Funkin Wanee Part 2 - Blow Maceo!

Listen to James Brown recordings, and you are bound to hear Brown shout, in the midst of musical frenzy,   "Blow, Maceo!" The late Godfather of Soul was talking to Maceo Parker, his killer sax player, and one of the funkiest fellows on the planet. Maceo has occupied the funk pocket for over four decades, playing with --among others -- George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic and Prince. 

Maceo Parker plays Wanee 3-4:45 pm Saturday on the Mushroom Stage, and I'm going to venture a guess he'll be sitting in with a lot of acts over the weekend. Here's a nice clip of this soul man:

Funkin Wanee

Rock and roll heavyweights The Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic are obviously the big draw at the Wanee Festival, happening this week at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl.

But this year, as in past years, Wanee is also a garden of delights for funk fans.

Over the next few days, I offer you a Funkateer's Guide to the Wanee Festival.

The first advice for funk fans is to get to Wanee early --- Wednesday night's Wanee pre-party is a funky throwdown with one of the top contemporary funk bands working today, New Orleans' Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk.

Today, we feature two great California bands -- Monophonics, a super fine psychedelic soul and funk band out of San Francisco, and The Greyboy Allstars, an acid jazz-boogaloo band from San Diego.

Monophonics plays 2-3 p.m. Thursday on the Mushroom Stage, and The Greyboy Allstars play Thursday late-night from 11 :30-1:30 on the Mushroom Stage.

Here's a taste of their tastiness and check out the awesome puppets in the second video!:

Wanee Spotlight: Guitar Master Bobby Lee Rodgers

If you’re going to Wanee Festival at Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park this week, chances are you’ll see Atlanta guitarist Bobby Lee Rodgers somewhere. While most acts (other than our hosts The Allman Brothers) have just one slot for the weekend, The Bobby 

Lee Rodgers Trio will be riding around on the mobile 420 stage, and he has three sets over the weekend. 

(The Wanee pre-party starts in the afternoon on Wednesday, April 17, and the full-on fest is Thursday-Sunday.)

Rodgers is a power rock and roll guitarist who has a degree in classical and jazz guitar. He was a jazz professor at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston when he was just 23. 

As a member of the Codetalkers with Colonel Bruce Hampton from 1999 to 2006, he consistently delivered jaw-dropping performances. 

These days, he has a regular gig in Hollywood, Florida, playing tributes to jazz greats like Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, John Coltraine, Charlie Parker, and Horace Silver. On the other hand, he composes and plays Southern rock and jam band tunes.

Rodgers played his first solo performance at Wanee in 2009. This year, the Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio will be playing mostly rock and roll, with Rodgers on the electric banjo and guitar. He gets a unique sound using a 1960s super reverb and a Leslie organ speaker.

Festgrrl caught up with Rodgers recently, as he was putting the finishing touches on his new release, Firefly.

So you’ve been in the studio working on a new release?

I literally got finished with it a second ago. I’m playing electric banjo – I haven’t played it since the Codetalkers. I also play my old 1948 Martin V18, and I play the same banjo my dad got me when I was young. I also play a little drums and a little bass on it.

Besides your trio sets at Wanee, you have any sit-ins planned?

I’m going to be sitting in with people and having a couple of people play with me also. I never know what I’m going to play until I get there, but I know it’ll rock!

When did you first start playing guitar?

I didn’t start playing guitar until I was about 14. My first instrument was upright bass. I played in the fifth grade in Stone Mountain, Georgia in the orchestra. I didn’t know back then what you could do with a bass.

I practiced hard. I played some Bach and the cello suites. I played drums for a couple of years. I played traditional banjo when I was a kid. I wanted a guitar but my dad got me a banjo. He wanted me to play banjo. I wasn’t really that interested in it.

We put a rock band together in high school. Our high school band director heard us play rock and roll and he said ‘You’re in the jazz band now!’ He wanted us for his rhythm section. Our jazz band was one of the best in the nation. He was pushing us. He was getting us to learn how to listen. He’d help us understand that music is a language; it’s not just about a certain lick. All music is a question and an answer.

I just started loving jazz guitar. When I graduated from high school I didn’t really have anybody to study with. I’d go to the record stores and try to find jazz albums to learn from. It was so hard to get the kind of jazz I wanted to learn in a record store, it was all geared to commercial things. I got a scholarship to play in the jazz band at the University of Georgia. I studied classical guitar – Bach Villalobos, Segovia…all that.

I am among the many people who just love your song “Outer Space.” I know the Tampa jam band Cope covers it also. Can you tell us a little about writing it?

I was driving from Atlanta towards Savannah on Highway 16 and I saw a major weird-looking light I’ve never seen in my entire life, ever. It shocked me.

I started writing this tune and I was thinking: If I were from outer space, what would I be thinking? People of the Earth, they need to get along and they need to stop mandating things and justifying things. If we could just wake up for a second. Man, people need to listen to people, you know? 

Listen to Bobby Lee Rodgers at Wanee: He plays 3:30-5 Thursday on the Mushroom Stage, and he holds down the 11:30 a.m. -12 p.m. slot both Friday and Saturday on the Peach Stage

And here's that song, Outer Space: 

Avett Brothers, Ben Harper, Grace Potter, Kenny Chesney at Tortuga Fest This Weekend

Grace Potter &The Nocturnals Play Sunday

Right on the beach in Fort Lauderdale this Saturday and Sunday (April 13 &14) -- Rock the Ocean's  Tortuga Festival!

This is not a camping festival, and 2-day tickets are $149 for Friday and Saturday. One-day tickets are $99. This event aims to raise awareness about ocean conservation. A "Conservation Village" will be set up with hands-on exhibits like touch tanks and science talks.

Kenny Chesney headlines Saturday and The Avetts play Sunday. Here's a look at who all will be rocking the beach:

* Kenny Chesney
* The Avett Brothers
* Gary Allan
* Gary Clark Jr.
* Eli Young Band
* Kip Moore
* Michael Franti & Spearhead
* G. Love & Special Sauce
* Gloriana
* Sister Hazel
* Mac McAnally

Also The Wailers, Lynrd Skynrd ...and more

Get Your Wanee Tickets Before the Price Goes Up Tonight!

Get your tickets for Wanee right now and pay $205 plus $23 in fees -- the price goes up at 10 p.m. tonight!

A Friday Anthem

Uproot Hootenanny from South Florida tells it like it is with their song "That's Why I Drink." Video was captured by our friends at Hype Magazine, (THANKS!) at Suwannee Springfest 2013...

Mind-blowing Performance From Suwannee Springfest 2013

left to right: Rushad Eggleston, Darol Anger, and Mike Marshall

This video clip is just ridiculously fantastic. In the words of the taper (THANK YOU, taper!)"How good and funky can one song be?"

Watch and you will see!

Darol Angor, Rushad Eggleston, and Mike Marshall go to another astral plane with this instrumental,  called Gator Strut. Incredible!