Leftover Salmon Has Five Florida Dates

Innovative Colorado bluegrass demons Leftover Salmon are doing a mini-tour through Florida.

They play:

Pensacola     Nov. 4
Ponte Vedra Nov. 5
St. Pete         Nov. 6
Tallahassee  Nov. 7
Orlando        Nov. 8

If you've never seen these pioneers of "Poly-ethnic Slam-Grass," you owe it to yourself to grab your dancing shoes and catch one of these shows. With sly humor, serious musical chops, a tilted approach to the genre and a general attitude of good cheer, Leftover Salmon never disappoints.

Check out this performance of "Aquatic Hitchhiker." (And don't be lulled by the slow beginning, 'cause these boys RAGE.)

Suwannee Hulaween This Halloween Weekend!

The String Cheese Incident. festgrrl photo.

You might wonder how a mash-up of twangy bluegrass and untzy electronica can live in the same universe, much less play well together.

To see how it’s done, check out the upcoming Suwannee Hulaween festival, happening Oct. 30-Nov 1 at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. Hosted by the talented (and oddly named) national touring improvisational band, The String Cheese Incident, Suwannee Hulaween has, in just two years, become a go-to festival of the Southeast. 

Suwannee Hulaween is a community of creatives who break free of the lock-step world for a glorious weekend, and that is a refreshing place to be.

join...us....festgrrl photo

Now in its third year, Hulaween serves up a divergent menu of funk, folk, electronica, bluegrass, prog-rock, disco, blues, DJs, trance, trip-hop, hip-hop, Dub, Americana, reggae, jam and a few bands that pretty much defy description. If you can’t find music you like on this lineup, to quote a friend of mine: “There’s something BAD wrong witcha!”

From the thump-thump fat electric-bass madness of Les Claypool’s Primus to the breezy bluegrass of Railroad Earth, Suwannee Hulaween is a dance festival that rocks it 24 hours a day. After the main stages close down, the Silent Disco (you wear headphones) cranks up through the early morning hours.

Among all the fests at the Spanish-moss draped paradise that is Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, Hulaween puts on the biggest and baddest spectacle—we’re talking pillars of fire on the main stage (last year, a disembodied head of Michael Jackson floated above during a cover of Thriller,) a ferris wheel in front of the music, and the “Spirit Lake” psychedelic light forest that has had enormous, fire-filled iron sculptures (a la Burning Man) the past two years, along with fire dancers, trapeze performers, painters, and mandala builders. This short video explains Spirit Lake more than any words I could come up with -- Very Cool! 

This is Halloween, and these festers take their regalia responsibility seriously. I have seen some outrageous group costumes and get-ups the last two years that take the holiday far beyond witches and vampires. Last year, two guys put on Haz-Mat suits with the words “FARMER” on their backs and went through the crowd carrying bright lights and pesticide sprayers spritzing water. Epic! This year’s costume theme is a take on the 1970s dance-party show Soul Train – they are asking folks to come up with costumes in the theme of “Ghoul Train.” But really, pretty much anything goes. There is also an “Ultimate Campsite” contest Friday night that, if you win, earns you and 7 of your friends a VIP upgrade for the weekend.

festgrrl photo.

The String Cheese Incident are madly talented musicians, and they will play all three days of the festival in a variety of styles, sometimes charge-ahead bluegrass, sometimes untzy-beat, sometimes jazz and jam.

The festival kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 29, with a “pre party” that costs $60 (which includes primitive camping plus shows by Dumpstaphunk, Jo Russo’s Almost Dead, Eoto, and Herd of Watts.)

The fest proper starts on Friday, and weekend tickets (which include primitive camping) are $259 advanced and $269 at the gate. (Note to festers – if you bought Early Bird, a weekend ticket was just $170.) Saturday & Sunday only tickets (include primitive camping) are $195, and single-day tickets (no camping, and you can't go into the campground) are $105. VIP options are also available, and campsites with electric and water cost extra.

Festgrrl just returned from a week at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park for the Americana Magnolia Fest, and it is just so beautiful there this time of year. Bonus to camp among a kind community of friends you know and friends you’ll meet.

festgrrl photo

Grab your costume get-up and get on out there to Hulaween. 

Here’s the lineup:

Suwannee Hulaween 2015 Lineup

The String Cheese Incident (3 nights)
Pretty Lights
Primus
Chance the Rapper & Social Experiment
STS9
ODESZA
Slightly Stoopid
GRiZ
Lettuce
Railroad Earth
Papadosio
The Floozies
The Polish Ambassador
Sam Bush Band
The New Mastersounds
Manic Science (Manic Focus x Break Science)
Future Rock
Michal Menert
Dopapod
Goldfish
Elephant Revival
The Nth Power
TAUK
Stick Figure
Little Hurricane
Earphunk
Sister Sparrow and the Dirtybirds
Big Wild
Turbo Suit
The Heavy Pets
Shook Twins
Greenhouse Lounge
Thomas Wynn & The Believers
The Heard
Modern Measure
Jon Stickley Trio
Catfish Alliance
Post Pluto
Master Radical
Great Peacock
Billy Gilmore & Friends
The Hip Abduction
Beebs & Her Money Makers
Come Back Alice
Displace
Juke
Sqeedlepuss
The Groove Orient
S.P.O.R.E.
Flat Land
Bath Salt Zombies
Morning Fatty
Holey Miss Moley

Thursday Pre-Party
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
Dumpstaphunk
Eoto
Herd of Watts

When's that fest again?

UPCOMING!!

Oct.23-25:  Camping With the Blues at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville, Fla. (not far from Tampa)  See the lineup here. Nice place to camp, tickets are $50 for a weekend pass and $15-$30 for a single-day pass. You can review the various camping options and fees here.

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Suwannee Hulaween, the amazing art, costume, and music extravaganza hosted by Colorado jamband, The String Cheese Incident, happens at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. Pretty Lights, Slightly Stoopid, Lettuce, Primus, Sam Bush Band and a whole lot of other bands play in a linuep that's a mashup of funk, bluegrass and electronica. Yeah, it works. Plus there's a psychedelic electric forest and a ferris wheel! Thursday night pre-party with Joe Russo's Almost Dead. Advanced weekend tickets are $245. The pre-party is $65. Trust me, it's worth it.

Nov. 5-8: Riverhawk with Fred Eaglesmith, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, The Grand Slambovians, Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, and lots more, happens at the lovely Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville, Fla. (not far from Tampa) Three-day advanced ticket (includes primitive camping) is $106; $74 if you only want to stay two nights. Lots of other ticket options here.  

 

Avett Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band Headline This Week's Magnolia Fest

Husband and wife Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Relix photo. 

Of all the music festivals that festgrrl attends, one of the chillest is Magnolia Fest, which is happening this very week -- Oct. 15-18.

In its 19th year at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla., Magnolia Fest somehow manages to be both family-friendly and one hell of an adult rager at the same time. Because once the kiddies are tucked in, the all-night campfire picking parties begin. The music is a nice blend of bluegrass, blues, funk, and Americana. The Avett Brothers and Tedeschi Trucks band headline this year.

The Avett Brothers always rage it! Publicity photo.

I love Magnolia Fest. I love the fall leaves, the pumpkins, and the preponderance smiles all around. It's so relaxing and life-affirming. Go, and you will know what I mean.

festgrrl photo.

I recommend planning to stay Sunday night. The fest telescopes down to just one stage on Sunday - the stage with all the hammocks - and Donna the Buffalo always closes out Sunday night right. You can see the daily schedule here and keep up with the fest's Facebook page here.

Pumpkins at the after-hours music camp, Slopryland. festgrrl photo.

Three-day tickets, which include primitive camping beneath the lovely oaks and pines,  are $200 advanced, and $210 at the gate. Single-day ticket and VIP options are also available. Here is the full lineup:

Tedeschi Trucks Band
The Avett Brothers
The Del McCoury Band
Keller Williams Grateful Gospel
Lake Street Dive
Jeff Austin Band featuring Danny Barnes, Ross Martin & Eric Thorin
Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier Band
Steep Canyon Rangers
Rebirth Brass Band
New Orleans Suspects
Donna the Buffalo
Jim Lauderdale
Col. Bruce Hampton
Jerry Joseph & The Jack Mormons
Lost Bayou Ramblers
The Lee Boys
The Congress
Band of Heathens
Nikki Talley
The Applebutter Express
Whetherman
Grits & Soul
Sloppy Joe
Quartermoon
Grandpa’s Cough Medicine
The Corbitt Brothers
Quebe Sisters
Big Cosmo
Berry Oakley’s Skylab
Habanero Honeys
Flagship Romance
This Frontier Needs Heroes
JacksonVegas
Bryce Alastair Band
Back From The Brink
Bonnie Blue
Mojo Gurus

When is that fest again?

festgrrl photo

Fest friends, it's time to start planning for the upcoming fall season. To help you know what days to ask your boss for time off, I've compiled a handy-dandy guide:

Sept. 10-13: Lock'n festival,  Arrington, Va. This mega-fest features Carlos Santana, Widespread Panic, Jimmy Cliff, bands by members of the Grateful Dead, and a bunch of giant acts. A 4-day pass is $299, and camping and car parking fees also apply.

Sept. 26 & 27: The Landing, on Lake Pontchatrain in New Orleans, hosted by NOLA's Galactic. Cake, Dr. Dog, Grace Potter, North Mississippi All Stars and Anders Osbourne, and lots more. This is not a camping festival, and you can get the details from my previous post here. 

Oct. 1-3 Homegrown Music Network 20th anniversary fest in Melbane, Nc.(between Greensboro and Durham,) with Lotus, Keller Williams, Big Something, Purple Schoolbus, Barefoot Manner, Cornmeal, Dangermuffin, and more. Three-day advanced ticket is $100, two-day is $80. Primitive camping next to your car. BYOB.

Oct. 8-11 Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in Pittsboro, N.C. (about 40 minutes north of Chapel Hill) This fest is hosted by Americana band Donna the Buffalo, and has a world-beat, roots vibe. You can get all the details on my previous festgrrl Shakori Hills post.

October 15-18:  Magnolia Fest, with Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury, Keller Williams and a whole lot more bands at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. Advanced tickets are $200 advanced for the weekend, and that includes primitive camping.  

October 15 -18: LEAF festival, in Black Mountain, NC, (near Asheville) celebrates New Orleans music with Aaron Neville, Dumpstaphunk,  Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Rising Appalachia, Jeff Thompson, the Revivalists -- just a kick-ass lineup all the way. Weekend advanced ticket is $168, which includes primitive camping.

Nov. 5-8: Riverhawk with Fred Eaglesmith, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, The Grand Slambovians, Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, and lots more, happens at the lovely Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville, Fla. (not far from Tampa) Three-day advanced ticket (includes primitive camping) is $106; $74 if you only want to stay two nights. Lots of other ticket options here.  

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Suwannee Hulaween, the amazing art, costume, and music extravaganza hosted by Colorado jamband, The String Cheese Incident, happens at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. Pretty Lights, Slightly Stoopid, Lettuce, Primus, Sam Bush Band and a whole lot of other bands play in a linuep that's a mashup of funk, bluegrass and electronica. Yeah, it works. Plus there's a psychedelic electric forest and a ferris wheel! Thursday night pre-party with Joe Russo's Almost Dead. Advanced weekend tickets are $245. The pre-party is $65. Trust me, it's worth it.

 

Hulaween art by Bean Spence. festgrrl photo

Free Music at St. Augustine's 450th Anniversary!

Mavis Staples plays for free Sept. 4. Stock photo.

What a present for us -  the lovely St. Augustine, Fla. celebrates its 450th anniversary Sept.4-8 with a big fat free street party, and  they will have a bunch of free music shows and fireworks!

On Friday, Sept. 4, Mavis Staples and Aaron Neville headline. On Saturday, Sept. 5 -- Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, Justin Townes Earle, North Florida homeboy JJ Grey and Mofro, and Emylou Harris and Rodney Crowell will perform.  The festival has five stages in all, with the big acts on a stage at the Bridge of Lions along the riverfront. Nice!

Aaron Neville. Stock photo.

All around the cobblestone downtown area, performers will be playing on the smaller stages. You can catch the likes of Sam Pacetti, Gatorbone, salsa, flamenco, Greek dancers, bagpipes, West African drummers,bluegrass bands, choruses, and more. (Favorite title of the smaller stage bands: Lonesome Bert and the Skinny Lizards.)

JJ Grey. festgrrl photo.

Noirmally, this is the part where I tell you how much tickets cost. Nothing!! The schedule of events is here, and you can get your questions answered here.

Reunion Campout Fest At Suwannee This Weekend

Suwannee River beach! festgrrl photo.

The summer vibe will be thumping this weekend at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, at a new jamtronica and electrofunk fest called Reunion Campout.

The intimate fest under the oaks  features the Stratosphere All-Stars, with members of Lotus, Particle, Kung Fu, STS9, and Gramatik. Also on the bill are Greenhouse Lounge, Zoogma, Gravity A from New Orleans (doing a Talking Heads tribute,) and Colorado's Dynohunter.

Since this is August and it is hot as hell, most of the  music will happen in the park's air-conditioned Music Hall, but there will be a Saturday music party at the park's gorgeous Suwannee River beach. A Silent Disco will run pretty much all night.

Weekend tickets (which include primitive camping Friday and Saturday nights) are $69.59  including fees. Or you can get an online-only  $219 package deal for four, which works out to $54.75 each. including fees.

Check out this Video of Gravity A breaking out the Talking Heads "Girlfriend is Better" at Tipitina's in New Orleans;

Fall Fest Planning -- Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival

Kick-ass jammer Jeb Puryear of Donna the Buffalo. festgrrl photo

It's hot and lazy at festgrrl's deep-South headquarters this time of year, but oh yes -- we can hear the thump of a bass, the slide of a fiddle bow and stomping feet in our distant memory.

October will be here before you know it, and so will the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance. This is one of the small, lovely fests organized by roots-rockers Donna the Buffalo around the country. These fests feature some really cool world-beat and Americana acts. For this year's extravaganza, I advise you not to miss two acts: the quirky art-band Rubblebucket or Indian brass-band funkateers  Red Baraat.

(Shakori 2014: Kim Hawks photo)

Shakori Hills happens Oct. 8-11 in Pittsboro, North Carolina, which is about 20 minutes south of Chapel Hill. Four-day early bird tickets are just $104 for adults. Kids 12 and under are free, and there's a special Youth Pass for the 13-15-year-old set for $54. Camping costs extra, and you can peruse the various options here.

 

festgrrl photo.

Sooo, besides Donna the Buffalo, who is playing, you ask? Read on, dance partners:

Hot Rize featuring Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers

Rubblebucket

JD McPherson

Kinobe & The Wamu Spirit

Red Baraat

The Black Lillies

Preston Frank

Big Mean Sound Machine

Liz Vice

The Old Ceremony

Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds

Norah Jane Struthers & The Party Line

Blind Boy Paxton

Old Man Luedecke

Kelley & The Cowboys

Big Fat Gap

Brett Harris

The Midatlantic

Ellis Dyson & The Shambles

The Fairlanes

The Cane Creek Cloggers

Lobo Marino

Mason Via

& many more…

Missing Bear Creek?Try This One

Covered stage!

The funktastic Bear Creek was my favorite festival in the Southeast, and  I was crushed when it was cancelled for this fall. Where will I get my funk on??

Then someone told me about a "Bear Creek of the North," a festival called the Catskill Chill. Yes, Southern friends, this is our funk and jam fest from another mother. It has a crowd and a vibe about the same size as our dearly departed Bear Creek.

It happens at a former summer camp called Camp Minglewood September 18-20 in Hancock, NY.

Check out this lineup:

moe., Lotus, Zappa Plays Zappa, Lettuce, Electron, The Motet, Dopapod, Kung Fu,Twiddle,Break Science,Turkuaz,Dopakuaz plays Studio 54, The Werks, Particle & Fam, George Porter Jr.&The Runnin' Pardners and more. 

Weekend tickets, which include primitive camping, are $198 advanced (through July 20.)

Chill Fam

Camp Minglewood looks awesome, with a lake and cabins (sold out, sorry, tent camping only) This is the last year Catskill Chill will be at this lovely location, so if you're inclined for a road trip this fall, check it out! 

A New New Orleans Fest This Fall!!

Galactic. Candace Horgan photo.

New Orleans power-funksters Galactic, along with the legendary club Tipitina's, are joining up to put on a new festival Sept. 26 & 27 just outside New Orleans this fall.

Called "The Landing," the fest will happen about 15 minutes outside the city along Lake Pontchartrain, at a place called South Shore Harbor.

It features a killer lineup with some out-of-town bands who almost NEVER come South (I'm talking to you Cake and Dr. Dog!.

Grace Potter

Here are the announced acts so far, and the promoters promise more to come: Galactic, Grace Potter, Cake, Dr. Dog, Trampled by Turtles, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, the North Mississippi Allstars and Anders Osborne present N.M.O., the Soul Rebels and Rayland Baxter.

Soul Rebels

A two-day pass is $100. Single day and VIP options are also available on the web site. On Thursday, there's a  pre-party at Tipitina's for an extra fee. There will be daily performances from NOLA marching bands and fireworks!

Great Outdoors Jam for Your Holiday Weekend!

Maddox Ranch

The Central Florida jam scene is a beautiful thing, with kind folks and a stable of  creative and diverse musicians who like to get together and rage it.

This weekend (July 3-5,) the Great Outdoors Jam, a campout fest, happens at Maddox Ranch in Lakeland with Cope, Big Something, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, The Fritz, Come Back Alice, Applebutter Express, Savi Fernandez Band, Post Pluto, Jahman Brahman,  Holey Miss Moley, and more. You can see the lineup here.

Tickets (which include primitive camping) are $80 at the gate for the weekend. There's a Thursday pre-party for $20, and you can buy a ticket for that at the gate. Some info: Vendors will be onsite with food and drink. No dogs allowed. RVs and campers are allowed, but there is no onsite electricity so you will need a generator to run your rig.

This Weekend's Getaway: Roosevelt Collier Music Fest On the Suwannee

Happy place - the beach at Spirit of the Suwannee. festgrrl photo.

Lap-steel guitar player Roosevelt Collier, of the hard-charging South Florida sacred steel band The Lee Boys, kicks off the first of a new camping and music series at  Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl June 26-27.  

Stages will be going at the Suwannee River beach during the day and at the courtyard outside the Music Hall at night. Swim a little, dance a little, repeat.

Collier, a festival stalwart who has sat in with everyone from the Allman Brothers to The Funky Meters, Dumpstaphunk, and Yonder Mountain String Band, will play both nights with his Trio. A roster of regional bands will fill out the stages the rest of the weekend:  Flat Land, Groove Orient, Squeedlepuss, Post Pluto, Vlad the Inhaler, Dambella, Matthew Connor, Lai-Mal, Charlie Hustle, amd Trictops 1.

This fest is a bargain for a weekend in paradise and a great chance to hang at the park when it is uncrowded.

Weekend tickets, which include primitive camping, are only $30 advanced and $40 at the gate, Single-day tickets, which don't include camping, are $10.

You can snag an air conditioned cabin with a rental golf cart for $256 for the weekend, Sweet!

You can get tickets here

Wow, Jam in the Sand Looks NICE

What a thing to save up for seven months from now:  Dark Star Orchestra's  Jam in the Sand with  Peter Rowan's Bluegrass Band and Steve Kimock's tribute to Jerry Garcia, featuring Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane, Reed Mathis and Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz.

It happens at the all-inclusive Jewel Paradise Cove Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica, January 19-23, 2016. Music happens at night (Dark Star plays two sets for three nights,) and your days are free for beaching it.

Tickets go on sale Monday, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. Eastern

Bonnarooooooooooooo

Matt Shultz of Cage the Elephant at last year's Bonnaroo. FilmMagic photo.

The biggest fest in the Southeast kicks off this week, I'm talking, of course, about Bonnaroo, the 80,000-fester-strong musical gathering in the boondocks that is Manchester, Tennessee. Tickets are still available, and general 4-day admission (Thursday-Sunday)  is $357.25 (that includes fees.)

This year's headliners include Billy Joel, Mumford & Sons,Deadmau5, Kendrick Lamar, Florence and the Machine, Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, My Morning Jacket, Bassnectar, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Alabama Shakes.The full lineup  is here.

The crowd goes on forever!

With over 125 bands, plus movies and a comedy club, it's a busy place. Rolling Stone magazine has an excellent Bonnaroo music guide, organized by whatever genre you like.  And the must-read document about the culture of Bonaroo is this indispensable alternative insider's guide. 

It's a pop-up city, y'all

If you aren't up for the challenge of a giant field in Tennessee in June, you can watch many of the performances from the comfort of your couch. Bonnaroo in the past has always had an above-average webcast, with cameras all over the stage. Concert giant Live Nation bought a stake in Bonaroo last spring, so this is the first time the mega-company is involved. Not sure if any changes will be happening.. The webcast is here.

One of the most intriguing acts of the weekend will be the Superjam, happening Saturday night/Sunday morning, starting at  1 a.m. -- check out the lineup below -- NICE!:

It's All Love At the Purple Hatter's Ball

festgrrl photo.

It’s hard to imagine a more intimate or heart-felt festival than the Purple Hatter’s Ball. Going eight years strong, the 2015 Ball was another musical Valentine for Rachel Morningstar Hoffman, a dedicated fester who wore a purple hat, and a soul we lost too soon.

Elephant Revival. Rex Thomson photo.

Right from the get-go, the Purple Hatter’s Ball (held at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak Fl. May 7-10) showed itself to be special with ear-to-ear smiles everywhere and a spine-tingling performance by the haunting Americana band, Elephant Revival, at the Thursday night pre-party. The night filled out with a blistering funky jam band out of Kansas called Mouth (seriously check them out,) the hilarious, booty-shaking disco juggernaut that is Space Capone, Gainesville’s jazzy Flat Land, and Montana-grown Electro Thunder Funk from the band Cure for The Common.

Carly Foster of  New Earth Army. festgrrl photo.

All my festie friends were a-twitter about how great it is to be treated to new bands, music that we know we will come to love. These musical expeditions come courtesy of promoter Paul Levine, who says he is always looking for Purple Hatters Ball bands that his late friend, Rachel, would have liked. Rachel loved Athens, Ga. reggae purveyors Dubconscious, and they brought the Thursday evening pre-party grooving into the late night.

Rachel's Mama, Marige, and Paul Levine. festgrrl photo.

Josh Webster photo.

Love this guy! festgrrl photo.

Josh Webster photo.

Sweet river beach. festgrrl photo.

The temps were sizzling Friday as folks headed to the river beach, where no less than nine acts took the river stage. Back at the ampitheater  and porch stages, New Earth Army out of Destin, Fla. funked it up and the fabulous Austin,Texas funkateers, Mingo Fishtrap, brought their band of musical mayhem to the gathering. Love that band!. By happy hour, the ever-entertaining, hard-charging Tallahassee band Catfish Alliance with frontman Sexual Manatee was tearing up the porch stage, and then headliners Nahko and Medicine for the People took the ampitheater.

Nahko of  Medicine for the People. Rex Thomson photo.

Rarely have I seen such intense energy between band and crowd, with what seemed like every soul there singing along to Nahko’s positive message. After that emotional performance, The Malah, Trial by Stone and The Werks kicked it through the wee hours, with the  Silent Disco cranking from  2 -4 a.m.

Mingo Fishtrap. festgrrl photo.

festgrrl photo

Lots of folks painted on this baby. festgrrl photo

Truth. festgrrl photo.

The river beach was jamming again Saturday when Grandpa’s Cough Medicine brought the high-energy bluegrass to the ampitheater stage and a delightful afternoon of world-beat bands – Benyoro, Raja Kassis’s Humanbeing, and Toubab Krewe began on the shady forest stage, which culminated in the epic Supermande Jam, where more than 15 people -- African drummers, singers dancers, and string players crowded onto the stage.

The Supermande jam. Josh Webster photo. 

Atlanta’s excellent Cadillac Jones turned out a blistering performance at Happy hour time. This band is a funk instrumental outfit that just keeps getting better every time I see them. Super tight arrangements and a real cool groove. Cadillac Jones delivered one of the best shows of the music-packed weekend.

Cadillac Jones. festgrrl photo. 

In early evening, we gathered at the ampitheater so Rachel’s mom, Margie, dad Irv, and friends could release Monarch butterflies for Rachel. 

Rachel Morningstar Hoffman

Margie spoke about Rachel’s Law, which reforms the way police can use confidential informants, and says she is advocating for changes nationally. Rachel’s story is a sad, sad example of the stupid drug war and police ineptitude. Rachel’s family has worked to make important change in the world. As we held Rachel in our hearts, Dubconscious took the stage, the butterflies soaring into the live oak trees above us.

Rachel's parents, Irv Hoffman and Mama Margie. festgrrl photo.

Improvisational band Tauk delivered an intricate set, followed by the STAR TIME that is Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires. Bradley spent his life doing menial jobs, being homeless, and working sporadically as a  James Brown impersonator before breaking out as a soul singer in his own right late in life, in his 60s. His soulful Purple Hatter’s set was a standout, and he was so overcome with emotion at one point that he jumped from the stage to embrace Mama Margie and members of the crowd. Bradley has been through heartbreak of all kinds, but he especially can relate to the shock of someone in the family being murdered, since he lost his brother that way. If you have not seen the film, Charles Bradley – Soul of America – please do. His story is amazing.

Charles Bradley. Rex Thomson photo.

Lots of art everywhere! festgrrl photo.

We all had Cheshire cat grins. festgrrl photo.

festivarians. festgrrl photo.

The up-and-coming Jacksonville funk powerhouse Parker Urban Band dazzled with their soaring vocals and kept folks dancing. Greenhouse Lounge delivered a dreamy prelude to funk-techno-prog-rock headliner Lotus, and you can hear that show here. Just before Lotus, I went back to camp for a minute and found myself marching along with a full-on New Orleans brass second-line parade through the park, which was totally unexpected and FANTASTIC. Thanks to the band, Empire Strikes Brass, for that treat.

Benyoro. festgrrl photo.

Benyoro. festgrrl photo.

Benyoro. festgrrl photo.

Sunday morning, the Scott Campbell Band with vocalist Avis Berry covered the entire 1969 Blind Faith album, (In case ya don’t know, Blind Faith was a wildly successful supergroup collaboration between Steve Winwood and Cream’s Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.) Guitarist Campbell and friends nailed the epic album!

Avis Berry. Josh Webster photo

Yoga people! festgrrl photo.

Unfortunately, I had to leave before Adrian Crutchfield and the Extraordinary Gentlemen, Shak Nasti, Roosevelt Collier’s Superjam, Future Vintage, Aaron Lebos Reality and Sexual Manatee’s Basshole played Sunday afternoon and evening. I drove away back to Real Life with my soulshine glowing from the sweet fest friends and inspired musical performances.

It was another one for the Suwannee record books. May the Purple Hatter's Ball lovefest continue for many more seasons!

Yes! Rex Thomson photo.