Hampton Phish – 2009 Hampton, VA Phish Video and Audio Clips

Words by: Bryan Tobian | Images by: Brian Spady

The String Cheese Incident:: 07.28.10-08.01.10 :: Horning’s Hideout :: North Plains, OR

Horning’s 2010 by Brian Spady

Throw away your inhibition hat, slip on your dancing shoes and let your freak flag touch the sky and you might just be ready for an Incident in the remote, tree-laden hills of Horning’s Hideout. The Hideout, owned by Portland area local and 2010 Oregon State Senate candidate Bob Horning, is a lush mountain resort tucked away in the outlying mountains West of Portland. Towering evergreen trees, offering shady camping areas, breathtaking scenery as far as the eye can see, and scarcely any reminder of an outside world encloses much of the park. Radiant blue peacocks roam the grounds and perch high in the trees, calling to each other with bellowing, catlike noises and leaving vivid souvenir feathers all around, serving as a colorful mascot for the park. A small lake in front of Mom Horning’s house feeds a creek which runs through the many camping and recreation areas, all connected by twisty, sloping trails like giant corridors in a secret, underground labyrinth. Every nook, cranny and corner has potential for magical discoveries while navigating the maze, but the place is intimate enough to never be too far from one’s campsite. Situated as a permanent staple, nestled away behind the lake, is the amphitheater; a sturdy wooden stage in front of a dusty dance floor and a treacherously steep hill making a semi-circle of theater seating around the stage.

The Boulder, Colorado-based jam band jesters String Cheese Incident have now played Horning’s on seven separate occasions since their debut in the majestic park ten years ago. With each occasion being a three-night stand, they have hosted a grand total of twenty-one spectacular nights of lighthearted, euphoric music, blissful dancing and breathtaking visual displays at their home away from home. And yeah, it’s more than just a concert, festival or party – it’s a celebration of the beauty of being alive.

Today, however, after three years of nearly unbroken hiatus, this particular Incident was as much a family reunion as it was anything else. Only 5,000 tickets were sold to the event, which comprised three of their ten scheduled 2010 shows, and completely sold out in a matter of moments. Months of planning and excitement clearly went into the event because when the String Cheese circus arrived on the scene the Horning family’s nature park was turned into a Technicolor, tie-dyed candy land complete with surreal dreamscape art fixtures and the glowing energy of a love-cano eruption.

SCI’s music is a concoction of bluegrass, rock, funk, Latin, tropical, reggae, disco, folk and jazz, all mixed and balanced neatly on a tightly knit but exploratory and peak laden improvisational seesaw, and featuring catchy, honest, sometimes humorous tales gathered from the many trails the band members have navigated. The hodgepodge band is comprised of the flat picking sage Billy Nershi bringing exciting life to the six-string acoustic guitar, the ever so smooth Kyle Hollingsworth presiding famously over all things keys, the prodigious Michael Kang on both violin and soaring electric mandolin, Keith Moseley manning the funky low end on bass alongside the rhythm duo of Michael Travis on the drum kit and Jason Hann in his incredibly complete percussion universe.

Their shows are like riding a steam train, coasting up a scenic mountainside straight into a series of theme park roller coasters before barreling back down the mountain with twice the intensity and plunging into an entirely different planet. As the sun goes down, the strobing stage lights glare and flash, showers of glow sticks launch at every musical peak, and lasers, disco balls, LED toys and everything else imaginable begin to light up the place in a phosphorescent shimmer like a Timothy Leary inspired Las Vegas strip. Hugs are passed out like handshakes, and as the ride draws to a close, those who were lucky enough to be there begin to process it as the after-parties rage on.

Thursday, July 28, 2010

EOTO – Horning’s 2010 by Brian Spady

In a move forward from past Horning’s Hideout Incidents, this gathering was much like a festival, featuring three stages besides the main amphitheater stage, with some kind of music going on all the way from noon until 4 a.m. In the past few years since the last regularly scheduled Incidents, the members have all immersed themselves in new projects, some of which have very obvious lineage in Cheese like the Kyle Hollingsworth Band – whose funky, jammy jazz grooves opened the festival with a dirty “Taxman” jam as well as the highly covered Talking Heads tune “Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place)” – and some whose Cheesy roots are not so obvious like Jason Hann and Michael Travis’s synth charged dub-step improv duo EOTO, which closed out the main stage on the first night with an electrifying dance performance by a tequila bottle toting Billy Nershi. An appearance was made by Nershi’s current project, the Emmitt-Nershi Band, a bluegrass foursome featuring Billy on guitar and Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon on the mandolin. Also featured on the first night was the high energy of CB-3, with Chris Berry belting out positive reggae-like messages on vocals and Michael Kang doing what he does best on the electric mandolin.

Friday, July 29, 2010

Friday featured a captivating acoustic guitar duet during the day by Billy Nershi with Oregon’s own Scott Law as more and more exSCIted fans poured into the campground and eventually to the stage areas to explore the scene, shop in the merchants’ tented vending areas, sample some of the lovingly made foods and hand crafted ales, and eventually make their way to the stage for the first night of String Cheese madness.

The night started with a welcome from Bob’s mom, Jane Horning, thanking everyone for coming and always being such wonderful guests. From here, the band jumped into their first song of the festival, “Smile,” and sure enough everyone within close proximity was smiling as they blazed through the first set featuring highlights in the funky “Born on the Wrong Planet,” which brought the first improvisation of the night with a deep, trance-y, grooving jam, layering synthesizers by Hollingsworth and a jazzy exploration by Kang into the nether worlds of improvisation over Moseley’s thumping bass before Travis and Hann built the energy to an overwhelming apex. This was followed by the Paul Simon-esque “Under African Skies,” where Kang lit a fire with his violin over the upbeat music as the crowd rippled with delight. The jazzy “Climb” came next featuring a Hollingsworth solo that built fittingly from a slow trickle up to a massive peak, where Kang took over with his blazing electric mando. To finish the set, the boys invited the Soul Rebels Brass Band to give an extra dirty kick to the always-funky “Miss Brown’s Teahouse.”

Horning’s 2010 by Brian Spady

The second set was a barnburner from front to back with improv heavy songs like “Black and White” and a beautiful jam with sprinkling piano in “Water.” “Dirk” followed “Water” with a two-minute “Jungle Boogie” crammed in the middle of it, and the crowd was ecstatic as they built back into the end skyrocketing end of “Dirk.” Everyone but Hann and Travis left the stage for a drum jam followed by the nearly techno grooves of “Bumpin’ Reel,” which peaked the energetic set of music with Kang laying down fiddle madness over the synthy layers before mellowing out into grassy set closer “Restless Wind,” which gave playful picker extraordinaire Billy Nershi a chance to stretch out on his acoustic guitar before passing the fire between Kang and Hollingsworth as the second set dance party drew to a wild close.

After a moment’s break, the band returned to the stage with the Soul Rebel Brass Band to dust off that old New Orleans feel good classic “Hey Pocky Way,” sending everyone off cheering and smiling into the night woods to play.

Saturday, July 30, 2010

Saturday saw gray skies for much of the cool day but cleared up to mesmerizing, puffy, white clouds flowing and shifting with the winds through the azure nothingness while Bill Frisell, Steve Moore and Rudy Royston held an exhibition on how to properly perform dirty, slinky, funky jazz, which preceded the night’s highly anticipated performance from Cheese. Costumed concertgoers of all shapes, sizes, colors and themes poured into the bowl, and as the spaces filled in, it seemed as if at least half of the audience, clearly ready for blastoff, had decorated themselves for the maniac masquerade. No other scene finds fans quite as enthusiastic about being part of the show as does the String Cheese Incident, and one can only wonder what they will witness at the band’s Hulaween weekend at that end of Rocktober.

The boys took the stage and immediately gave a nod to the weather, opening their second show of the weekend with the upbeat hootenanny “Black Clouds,” whose second half also closed the first set. The rest of the set explored many places from the tropical feeling “Rhum N Zouc” to the open, loose “Freedom Jazz Dance” (which included an impressive, flowing sit-in by Frisell), the exciting Kang driven “Cedar Laurels,” and a gripping version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” The set started later than listed and the lights from the stage started painting the band and the trees very early with a shimmer that made the place feel as if it was under water. As the set came a rocking conclusion, the dance floor was cleared for the now traditional ‘festival set.’

Fire Dancers – Horning’s 2010 by Brian Spady

The band took an unlit stage with very few cheers until dark blue lights fired up, revealing their silhouettes along with a team of samurai warriors waiting in the center of the field as the intense, driving, instrumental classic “Rivertrance” began the ceremony. The samurai dancers eventually resolved into acrobats and fire dancers wielding flaming hoops, sticks and poi flails. A giant wooden peacock at least 20 feet tall was rolled onto the field and the fire dancers ritualistically set it ablaze to the roar of the crowd as the music raged aggressively. Still in “Rivertrance,” the band slowed down to an amble and the lights were dimmed, bringing out a massive floating UFO over the audience chaperoned by emerald hued, fanning stage lasers, both of which would remain for the rest of the evening. Dancers with flashing LED hoops arrived on the scene adding to the stimulating ambiance before a dozen or so massive balloons were hauled out to the middle of the field in the darkness. In a moment, the balloons were released and floating up as a woman above the stage, attached only by her grasp to satin ropes, dangled acrobatically.

Billy called everyone back to the field under the levitating dancer as the song raced to its finale and the crowd, now more neon and glowing than ever, danced feverishly. “Joyful Sound” followed with Moseley laying down a poetic rap before handing the stage over to Hann and Travis to give a taste of their deep, womping improvisations. “Orion’s Belt” saw a seemingly infinite glow stick rope snaking through the audience as the crowd swayed to the Floyd-inspired groove. Another highlight came soon after midnight as the band paid a birthday tribute to one of their fallen heroes, the legendary Jerry Garcia, with an inspired rendition of the classic “I Know You Rider” (“gonna miss me when I’m gone”) as a last hurrah to the dazzling set.

After a short break, Cheese returned to the stage for the endearing message of “Sirens” and the hilarious tale of trifles with the police in “Texas” before again sending the partying people off into the night to further explore the magic of the decked out neon forests as they ran the marathon between stages all raging with a plethora of exciting music and many twinkling areas to hang out and enjoy the moment while trying to stay awake for the spectacular bubble show at dawn.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

All of the sudden, it was Sunday and the festival waned to its final glorious moments. The afterglow of the previous night’s theatrical exhibition could be seen on the shining faces of passersby and heard in their ongoing praises. The day started quite late for most since the night ended in a similar fashion and many had already started to pack it in for the trip back to reality directly after the final set of the weekend. But, before long the main stage was packed with rowdy jiggers and jigglers kickin’ up dirt to some of the smoothest, tightest, most precise bluegrass on the scene delivered by The Travelin’ McCourys as the sun made its triumphant return to the delight of the many shirtless and shoeless in the audience.

The final Incident of the weekend was a doozy from the start. After a quick sendoff from Bob Horning, the McCourys were welcomed back to the stage for a long bluegrass set of epic proportions culminating in a savage violin battle between Kang and the McCourys’ lightning fingered fiddler Jason Carter in a truly historical “Orange Blossom Special.” Before they left the stage, Col. Bruce Hampton joined the fray to belt out “Fixin’ to Die” as the sun shed its last glorious hues of day and fell into night. The exciting 70s funk of “Betray the Dark” segued nicely into the Latin pop of “Yo Se” with jazzy solos traded between Kyle, Kang and Nershi. Later, Kang reopened all cylinders in “Looking Glass.” The final nail in the first set was a soulful “San Jose” that everyone dug deep to summon the late-festival energy to boogie down.

The final set of the weekend was one of the best as the band unleashed a rocking 17-minute “Howard,” which spent a lot of time exploring the sonic depths of layered improvisation. The down-tempo “Emma’s Dream” followed as Keith Moseley’s daughter entered the stage near her father, dressed like a faerie gnome, and grooved zealously with the rest of the audience to the mellow music in what proved to be a very touching moment. The emotional “Don’t Say” segued seamlessly from the “Dream,” and, with an escalating jam, they dropped into the frenzied ending of “It Is What It Is.”

Again, as with the previous night, the set featured a tribute to the ever-beloved celestial birthday boy, Jerry Garcia, as the Incident steered itself into the cheerful and arousing “Eyes of the World.” Scott Law joined them for the timeless Garcia/Hunter hymn and stayed to finish out the set with “Outside and Inside.” The band returned to the stage after a short break, capping off the weekend with a very appropriate “Best Feeling,” surely a nod, wink, smile and bow to one of the most remarkable weekends anyone could ask for, tucked away in one of the most remarkable, pristine music venues in the country. One can only hope that their curtain call second encore “Good Times Around the Bend” is a gesture that there will be more of the same to come beyond the last two scheduled shows of the year set to take place over the Halloween weeekend at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia.

The Aftermath

Jason Hann – Horning’s 2010 by Brian Spady

The String Cheese Incident, even on an indefinite hiatus from full time touring, is still a vibrant, flourishing community of incredibly enthusiastic, humorous and accepting people. In a brief interview with Jason Hann, in the wake of it all, he told me that the people – the group of talented musicians with whom he creates this mystical organism of incredibly diverse, colorful music, and the impassioned supporters – made the whole gig incredibly special.

As far as a future touring schedule for regular incidents? Hann says the band has enjoyed playing these regional multi-night residency type of events, noting, however, that, “There’s some give and take because you have to be so ‘on’ right out of the gate for any given show, as opposed to building chemistry throughout the coarse of a tour.”

Hann believes that next year’s schedule will be similarly fashioned with a few extra dates sprinkled in.

“Right now it’s all about trying to make every night and venue more memorable than the last. You try to do that anyway, but we’d like to raise the bar on the overall experience whenever we hit the stage.”

However, the guys won’t be totally split up yet. Michael Kang and Kyle Hollingsworth will be joining EOTO for a special post-Phish late night event at the Global Sol Festival near Berkeley, CA on Saturday August 7.

“Those [collaborations] will always linger,” says Hann. “We like playing with each other so those will come up as promoters request them. We also like to keep them special, so we probably won’t tour with that kind of package.”

This was indeed a very special weekend that came together nicely in so many ways. The weather, the music, the people, the shows, everything was beautiful. Before the festival, someone told me that there is no better place to see The String Cheese Incident than at Horning’s Hideout. Now, I am very much inclined to believe that. Either way, I’ll be doing my best to jump back into the fantaSCI next time the Cirque de Cheese comes to town.

7/29/10 – 8/1/10 The String Cheese Incident @ Horning’s Hideout (North Plains, OR) View Photos

String Cheese Incident Tour Dates :: String Cheese Incident News :: String Cheese Incident Concert Reviews

JamBase | Fermented
Go See Live Music!

By: Dennis Cook

new live acoustic album

Axe The Cables is a smart, impactful title, full of action but open to multiple interpretations, which is only fitting given Sound Tribe Sector 9‘s propensity for openness and freedom of expression. Released on July 29th on the band’s own 1320 Records, comprises an acoustic performance from last December where the live-electronic unit stripped down sonically to play music in front of an audience much the same way it’s originally created in their homes. Taken down to ringing acoustic guitar strings, bright piano chords and feathery, warm bass and empathetic percussion, STS9′s music, as compositions and layered, often utterly lovely, strongly emotional work, shines in a whole new light. While this may be old hat for its creators, the pieces on Axe The Cables showcases what a strong, original instrumental group this is, and how just when one thinks they have them figured out they toss in a wonderful curve or three.

Besides the acoustic release, STS9 also recently composed their second film score for the documentary ReGENERATION, which features leading intellectuals, social activists and cultural figures like Noam Chomsky, Tali Kweli and Howard Zinn. Never ones to be idle, STS9 also recently finished raising $150,000 to build a home with the Make it Right Foundation in New Orleans. And Sound Tribe embarks on a massive summer tour starting on August 11th in New York City with an acoustic “Axe The Cables” performance at the Blender Theater on August 11 followed by a plugged in evening on August 12th at the Roseland Ballroom with special guests Lotus, The Album Leaf and John Hughes (see full tour dates here).

We snagged percussionist and electronic manipulator Jeffree Lerner to pick his brain about the acoustic shows, the band’s continuing efforts to raise social consciousness and more.

JamBase: There’s a rising subtlety to Sound Tribe these days, where you can do the big energy stuff where everyone is tripping out and dancing but you’re also taking time for your band’s equivalent of ballads, getting down to softer material, and that’s often where the real meat of band’s surfaces.

Jeffree Lerner: It kind of reaveals the truth, if you will, when you strip down all the layers and take away all the bells & whistles and get to the core of what’s going on. As much we do appease our fans, I think it’s just representing the diversity of the band as individuals. I think it speaks to our individual interests in music. We love all kinds of music. We’re inspired by all kinds of music. We love to play all kinds of music and really don’t want to limit ourselves to just being an electronic band. And I don’t think that would serve us best anyway because we have all these different facets that we fortunately have an opportunity to express.

JamBase: That leads pretty naturally to talking about Axe The Cables, which has the potential for deep fans to be a favorite, if not the favorite, in the STS9 canon. I’ve been listening to this group for years and this recording/performance allowed me to see into the bones and inner workings of music I thought I knew pretty well.

Jeffree Lerner by Casey Flanigan

Jeffree Lerner: It might be new to the audience but it’s how we’ve made music all these years. I think [David] Murphy even mentions it during the set when he talks about wanting to invite people into our studio to see how we create. And the songs didn’t need electronics to do what they needed to do. We’ve always written music like that with our core instruments and then expanded it. So underneath each and every electronics song is that core of musical instruments.

So, you craft music the way most people do – at a piano or with an acoustic guitar. Was it exciting for the band to expose that fact to sunlight?

It was really exciting for us! Normally, we have a big production with a lot of gear and a semi full of stuff. So, it’s nice for us to prove to ourselves as well that we can play music and move people without having to have semis worth of stuff. That’s not a bad thing but it was an experiment we needed to get out.

And it continues to be interesting because STS9 plans to keep doing “Axe The Cables” acoustic shows on future tours.

Absolutely. And some of those songs are going to grow and become part of the big rock show as well. I think these two sides have always been talking to each other and we finally found a way to express it.

One of the things that came to mind listening to Axe The Cables was how Sound Tribe sometimes gets short-shrift from critics because you work in the electronic realm. Maybe exposing this acoustic side of the band will help balance out the view of STS9′s musicianship.

I think so as well, and there’s also likely a new way into the band for people who’ve never listened to us before. That’s gonna be an interesting path for those people to follow if they start with the acoustic album. It’s interesting because everybody wants to label and put things in categories but that’s something we’ve never felt comfortable with outside of just calling it “music.”

Let’s take what our culture is calling a “jam band.” Obviously, we’re not talking the kind of music that’s being played because you can have a bluegrass band to a band like us to Disco Biscuits to Medeski Martin & Wood to solo Keller Williams. Those things don’t have much in common musically but what they do have in common is music fans willing support bands and live music and that culture in general.

And a community of musicians that’s likewise open-minded. You talk to any of the musicians you’ve named and they’re all curious and never locked into one thing.

STS9 by Dave Vann

Why should you have to decide what kind of music you play? This is art [laughs]. I’m sure painters back in the day hated being locked in a box and labeled and expressionist or whatever. I’m sure they sketched and worked with charcoal and did other things, too. It’s really just the interface between the musicians and the fans. How does a fan express what they’ve heard to a buddy after he comes to a show? How does he express that without the other person being able to see and hear it? It’s an interesting phenomenon.

Do you think it helps to have your own label to put out whatever you come up with and not have it second guessed by suits?

It allows us freedom, and by design. That’s why we created the label to share our art, whatever we create. I think we’ve always been able to look after this aspect ourselves. It’s nobody’s fault but money is the bottom line in this industry, and of course, we have to get paid. We have lives and families, but that’s not why we create, which is for pure expression. We’ve always tried to keep it pure.

That’s easier without someone looking over your shoulder telling you to follow this or that trend.

There are people who give us that advice, and sometimes it makes sense, but it’s not the core of it for us. We can’t be that nave to think we can cut ourselves off from the world. We have to keep pace with what’s going on. I don’t know that I’d use the word ‘independence’ because truly it’s really an interdependency. Artists sitting alone in a room might make the most amazing art but if it can’t relate or holds no purpose in society or culture it’s not as effective. It’s really a balance.

One of the things I appreciate about Sound Tribe is how you put your ideals into action. Shit, you guys got a whole house built in New Orleans. Was it a trip to raise all the money and know a new home would come out of it?

Jeffree Lerner by Remixes Album

It was a total trip! We didn’t if it would take five years or two or six months. We’re all really pleased it happened as quickly as it did. We just opened the door; our fans did it. There’s a sense of pride in our organization for being able to do such a thing, but the reality is we didn’t do it. Everybody who walked through the door to see us play music instantly became part of something larger than just entertainment, along with the artists who donated their studio time and tracks to the remixes album.

Great things are possible with everybody chipping in some to a much bigger total. But there’s also more subdued consciousness raising going on in STS9, stuff that’s more subtle than shouting at people but effective in its own way.

We joked around about that when we first started, saying we should get up on stage and just say what we believe in and consider important. Probably 2 out 10 people in the room would have pulled out a dollar. I think that in essence is the key to making a difference culturally and making some change. Given the opportunity, most people want to do the right thing, but things in our culture make that hard to do. If you want solar panels for energy they’re more expensive. One random example is I have a cousin who after she graduated high school in Detroit moved to New Orleans to help out, but within the New Orleans community there’s thousands of young people who aren’t helping and collecting [money] from our government. It’s an interesting paradox because they’re not incentivised to make a difference. It’s complicated. We brainstorm a lot about how to work with the audience to make the world a better place. It’s an important part of what we do.

However, the way you communicate these ideas increasingly through years is more through osmosis than direct statements. If one digs deeper into the Peaceblaster website there’s plenty of worthwhile, purposeful tangents to be had, but you’re not leading anyone to these tangents by the hand. This stuff has deeper implications behind it but it’s also sounds that you can shake your ass to.

You can experience on any level you want. I remember having to read books in my high school English class and man, I didn’t to read them or do a report on them. Now, I find myself 20 years down the road and I pick up On The Road by Jack Keroac. Reading it of my own volition makes a huge difference.

So, we’re not going to force anyone to do anything but the trail of breadcrumbs is there if you want to follow it down the line. It’s there in the song titles, in the Peaceblaster website, etc. We’re just finding ways to create opportunities for that [kind of depth]. I don’t want someone to come to a show and be bummed out because they feel they have to do something and really they just want to enjoy it. It’s such a diverse crowd with such diverse intentions. Some just want to dance, some people want community, some people want to part of something larger than themselves, and all those possibilities are there.

STS9 Tour Dates :: STS9 News :: STS9 Concert Reviews

JamBase | Breathing In
Go See Live Music!

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High Sierra Festival | 07.01-07.04 | California

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Words by: Dennis Cook, Jake Krolick, Susan J. Weiand and Aaron Kayce | Images by: Jake Krolick and Susan J. Weiand

High Sierra Music Festival :: 07.01.10-07.04.10 :: Plumas County Fairgrounds :: Quincy, CA

Anniversaries are funny things. Often too much or too little is made of them, but High Sierra 2010 struck a lovely balance in celebrating its 20th year, occasionally acknowledging that they’d hit two decades but mostly just nailing all the elements that make this festival unique and so dear to the regulars that return each 4th of July weekend.

It’s tough to describe High Sierra to those who’ve never attended. On paper it makes little sense to say there are people everywhere – tents and RVs tucked into every nook and cranny of the Plumas County Fairgrounds, spilling into the woods and open fields surrounding every stage, building and port-a-potty – yet it never seems overly crowded or oppressive. In fact, High Sierra is one of the most peaceful, gentle, fun-loving assemblages of humanity most of us have ever encountered. Ebullient camaraderie is the general rule, so there are rarely hassles of any kind. One can walk right up to front of the stage at almost any set, and they’ll usually be met by a smile, even if they’re just meeting the person next to them. Rare is the walk through the maze of campers around the Big Meadow Stage where one isn’t greeted with a handshake or a hug or offered some form of constriction loosening hospitality.

Yes, there’s a strain of high octane Cali hippie-dippie-ness but mostly the citizens of this temporary city on a hill are just hardcore music lovers enjoying the smorgasbord laid out before them. High Sierra attracts folks with thoroughly catholic tastes, able to fully enjoy the rowdiness of big stage headliners like Widespread Panic and The Black Crowes but equally able to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the quietude of Dan Bern or the mesmerizing, rhythmic originality of Rubblebucket.

The 20th installment accentuated all the positives High Sierra has to offer. What follows are some of the highlights experienced by the JamBase crew as we quested after musical nirvana as America celebrated its 234th birthday. (Dennis Cook)

7/1/10 – 7/4/10 – High Sierra Music Festival (Quincy, CA) View Photos

Continue reading for Jake Krolick’s highlights…

Jake Krolick’s High Sierra 2010 Highlights

High Sierra at Sunset by Krolick

Standout Moments on Thursday & Friday

Best Use of a Fretted Instrument
Both Nels Cline Singers sets in the Vaudeville Tent on Thursday and Friday were the place to be for some serious shredding, but the early afternoon set on Friday with guitarist extraordinaire Eric McFadden sitting in on a face melting “Maggot Brain” opener was an axe lovers dream. Speaking of great guitarists, by now you’ve probably heard of Big Light, and if you haven’t then you will. Singer Fred Trophy, bassist Steve Adams, drummer Bradly Bilfulco and guitarist Jeremy Korpas played in some capacity everyday at High Sierra, and beside McFadden, who appeared everywhere throughout the weekend, Jeremy “Swordfish” Korpas definitely popped up on the radar of guitarists who made you lose your shit. Korpas really deserved the accolades as he wailed effortlessly at Big Light’s sets, the White Stripes themed Guitarmageddon throwdown, the Gramble – where The Beatles “I’ve Got a Feeling” reigned supreme – and at a late night party at Camp Harry. Korpas has the patience of a much older guitarist with a confidence that allows him to shred effectively with any grouping of musicians. There were extra cheers every time he walked on stage and each performance the “Swordfish” was involved in was elevated to new levels of excitement.

Cult I’d Most Like To Join
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros trouncing of the Big Meadow Stage on Thursday left more than one person whistling “Home” on Friday morning. The highlights of the show were the opening “40 Day Dream,” a stirring version of “Desert Song,” and Alex Ebert conducting a sing-along in the center of a seated crowd to finish. The band may have appeared a tad cultish but by the end of their set the audience was ready to drop all worldly possessions and follow their charismatic leader anywhere

Best Band BBQ
Widespread Panic barbequed all Friday afternoon before they tossed us some bones in the evening. A heated “B of D” into “Worry” ended their first set, which hinted that the band loved the unique H.S. setting. The second set secured that notion and was jam-packed with guests, starting with Eric McFadden on guitar for a meaty “Bowlegged Woman.” John Bell introduced Jerry Joseph as “the reverend” when he joined in for a rolling “Light Is Like Water” before Karl Denson added saxophone for a rowdy “Ride Me High.” Domingo “Sonny” Ortiz played a late “Drums” and was joined by the illustrious Wally Ingram before good papa Bell sung us out with the touching and apropos encore “Heaven.”

Most Fun Field Trip During The Festival
All visiting Quincy for the High Sierra Music Festival should take some time to explore the Feather River. We hit this beautiful landmark on Friday and were instantly impressed. It’s easy to find a swimming hole just minutes from the fairgrounds, and its cold waters are just about as refreshing as a full night of sleep. It should also be noted that the weather was perfect cold at night for sleeping and warm with zero humidity during the day.

Community and Camps Shout Out
High Sierra is a wealth of good times that fit together like a well worked jigsaw puzzle buried in some hidden chest that comes out on a rainy summer day. The edges of this fest are all well worn and by now all the people attending know where they fit. Many of one’s best moments and memories come from the hard work of the community and the camps that moved your feet or blew your mind wide open with visual extravagance conjured by this pack of pro concertgoers. Where else do you get a Wookie Bingo game run through Twitter or a trampoline 10-feet off the ground and covered in lights? How about false eyebrows made to look like mini Fu-Manchu moustaches or kickball games with musicians sweating alongside campers at 6 am? Who else has a Hippie Bar where you paid for a drink with a joke or a dance or Kamp Kwitcherbitchen, where frowns were even frowned upon? Where else are Red cards and Yellow cards tossed at flagrant music fan fouls? Legendary Camp Harry threw its own pirate/mojilto party and two late night shows with Big Light and Surprise Me Mr. Davis. And let us not forget the tongue-in-cheek mayoral battle between Nathan Moore and Vince Herman that included campaign signs throughout the campgrounds. There were hundreds of camps and thousands of creative freaks – I’m impressed with you all for your freaky prowess.

Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers by Krolick

A Band I Need To See More
My age makes me less than a thought when CSNY and Buffalo Springfield hit L.A. and wandered up into the canyon. Perhaps that is what makes Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers so appealing. Since I missed the first coming I’ll be damned if I won’t catch the second. Bluhm was an early breath of fresh air on Thursday and Friday. She’s a stage darling in the same way her famous Laurel Canyon predecessors Jimmy Webb and Joni Mitchell were jangly social and musical icons. Her easy way with songs and smooth vocal delivery was more than enough to captivate the crowds, but when you tossed in Steve Adams‘ groovy bass and husband Tim Bluhm‘s gallant guitar strum into the fold there was something incredibly desirable about the music.

Standout Moments on Saturday and Sunday

Best Use of a Kazoo
Yes, Nathan Moore pulled one out at his solo set but it was a good thing he forgot the whole bag. The act of forgetfulness led to a stirring Surprise Me Mr. Davis cover of The Beatles’ “Honey Pie” at around 2:00 am on Monday morning at Camp Harry. The moment the bag of kazoos was handed out you just knew it was going to be special. The crowd participation and the smiles between Moore, Marc Friedman and the Barr Brothers said it all.

Hottest Late Night
Hindsight reveals that the better Mother Hips set was on Sunday evening in the Vaudeville Tent with a four song finale that would grow hair on a bald baby (“Pacific Dust > Space > Turtle Bones > Hey Emilie”), but as a whole Saturday night’s late night was the hottest four band bounce of the entire festival. After catching Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono with the Hips on the East Coast I knew I loved them, but it took a trip to the West Coast to really see them rock a proper crowd. Saturday evening’s show was such a treat, with several highlights including “Jet Plane” with Nicki Bluhm and Grambler guitarist Deren Ney, “Been Lost Once” with TLG’s Josh Clark, and a “Time Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear with ALO’s Dan Lebowitz. The follow-up was a fast bounce over to catch Fanny Franklin and the L.A. crew Orgone, who established themselves as a funk force to be reckoned with. The crowd’s energy during the end of their set was really incredible and steam poured out of all openings from the High Sierra Music Hall into the cool night air.

Meanwhile Dr. Dog was flexing their muscles at the Funk’n Jamhouse as they ripped through almost their entire repertoire, raging a version of “The Ark” off Fate and paying special attention to “Shadow People” off their latest album, Shame, Shame. Toby Leaman (bass) and Scott McMicken (lead guitar) were wild and energetic and their changes left the crowd stunned. Guitarist Frank McElroy even climbed to the top of his amp stack for a leap of faith before finishing at around 3:15 am. This left just enough time to get in to hear Karl Denson tear it up on flute and sax as well as toss us a joke about Giuseppe Garibaldi. The amount of steamy pizza flowing around Denson’s funk down was obscene. I witnessed more than one patron dancing with a hot slice held high in their hands.

Vince Herman by Susan J. Weiand

Oddest Place To Find Sushi
The sushi guy next to the main stage making those delicious hand rolls in an “I am funkier than you” tee was surreal. The Widespread Roll was insane and included a wrapper filled with sticky rice, a smear of wasabi, huge chunks of albacore & mango, a spicy mayo spread and sprouts, all rolled to perfection for five bucks.

Best Sporting Event Combo
Kickball into the World Cup games. The new trampoline bases, the costumed Space Man, vevuzelas blown at 5 am, and the World Cup games made it worth never finding sleep. But the best moment happened on Sunday morning when a piata was tossed into the middle of the kickball field. When it was finally broken open it was filled with airplane bottles of gin and all heck broke loose.

Best Use of a Child On Stage
Marco Benevento daughter Ruby has gained some serious stage confidence since last year’s festival, and that showed as she used dad as her own personal jungle gym during his Trio’s set. Marco made the best out of the moment when he took Ruby’s hands and had her play the “Real Morning Party” to kick off the set.

The Well-Put Award
Nathan Moore summed up my feelings best on Sunday afternoon at his solo performance. To paraphrase what he said, “We are all out on the road day after day, each year just trying to hang on patiently until we are back together at High Sierra.” I thought about this notion the rest of Sunday and realized that this festival never really ends; it just goes into a different mode, one focused on reconstruction. The community that has attended religiously for years, reuniting friends, campsites and intense feelings will no doubt be planning what they can do better for next year. It takes all the little touches coming together over the 4th of July weekend to really make High Sierra the incredibly special experience it is.

Continue reading for Dennis Cook’s highlights…

Dennis Cook’s High Sierra 2010 Highlights

Zach Deputy by Susan J. Weiand

The Load-In
I have the good fortune of getting into the fairgrounds on Wednesday night, where only a fraction of attendees are about, setting up twinkling strings of lights and grilling while the first case of beer ices down. This allows me a front row seat for the main deluge Thursday morning when gates open and the majority of folks pour in. It’s like a colorful, pleasantly musky land rush – wild, hooting and excited as little kids on Christmas morning. I pull up a chair and sip coffee while all this beautiful humanity races past, hauling costumes, coolers, hula-hoops and inflatable beasts in red wagons, ready for adventure and eager to embrace their new neighbors with open arms.

Tim Carbone
The Railroad Earth violinist predictably played an unshakeably solid set with RRE in the evening, but seeing him strolling about always stirs great cheer. He’s earthy music in motion, and where he roams there’s likely to be something sweet being played, often by him since it’s hard to keep Carbone off a stage if he’s got something to add. And trust me, he’s always got something GREAT to add. White haired and worldly wise, Tim is one of High Sierra’s archetypal spiritual figures, emblematic of the many musicians here that are eager to engage the whole of music and wrestle it into new, exciting forms.

Guerilla Sets
For all the sanctioned stuff on stages, there’s nearly as much unofficial music making afoot at HSMF. From campsite pick-a-thons to lawn sets with portable amps, the players here exhibit a healthy disrespect for order, allowing the notes bubbling in their veins to rule them. Despite two Big Meadow sets, The Heavy Guilt could often be found rockin’ exuberantly near the food court, as thrilled to be laying down their grungy goodness to a few wandering souls as they were in front of a large crowd. And they were hardly alone this weekend in carving out off-program opportunities for themselves.

Thursday Highlights

1. Zach Deputy – 1:15-2:30 PM – Big Meadow
The Big Meadow Stage is, well, big, yet Deputy filled it effortlessly, picking and singing like a young Bill Withers transposed to a large, hirsute new honky frame. Zach’s looping mojo far surpasses anyone out there – yes, even the hallowed Keller – in terms of originality and more importantly, musicality. While loops can come off as gimmicky, they only serve the songs with Deputy and enable his one-man operation to actually sound like a band. He’s got swell tunes and plays guitar with intoxicating flair. While Nathan Moore may have snagged top honors, based on the word-of-mouth this year, Zach was definitely the Deputy Mayor by popular consensus.

2. Rubblebucket – 3:30-4:45 PM – Vaudeville Tent
Brooklyn has another amazing band y’all need to check out. Building up from a foundation drawn from roots reggae and Afrobeat bounce, Rubblebucket layered a crazed yet brilliantly woven hodgepodge of sounds atop their gut level rhythms. Like the finest original groups, there’s an internal logic that makes it all work in a very immediate, flatly exciting way. With female led vocals reminiscent of Bjork and Patti Smith, the group swerves confidently – true performers all who genuinely entertain onstage – on the prowl and sinking their sharp incisors in at all the right moments. Their Friday set was even stronger, inspiring their trumpeter/co-bandleader to leap into the waiting arms of the fevered audience, where he was held aloft to continue playing. Those enamored of Yeasayer, Akron/Family, Tricky and Antibalas are heartily encouraged to dig into Rubblebucket, easily my best new find at HSMF 2010.

Surprise Me Mr. Davis by Jake Krolick

3. Surprise Me Mr. Davis – 11:30-1:30 AM – Vaudeville Tent
Suited up like friends at a wedding, SMMD unleashed all the magic and mojo that’s made them a mainstay at High Sierra for years. The combination of Nathan Moore, The Slip guys and Marco Benevento proved a wondrous reminder of how fun and fulfilling rock ‘n’ roll can be. Sure, they jam a bit but it’s the songs and their scintillating delivery that offer nourishing marrow to be sucked and savored. If Henry David Thoreau and Paul McCartney had formed a band it might sound a lot like Davis. And I had my personal high for the day at this set when Moore ordered the backstage masses onstage for a dance party during “Sisyphus,” passing out hugs and smiles as he frolicked and enjoyed his bandmates beside us. ‘Joyful’ is the word that most springs to mind with SMMD, followed quickly by ‘holy’ (an impression resoundingly confirmed by the closing “If One of Us Is Still Standing” closer).

Friday Highlights

1. Nels Cline Singers – 11:15-12:30 PM – Vaudeville Tent
His lead guitar role in Wilco has raised Cline’s profile higher than ever, but it’s in this formation one experiences the full, devastating breadth of his genius. Genius is a word I use VERY sparingly but witnessing the voluminous range and imagination of Cline’s playing at this set it’d be hard to argue against in his case. Surrounded by ultra-sympathetic collaborators Scott Amendola (percussion, electronics), Yuka Honda (keys) and Devin Hoff (bass), Cline handily shattered preconceptions about instrumental music, raging in a way that frightened some morning listeners (one of my camp mate’s literally fled with terrified eyes during a particularly noisy, disorienting stretch). But, the ensemble was equally skilled at hushed introspection and bebop-ish interaction. Overall, just bloody stunning.

2. Dr. Dog – 9:30-11:00 PM – Big Meadow
When the last notes of this breakneck performance died away I muttered, “They make me SO glad there’s music.” Dr. Dog is surely a rock band, and all the Beatles, Band and Beach Boys references are apt to a point, but there’s something way more primal and fundamental going on with them. Their songs address life with unblinking honesty AND joyful engagement, understanding that light and shadow are a dance and then giving us the melodies that choreograph our constriction loosening gyrations. Song for song, note for note, nobody played a better set this year.

3. Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons – 11:30-1:30 AM – Vaudeville Tent
Jerry J was in full-blown preacher mode during this anthem-upon-anthem rock extravaganza. After playing several acoustic-leaning sets, the snarling rock animal inside Joseph and his mighty bandmates (bolstered with inspired extra percussion by Wally Ingram) let fully loose inside the steamed up Vaudeville, the tightly packed throng swaying and leaping like a congregation lit up from within. While often overlooked, Jerry’s guitar strangling was miraculous this evening; the man is easily one of the most powerful, relentless guitarist alive. Beneath the hot, swirling lights, Joseph gesticulated and ranted like a man who’d crammed both Joe Strummer and Mick Jones into his small body, a barefoot punk prophet and king of the motherfuckin’ disco, too.

Saturday Highlights

1. Pimps of Joytime – 3:15-4:30 PM – Big Meadow
This set launched my one word exhortation for the weekend: Hectic. The Pimps are on the funk like ink on paper, moving like calligraphy across the page where most make clunky block letters and sign with a thumbprint. Smooth but not too smooth, they captured the general bonhomie in the air and get things dirty enough to be credible. Clean funk isn’t really funk at all. Their dynamics alone set them apart from the herd, with the whole band able to blast hard and instantly drop down to a compelling murmur. Watching Brian J (vox, guitar, keys), Clark Dark (bass, moog) and Mayteana Morales (vocals, sampler, percussion) groove along the edge of the stage one felt compelled to reach down deep for all the Prince gymnastics they had in their dance trick bag. All killer, no filler.

Black Crowes by Jake Krolick

2. The Black Crowes – 9:00-11:00 PM – Grandstand Stage
While a 20-year Crowes veteran like myself might have liked to hear more than one tune from the band’s two most recent albums (though “Oh Josephine” was mid-tempo ballad gold), this was a perfect festival set, peppered with bygone hits like “Hard To Handle” and anchored to material the band always plays well. What’s highly enjoyable about the Crowes at this stage is how wonderfully consistent they are. From the sound of it many folks at High Sierra hadn’t seen them since the mid-90s and we’re just about universally knocked on their tushes by this performance. The Crowes are one of the few rock acts one can mention in the same breath as Zeppelin, Aerosmith, et al. and this set able showed why that is.

3. The Mother Hips/Dr. Dog – 11:45 PM-3:30 AM – Funk’n Jamhouse
Arguably the best late night combo this year – Pimps of Joytime opening for The New Mastersounds on Sunday eve being the obvious competition – the pairing of the Dog and the Hips was tangible proof that rock ‘n’ roll is anything but dead. Both bands played a little outside their comfort zone, especially the Hips who delved into some older fan faves and welcomed Nicki Bluhm for a mesmerizing, emotional version of “Jet Plane,” a new Nicki tune that’ll appear on her forthcoming sophomore album. So absorbing and enriching were both bands that it was easy to settle into the moment and really experience the music with the music makers. By the end of Dr. Dog’s headlining set I found myself leaping and spinning like my 3-year-old does when we watch School House Rock and every song is greeted like his favorite.

Sunday Highlights

1. Poor Man’s Whiskey – 12:00-1:15 PM – Grandstand Stage
Shirtless in an Uncle Sam long coat, Eli Jebediah and the rest of PMW were a lively reminder of some of the very cool things about Americans and American music. Taking their cues from a wide assortment of influences like Old & In The Way, Woody Guthrie and Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, Poor Man’s reminded us that we need to live our lives sometime and maybe this was the right day to dig in. Their music is a celebration of the right things in life, and they’re all phenomenal musicians to boot. By turns folksy and rockin’, they move along the rhythms that are hard to resist and sling lines that you’ll find yourself quoting to your friends later. A 100-watt stage presence and spot-on knack for covers (they closed with Tom Petty’s “American Girl” in honor of the holiday) further up the ante. I see a lot of live music and can assure you there are few more charming, enjoyable groups going than Poor Man’s Whiskey.

Allmond Bros Clan by Susan J. Weiand

2. The Allmond Bros Clan – 4:30-6:00 PM – High Sierra Music Hall
A tribute band is a tricky thing. Genuflect too much and you’re a boring recreation, stray too far off the blueprint and folks won’t recognize the source material, which is a central aspect to a tribute’s pleasure. This Allman Brothers homage led by Guitar Player Magazine’s Jimmy Leslie (who plays the Dickey role) gets the balance just right. Unlike the Grateful Dead, Beatles or Stones, few bands cover the Allmans because it is a separate language that swirls gutbucket blues with jazz sophistication. Just as most of us don’t speak Esperanto, Allman-ese isn’t common and it was exciting to see this large band teach themselves how to talk eloquently. Unlike today’s ABB, the Allmond Clan uses the Live At The Fillmore East era as their Rosetta Stone, and one suspects their own grasping at these numbers mirrors the Allmans’ own during that time period. Simon “Eli Jebidah” Kurth was a firehose of great guitar riffing as Duane “Sky Frog” Allmond, and stellar guest turns from Sean Leahy, Josh Clark and Lebo added further air guitar heft to the session. PMW’s Josh Brough was also murderously good as Gregg Allmond Boy Allmond, attacking the organ and vocals with the gusto of a young Gregg. Most of us weren’t able to see ABB when Duane was alive but the hunger for that music remains. The Allmond Bros Clan fulfills that appetite in a way that honors Duane’s memory by really wrestling with this music in a quite alive way. Festival bookers take note. Don’t let the other guys get to this project before you.

Also worth mentioning that Simon Kurth also recently took over the reins with Guitarmageddon and blew out the doors on Friday with a White Stripes focused performance. If Kurth is involved I can just about guarantee two things: It’s going to be entertaining as fuck and the musicianship will make you salivate. Beyond that it’s best to trust his instincts and go for whatever ride he’s offering.

3. Carolyn Wonderland – 11:30-1:30 AM – Vaudeville Tent
With The Mother Hips delivering yet another unbelievably solid set before her, it was somewhat of a surprise that Carolyn Wonderland captured my final slot for the weekend, but damn if the tiny Austin blues belter didn’t take my heels out from under me. I’m intensely picky about the blues and like many grumpy old men feel that maybe the best purveyors are no longer with us or not long for this world. I reject slick, modernized blues, and thankfully Wonderland and her on-the-money drummer and multi-tasking keyboardist (he provided keyboard bass, too) dealt in only the real stuff. Carolyn can shread mightily and her tone is gritty, loud and impolite. Glorious! She’s got compositions that sit well next to the Bo Diddley and the like in her arsenal, and she’s got an odd, alluring stage manner that draws you in but also makes you feel like she might cut you if you looked at her wrong. She’s got depth and her band swung like all get out. As perfect a nighttime ramble as High Sierra has ever offered.

Continue reading for Kayceman and Susan Weiand’s highlights, plus some video highlights…

Aaron Kayce’s High Sierra 2010 Highlights

WSP’s John Bell by Susan J. Weiand

1. Widespread Panic – Main Stage – Friday
Festivals aren’t always the best place to get one’s Panic on. Time constraints, questionable sound systems and a mixed bag of fans can often clip the band’s wings, as was the case the last time WSP appeared at High Sierra in 1999. But the festival’s 20th anniversary sparked an inspired two set affair that left hardcores fully satisfied. Taking advantage of the stacked lineup Panic welcomed a number of special guests including guitarist Eric McFadden on a dirty, sexy “Bowlegged Woman” that found bassist Dave Schools deep in a P-Funk inspired romp, guitarist/vocalist Jerry Joseph on his own “Light Is Like Water,” saxophonist Karl Denson on an extended psych-funk workout of J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High,” and percussionist Wally Ingram on “Drums” and the second half of “Surprise Valley.” When the band closed the show with an emotionally saturated take on the Talking Heads’ “Heaven” it was not only a reminder of Widespread Panic’s power, but a nod to just how amazing the High Sierra Music Festival truly is.

2. Dr. Dog – Funk’n Jamhouse – Saturday Late Night
Dr. Dog’s Saturday late night set proved to be a huge slab of dark, psychedelic rock that had a packed house of fans freaking out and dancing wildly until 3 in the morning. Leaning heavily on material from their latest release Shame, Shame, the show highlighted the band’s remarkable evolution from lo-fi indie-pop to gigantic, confident rock. Though the new songs showcased Dr. Dog’s amazing songwriting, it didn’t seem to matter what part of the catalog they pulled from, everything was performed with razor sharp intensity and executed to perfection. From note one the band was locked in; every change was dramatic and full of force, every harmony soaring, and the jams thick with friction. For this writer, the band’s HSMF late night show elevated the Dog from a really good band with serious potential to one of the best live acts on the circuit. It shouldn’t be long until we see Dr. Dog headlining festivals.

3. Surprise Me Mr. Davis – Camp Harry – Sunday Late Night
For many High Sierra patrons, including a number of artists such as The Mother Hips’ Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacano, Nicki Bluhm, Wally Ingram and several others, there was no better way to end the weekend than with Surprise Me Mr. Davis at Camp Harry on Sunday night. Set up guerilla-style between two RVs, this annual tradition has turned into one of the most highly anticipated sets of the weekend for fans of Mr. Davis, The Slip and Nathan Moore (Surprise Me Mr. Davis being The Slip plus Nathan Moore). The defining moment of the night came when Davis took on The Beatles and created the very appropriate “High Sierra’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (The Slip celebrated their 12th consecutive HSMF this year) with shout-outs to High Sierra co-founder and close friend Dave Margulies in place of “Billy Shears.” With fans passing bottles and funny cigarettes to each other and the band, the two hour set felt more like a summer camp send-off than the conclusion of a major music festival.

Susan J. Weiand’s High Sierra 2010 Highlights

Carolyn Wonderland by Susan J. Weiand

1. Carolyn Wonderland – Vaudeville – Sunday Late Night
CW has played High Sierra three years now, but her closing set on Sunday night finally cemented her place as HS royalty. Fans were driven to tears and smiles by her ballsy playing and soulful singing. She held the capacity crowd in the palm of her hand. Many new Carolyn Wonderland fans were converted this evening.

2. Vince Herman’s Great American Taxi- Big Meadow – Thursday
The self-proclaimed Mayor of High Sierra is a festie staple and to me, represents all things High Sierra. He and his Taxi bandmates kicked things into high gear with his “4:20 for 20 years” jam played at precisely 4:20 pm, of course.

3. The New Mastersounds – Camp Happiness – Friday at 4:20
Camp Happiness always throws a great happy hour party with crab cakes, gumbo, cocktails and great people. The New Mastersounds have played this annual party in the past and returned this year for a get-down funk-athon. With bandmate Joe Tatton playing a borrowed kid’s keyboard (with the notes conveniently written on the keys), the band delivered the funky goods. Mega dance party!

Honorable mentions: Rads late night; the Funkify Your Life, Horns a Plenty, Rads Pre War Blues, Marco Benevento Trio, and Allmond Bros Clan playshops; Kate Gaffney main stage; Orgone Big Meadow; Poor Man’s Whiskey doing Dark Side of the Moonshine.

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