando over New Year's Eve weekend with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, The New Mastersounds, and North Mississippi All Stars, will have to move at the last minute.

Hectic talks are underway after the Lake County Commission denied the promoter's permit. Whew, wouldn't want to be in those folks' shoes right now! The fest is suposed to kick off in eight days.

We've seen miracles before. The now-successful Bear Creek Art and Music Festival got the thumbs-down in Gadsden County its first year and scrambled and moved to Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak at the last minute. The fest remains there today.

Positive thoughts for the Bond-fire folks, people!

Super Talent at 30A Songwriters Festival

If you can make it over to Seaside, Fla (between Panama City and Destin) on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (Jan 13-15) you'll be treated to the excellent 30A Songwriter's Festival, now in its third year.

The past two years have been a talent feast. This is a showcase for hot songwriters, many of them working in Nashville. But it isn't a country festival -- here, songs are stripped down to their bare bones. The audience (for the most part) really listens.

Headliners include Rodney Crowell, The Bangles, Shawn Mullins, Sam Bush Band, Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls, and Matthew Sweet.

The thrill for me, though, has been listening to the "unknowns" performing there, and finding some incredible gems. Angel Snow was one of them last year. Madison Violet was another.
 
This is not a camping festival, and it isn't a great place to lug kids around, either.  Performances are held in a variety of  venues, including bars and restaurants, along the coastal highway there -- 30A. You can hop from place to place eating and drinking along the way. Tickets are onsale online at $125 for the weekend. The gate price is $150.
 
I was able to video quite a few of the performances last year. And you can read my post on lodging and logistics here. Here are some more of the folks performing this year:
 

David Wilcox, Steve Forbert, Mary Gauthier, Sam Bush Band, Randall Bramblett, Tommy Talton, Jeffrey Steele, Chely Wright, Chuck Cannon, Tim Nichols, Corey Smith, David Olney, Davin McCoy, Lori McKenna,Tommy Womack, Kevn Kinney, The Shadowboxers, Larkin Poe, Emily Lynch, Joseph Arthur, Matthew Mayfield, Rachel Platten, Callaghan, David Berkeley, Garrison Starr, Jeff Black, Joe Leathers, Ben Glover,Billy Montana, Chas Sanford, Brian and Karyn White, Greg Barnhill, Forrest Williams Band, Kyle Jacobs, Kelsey Anna, Reed Waddle, Meg Hutchinson, Brigitte DeMeyer, Daphne Willis, Shannon Whitworth, Suzi Ragsdale, Georgia, Ashleigh Flynn, Joanna Cotton, Matthew Kahler, Over The Rhine (Karin Bergquist & Linford Detweiler), Bryan Kennedy, Nicole Witt, Granville Automatic, Angel Snow, Chatham Street, Deux, Birds, Jesse Terry, Michael Witty, Sterling Fletcher, Grant Peeples, The Tall Pines, and over 75 more.

Here  is an amazing performance of one of my favorite songs, "Mercy Now," by Mary Gauthier -- that's Tania Elizabeth who used to fiddle for the great Canadian newgrass band, The Duhks, performing with Mary.  There's a long and funny intro by Mary congratulating country star Chely Wright (who is onstage but out of the frame) for coming out as a gay woman.