Mountain Time: Otis Mountain Get Down Announces Full Line Up Festivals Music Features by Brian Carroll - August 16, 2017August 16, 20170 There are a whole slew of festivals you could chose in this day and age. A lot of us are getting over that initial depression that the July subset is over and gone...but September packs another powerful punch of loaded events and Otis Mountain is at the peak of the summit in terms of bang for your buck. The event takes place in Elizabethtown, NY on September 8-10th and just rolled out its full line up. As one would expect its all over the board when it comes to genre. From the super badass country blues slinging stylings of Caroline Rose to the heartfelt words and fingerstyle prowess of Sam Moss to bluegrass royalty (in my eyes) of Twisted Pine and
Last Minute Plans: Go To Wildwood Revival This Weekend (8/18-8/20) Festivals Music Features by Brian Carroll - August 14, 20170 Watch the below and we will get back to you in a second... All set, well good! Word on the street is there are still a number of tickets left for the boutique festival to end all festivals down in Georgia this weekend. Hope in the car and start driving south now, or get a last minute plane ticket and fly your ass there...the bottom line is get there. You can win tickets (ends tomorrow) by heading this link: https://linktr.ee/wildwoodrevival But, in case you need a push, here's just a few reasons why you should be getting down: Music in a Barn. That may sound overly, almost comically, idyllic, but its real. All the photos you can see online of the performance
Welcome Campers 2017: Interview with Eric Weiner Festivals Interviews Music Features by Ken Templeton - August 11, 20170 If you haven’t heard of Welcome Campers before, talking for a few minutes with Eric Weiner, founder and CEO of The Wild Honey Pie, will definitely make you want to go. The Wild Honey Pie has captured some of our favorite established artists very early in their careers, including Lucius and Margaret Glaspy. Welcome Campers is a music festival combined with all the best aspects of summer camp: activities, camping, water, campfires, and friends. It’s an intimate festival too: with 400 spots available, you will experience each set from the bands in a small and connected setting. We got to chat with Eric about Welcome Campers, as well as about how to play a role in promoting and celebrating artists
Navigating Newport 2017 Festivals Music Features by Ken Templeton - July 26, 2017July 26, 20170 Every year, the Newport lineup is so stacked and first-timers think they might actually see all of those amazing acts. Then, the schedule is announced and you see that you have some tough choices to make. So, we thought we’d help, because sometimes when you’re having a hard time deciding between good and good, a sympathetic friend can step up and say: “do this,” and it’s a heckuva gift. So, consider this a gift to all you conflicted folk family. First, some principles that have helped us have some really transformative experiences at Newport: Stay present. It can be easy to hear about something you missed and feel regret. Try to stay connected to what you are experiencing, rather than
Green River, In Black and White: Day 2 Festivals Music Features by Brian Carroll - July 19, 20170 Day 2 started off a little cooler than Day 1 for us. That ended quickly...both in temperature of the environment and on stage. taking a cue from the first day started off catching a couple of songs from our friend Lyle Brewer on the tented Parlor Room stage. The way the crowd grew at this stage all weekend from the first note to the second song was mindboggling. From here we headed into the sun for old pals Twisted Pine bringing the main stage down and setting the place a flame. The entire band was incredible but Chris Sartori's solo on their Vulfpeck/Monroe mash-up melted my brain. There was a bit of jumping from this point on. A few from Sweet
Green River, In Black and White : Day 1 Festivals Music Features Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - July 18, 20170 They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, right? So, rather than a long drawn out review of each set from Green River this weekend I have decided to let the images speak for themselves. I will, however, say that this was a mighty special weekend in Greenfield, MA. I may very well have found my new favorite festival this weekend. With so many friends performing all over the place it felt a bit like a reunion of sorts and I undertook a very different mindset than I typically do during a music festival. Rather than running around trying to catch a little bit of as much as I could, I tended to stay a bit longer during sets and really
Green River Fest: Not Just For Music (Food Vendors) Festivals by Brian Carroll - July 10, 2017July 12, 20170 One thing I have come to really notice over the years of attending festivals from the colossal Bonnaroo to the quaint Roots on the River and everything in between is that as the years wane on the presence of colorful trucks, with smoke and delicious wavering scents emanating from their insides, seem to be owning more and more real estate at these events. Tucked into nooks and crannies on the sides of stages, offering a whole "food truck row" of choices along the edges of the sea of blankets and chairs lining the fronts of stages - and even off the beaten paths where you wouldn't expect. Food trucks have become synonymous with music festivals and Green River this weekend
Peep This: The Boxcar Lilies “Sugar Shack” Live at Roots on the River Featured Videos Festivals by Brian Carroll - June 13, 20170 Sometimes simplicity in arrangement and execution is the best way to drive a stake of emotion directly into the hearts of an audience. That's something that the harmonizing sirens that make up The Boxcar Lilies proved all too well on Saturday afternoon at Roots on the River. The trio of Susan Cattaneo, Jenny Goodspeed and Stephanie Marshall (with Jim Henry thumping out the rhythm line on bass) quickly launched into a (mostly) acapella tune, Sugar Shack, to kick off their set at the festival and immediately the crowd went pin drop silent as they lured folks ears closer and closer. A quick-fire, minute and a half was all it took to hook the crowd and keep them on the line for
Peep This: The Suitcase Junket “Never Leave, Let Me Be” Live at Roots on the River Featured Videos Festivals by Brian Carroll - June 12, 2017June 12, 20170 Pulling into the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn just off of Rt. 5 you may not suspect that an entire day and evening of music is about to unfold behind it. A few cars beginning to fill the green space to the left of the motel and a table with a tent over it and "Box Office" printed on a sign hanging from it are the only indicators, sans the muffled sound of pre-concert music over the sound system ringing out. But music indeed will begin to fill the warm summer air with its soothing sounds, rocking riffings and melodic musings as 2017's iteration of Roots on the River kicks off its second day. The Suitcase Junket is no stranger
Freshgrass Festival Line Up Just Exploded! Festivals Music Features by Brian Carroll - May 18, 20170 Freshgrass was already looking pretty deep this year with talent, but the announcement they just made nearly blew up my computer. Projects including Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O' Donovan have been a mainstay at the fest for years now and one can hope lead to some interesting, unannounced collaborations. Jarosz was announced today as having her own set and appearing at FreshGrass 2017 as the second recipient of the FreshGrass Composition Commission, given each year to an artist whose work reflects the FreshGrass mission to preserve and support innovative grassroots music. She will write an original suite of new material for the commission to premiere during her set at FreshGrass. Aoife returns for a one time reunion of her band Crooked Still. Billed as