Suwannee Roots Revival Oct 10-13 w/ Sam Bush, Del McCoury, Keller & The Keels, Samantha Fish

SAM BUSH, DEL MCCOURY BAND, KELLER & THE KEELS, SAMANTHA FISH,
THE TRAVELIN’ MCCOURYS, PETER ROWAN, AND DONNA THE BUFFALO
SLATED TO PERFORM AT THE 4TH ANNUAL SUWANNEE ROOTS REVIVAL

OCTOBER 10-13, 2019 AT THE SPIRIT OF SUWANNEE MUSIC PARK
IN LIVE OAK, FLORIDA

LIVE OAK, FL — The 4th Annual Suwannee Roots Revival takes place Thursday, October 10 – Sunday, October 13 at the renowned Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) in Live Oak, Florida. A plethora of incredible musicians are slated to perform including Sam Bush Band, Del McCoury Band, Keller & The Keels, Samantha Fish, The Travelin’ McCourys, Peter Rowan, Donna the Buffalo, We Banjo 3, The Lil Smokies, Jon Stickley Trio, Verlon Thompson, The Grass Is Dead, Lindsay Lou, Front Country, Joe Craven & The Sometimers, Jeff Mosier Ensemble, David Gans, The Lee Boys, and much more!

Suwannee Roots Revival is jam-packed with stellar music and dance on multiple stages throughout the weekend (Amphitheater Stage, Porch Stage, Dance Tent, Music Hall, and Music Farmer’s Stage). This family-friendly festival includes four days of music, camping, yoga, music workshops, a Kids Tent, as well as campground pickin’ sessions. Set in the midst of 800 acres of Spanish moss-draped oak and cypress trees along the Suwannee River, the venue is a playground for endless activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, disc golf, and biking. 

Hosted by long time friends of SOSMP, Randy Judy and Beth Judy, Suwannee Roots Revival focuses on showcasing established as well as up-and-coming roots musicians throughout a weekend laced with community based fun, growing friendships, laughing families, and that feel-good feeling you get from hanging out in such a beautiful natural setting.

Placing a strong emphasis on embracing the traditions that have made the park a national treasure, there will be a wide array of arts & crafts as well as culinary delights ranging from healthy to decadent in the Vending Village. Hands-on and performance workshops will be held throughout the weekend with a variety of artists set to perform. The park itself is a place where kids of all ages can remember why they fell in love with the magic mixture of sights, sounds, and sensations that constitutes a weekend of paradise that is the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park.

SOSMP offers guest comforts including a general store, full service restaurant, free showers, indoor bathrooms, and water stations. Upgraded camping, including RV hook ups and cabin rentals, as well as golf cart rentals are currently on sale. Reservations may be made by calling the Park office at (386) 364­-1683. SOSMP is located between Jacksonville, Florida & Tallahassee, Florida about 30 minutes south of the Georgia State line, about 45 minutes north of Gainesville and is host to a variety of events. Please visit the park’s web site at www.musicliveshere.com for further information.

Tickets are on sale now at suwanneerootsrevival.com/tickets/. Suwannee Roots Revival offers a multi-day Weekend Ticket that includes festival admission for four days of music, as well as primitive camping on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Early Bird Tickets are $140; Student / Military Early Bird are $130 (with a valid ID). Children 12 and under are free if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Get your tickets now before they rise to the next pricing tier. Single Day Tickets will be available at the gate only. Please note, Single Day Tickets do not include primitive camping.

Suwannee Roots Revival 2019 Lineup
Sam Bush Band
Del McCoury Band
Keller & The Keels
Samantha Fish
The Travelin’ McCourys
Peter Rowan
Donna the Buffalo
We Banjo 3
The Lil Smokies
Jon Stickley Trio
Seth Walker
Verlon Thompson
The Grass Is Dead
Lindsay Lou
Front Country
Joe Craven & The Sometimers
Jeff Mosier Ensemble
David Gans
The Lee Boys
Balkun Brothers
Donna Hopkins Band
Ralph Roddenbery
Dread Clampitt
Nikki Talley & Jason Sharp
Brett Bass and Melted Plectrum
Nicholas Edward Williams
Quartermoon
Sloppy Joe
Arvid Smith
The Walker Family Band
The Dunehoppers
Jeff Bradley
Suwannee Spirit Kids
Tania & Magic Moon Traveling Circus
… and more to be announced! 

For more information, tickets, and to reserve camping, please visit www.suwanneerootsrevival.com.
Also visit us on at www.facebook.com/suwanneeroots, Twitter & Instagram: @SuwanneeRoots (#SuwanneeRoots).

 

 

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David Gans’ ‘It’s a Hand-Me-Down’ Hits the Streets on Nov 27th – A New Spin on the Grateful Dead

David Gans’ ‘It’s a Hand-Me-Down’ Hits the Streets on Nov 27th
David Gans puts spin on Grateful Dead music, taking it furthur

“David Gans has a wonderful way of getting to the emotional center of Grateful Dead songs. He has very much his own twist on these world treasures and yet pays proper homage to the elements that made them great.”
—Jeff Mattson, Dark Star Orchestra

Oakland, CA — Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Grateful Dead music today and an accomplished guitarist, singer and songwriter in his own right, David Gans now shares with us his own well-crafted and heartfelt interpretations of some of the Grateful Dead’s best songs on It’s a Hand-Me-Down, due out November 27th on Gans’ Perfectible Recordings label. The album is available on pre-order now on FestivalLink.net and Amazon and will be ready to check out on those along with iTunes on Black Friday!

Gans approaches Grateful Dead music with a unique range and a rare degree of mastery on multiple levels: as a noted writer (his most recent volume, This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead [Nov 2015], co-authored with Blair Jackson, presents the definitive story of the Grateful Dead in their own words), commentator, and radio-show host he has introduced, contextualized, and exposed Grateful Dead music to generations of Deadheads and casual fans. As a musician, singer, and impresario he has brought the music to life in solo and ensemble configurations. As an interviewer and documentor, he has chronicled the Grateful Dead experience from a kaleidoscopic array of perspective, as an insider, an outsider, and a songsmith.

It’s a Hand-Me-Down sets some of the Dead tunes Gans most enjoys performing in a “solo electric” context closely modeled on his performance style, making extensive use of looping and electronics to bring the sort of shimmery elastic feel required to do this material justice.

“The idea was to make a record that sounds like my performances: guitar and vocal, with some additional layers of guitar made possible by the Boss RC-30 Loop Station which allows me to record the chord changes of a song so I can play a guitar solo on top of them. It also makes it possible to create multi-layered performances of composed and improvise music.”

“Lazy River Road” and “Attics of My Life” are the simplest: one guitar, one voice. “Ship of Fools,” “Loser,” “Stagger Lee,” “Black Peter,” and “Brokedown Palace” feature guitar fills and solos over the chord changes, exactly as presented in his live show with the help of the looper (but for this project recorded in separate passes, to take advantage of the editing and mixing capabilities of multitrack recording). “Deal” is “realistic” until the end, when a third guitar joins in to spice up the coda. Some sections were edited to eliminate repetitive stretches of loop development. In “Wharf Rat,” this leads to a moment in which four guitars appear simultaneously, in four takes, initially expecting to use just one, but liking the intersection of all four.

For this collection, David has chosen songs whose lyrics and melodies he has explored deeply and inhabited in performance. “Songs I cover from the Dead or other artists tend to tell a piece of my own story. It might just be one line or part of a line in a song that resonates in my own little atomic structure, and I don’t always recognize the connection at first. But eventually I find the resonances. I do the songs that I feel are appropriate for me,” says Gans, “and I’ve adapted them to my own style. I’ve changed the key, changed the phrasing or the groove.”

Over the decades, the Grateful Dead have inspired a lot of cover bands, impersonators, and even reenactors capable of recreating specific renditions in precise detail; Gans is doing something different. He has taken from the Dead their approach to music itself, making it live again but in a different realm–one populated by Gans’ own lyrical landscape– “taking it for a walk in the woods” (as Dead guitarist Bob Weir puts it), and making each performance fresh and unique.

Without any urge to duplicate, and no desire to be thought of as the “next Jerry”, Gans is mostly doing what he loves best: playing music and having a ball. “Playing this music is incredibly fun. I’ve always enjoyed getting together with people and jamming, and if you’re into it, this music is deeply enjoyable music to play.

You see and hear this in David’s approach to his own original material as well, and when he returns to these timeless gems from the Dead’s repertoire, the tradition winds on a sort of recursive, fractal, moebius-strip dimension; remaking the old and familiar into something new, fresh, and… familiar. It’s terrapins all the way down!

David brings a unique mix of experiences to this project. Most Deadheads first discovered Gans through his radio show or his writing, but music has always been central, the constant drumbeat organizing his many hats, with the Dead’s music specifically woven through much of it and mingling with his own.

None of this was planned. David never set out to become a professional Deadhead or a DJ. Another page he took from the Grateful Dead book was this model of improvising your own life, and staying open to a serendipitous build-up of events and circumstances that led David on his path.

This is also David’s way of celebrating the ever morphing and shifting cultural legacy of the Dead. Each generation experiences the music differently, but draws from the same cultural pool… telling and retelling of the stories, and David Gans is a master storyteller.

It’s A Hand-Me-Down Track Listing
Stagger Lee  4:02
Lazy River Road  5:45
Ship of Fools  4:06
Loser  6:54
Looks Like Rain  6:33
Wharf Rat  7:22
Stella Blue  6:03
Black Peter  6:34
New Speedway Boogie  5:40
Deal  3:58
Terrapin Station  7:26
Attics of My Life  4:53
Brokedown Palace  5:04

All songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
except “Looks Like Rain” by Bob Weir and John Barlow
Ice Nine Publishing (ASCAP)

David Gans – guitars and vocals

Produced by David Gans & Jeremy Goody and recorded by Jeremy Goody at Megasonic Sound, Piedmont CA, except: “Lady With a Fan/Terrapin” and “Looks Like Rain,” produced and recorded by Jim LeBrecht at Berkeley Sound Artists; and “Stella Blue,” recorded by Arnie Brown at The Jam Room, Howell NJ and mixed by Jeremy Goody at Megasonic.

Mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering, Boulder CO

Instruments by Renaissance Guitars (Rick Turner), Mario DeSio, C.F. Martin & Co. (And two borrowed Taylors on “Stella Blue”)

For more information, tour dates and other news from David Gans , please visit www.davidgans.com, Facebook, and Twitter.com/davidgans.

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Sun 10/25 SiriusXM Debut of Town Mountain’s Rendition of “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” on Tales from the Golden Road on the Grateful Dead Channel

Town Mountain: The Dead Session
Artwork by Taylor Swope

Town Mountain’s rendition of Grateful Dead’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” will debut this Sunday, October 25th on Tales from the Golden Road on the SiriusXM Grateful Dead Channel. Robert Greer will chat with hosts David Gans and Gary Lambert at 4pm ET briefly and the show runs until 6pm. It’s is a call-in show and if you want to join the conversation, call 888-897-4748! it rebroadcast Mondays at 9am ET and Wednesdays at 1am ET.
More info at www.siriusxm.com/gratefuldead and www.facebook.com/tftgr.

“Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” is one of two tracks Town Mountain recorded for their upcoming release, Town Mountain: The Dead Session, which hits the streets on November 13th. They recorded an impromptu set of two of their favorite songs from the Grateful Dead’s catalog at the widely acclaimed Echo Mountain Recording Studios in their hometown of Asheville, NC. The other track is “Big River” which was written by Johnny Cash in 1958; but true to The Dead’s fashion they would take other people’s songs or traditional songs and make them their own. They had a knack for finding covers that were transcendent of the original artist and they played it in almost 400 live performances.

“Wow, I like these hard-core acoustic honky-tonk takes on two Grateful Dead favorites!” says David Gans, musician and co-author of This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, and Tales from the Golden Road co-host.

“Each member of this band has enjoyed the music of the Grateful Dead for quite some time,” says vocalist and guitarist Robert Greer. “It seemed only fitting for Town Mountain to pay respect to some musical heroes in this year, their 50th year of existence.”

This is the Grateful Dead done in Town Mountain’s hard drivin’ style filled with a honky tonk edge and barroom swagger. The resulting sound is touched by Jerry Garcia with Jimmy Martin and John Hartford… Fitting since Hartford played a short stint in Old and In The Way before Vassar Clements filled out the band on fiddle, and Garcia’s first instrument was a banjo as he was influenced by bluegrass music throughout his career.

“What can I say about “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”? It’s just perfect. Lyrically it’s amazing,” says banjoist Jesse Langlais. “Robert Hunter can be so descriptive yet so vague in the point he’s trying to get across. Which is great for the audience because it allows listeners to choose what they want the song to be about. In my opinion that’s what a good songwriter does. He leaves the song open to interpretation.”

“Musically, ‘Mississippi’ is extremely fun to play with exciting changes and a lot going on melodically… almost like there’s two songs in one.” Langlais continues, “On the original studio version of this song Vassar Clements plays fiddle. Bobby and I tried to mimic the interplay that Jerry and Vassar had on it. This is just an amazing song, and and it made sense for us to record it because it had a bluegrass master involved. We adopted it into Town Mountain’s repertoire without changing the integrity of the song.”

“Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter and originally released on Wake of the Flood in 1973. It was performed over 230 times live by The Dead over the years and the song was also the second set opener of the second night of the Fare Thee Well shows in Santa Clara this year.

Town Mountain. Photo by Sandlin Gaither

The core of Town Mountain is Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, and Adam Chaffins on bass (Adam is featured on “Mississippi”). Evan Martin plays drums on both tracks. Jon Stickley fills in on bass and guitar in “Big River” and Jack Deveroux lays down the pedal steel on “Big River.”

For the cover art, Town Mountain turned to long time Grateful Dead artist Taylor Swope. Taylor has been creating official Grateful Dead art since the former VP of Grateful Dead Productions discovered her in a parking lot at a show in 2003 and offered her a license on the spot. Her work has become iconic in it’s own right, having become widely associated with the generations of Deadheads who have grown up in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s passing.

Riding the wave of excitement that followed Fare Thee Well where her poster was one of only four featured at both stadiums, and sharing Town Mountain’s deep appreciation for American roots music, Taylor says she “thoroughly enjoyed creating this image. I am obsessed with swimming and water in general, so when Town Mountain asked me to draw them a river with a Steal Your Face, it was a natural fit.”

Town Mountain is in it for the long haul… check out out where they’ll be travelin’ to next and keep an eye on TownMountain.net for further dates as well as a brand new selection of merchandise. For updates from the road, please visit facebook.com/TownMountain, twitter.com/TownMountain, and instagram.com/townmountainbluegrass.

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Town Mountain to Release Renditions of two Grateful Dead Tunes ~ Bluegrass with Swagger

Town Mountain: The Dead Session
Artwork by Taylor Swope

To Honor the Grateful Dead in the year of the band’s 50th Anniversary
Town Mountain recorded bluegrass versions of two of their favorite Grateful Dead songs

Town Mountain: The Dead Session
Features “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” & “Big River”
Due Out Fri, Nov 13th

“Wow, I like these hard-core acoustic honky-tonk takes on two Grateful Dead favorites!” —David Gans, musician and co-author of This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead.”

Town Mountain is excited to announce the independent release of Town Mountain: The Dead Session on Friday, November 13, 2015. “Each member of this band has enjoyed the music of the Grateful Dead for quite some time,” says vocalist and guitarist Robert Greer. “It seemed only fitting for Town Mountain to pay respect to some musical heroes in this year, their 50th year of existence.” They recorded an impromptu set of two of their favorite songs from the Grateful Dead’s catalog, “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” and “Big River” at the widely acclaimed Echo Mountain Recording Studios in their hometown of Asheville, NC.

This is the Grateful Dead done in Town Mountain’s hard drivin’ style filled with a honky tonk edge and barroom swagger. The resulting sound is touched by Jerry Garcia with Jimmy Martin and John Hartford… Fitting since Hartford played a short stint in Old and In The Way before Vassar Clements filled out the band on fiddle, and Garcia’s first instrument was a banjo as he was influenced by bluegrass music throughout his career. Narrowing down to just two was not an easy task for Town Mountain.

“What can I say about “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”? It’s just perfect. Lyrically it’s amazing,” says banjoist Jesse Langlais. “Robert Hunter can be so descriptive yet so vague in the point he’s trying to get across. Which is great for the audience because it allows listeners to choose what they want the song to be about. In my opinion that’s what a good songwriter does. He leaves the song open to interpretation.”

Langlais says, “Musically, Mississippi was extremely fun to play with exciting changes and a lot going on melodically… almost like there’s two songs in one. On the original studio version of this song Vassar Clements plays fiddle. Bobby and I tried to mimic the interplay that Jerry and Vassar had on it. This is just an amazing song, and and it made sense for us to record it because it had a bluegrass master involved. We adopted it into Town Mountain’s repertoire without changing the integrity of the song.”

“Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter and originally released on Wake of the Flood in 1973. It was performed over 230 times live by The Dead over the years and the song was also the second set opener of the second night of the Fare Thee Well shows in Santa Clara this year.

“Big River” was written by Johnny Cash in 1958. But true to The Dead’s fashion they would take other people’s songs or traditional songs and make them their own. They had a knack for finding covers that were transcendent of the original artist and they played it in almost 400 live performances.

“We’ve always liked their version of country music. Even their original albums we’re steeped in that sound. Workingman’s Dead is full of country music influence,” explains Langlais. “The Dead kept the sentiment of ‘Big River’ but translated it to make an audience who may not have known what country music was love it. That audience for them was typically a younger more rock or jam influenced fan but they still ended up knowing the song and singing along.” “Big River” fits right into Town Mountain’s sound and wheelhouse.

Town Mountain. Photo by Sandlin Gaither.

The core of Town Mountain is Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, and Adam Chaffins on bass (Adam is featured on “Mississippi”). Evan Martin plays drums on both tracks. Jon Stickley fills in on bass and guitar in “Big River” and Jack Deveroux lays down the pedal steel on “Big River.”

For the cover art, Town Mountain turned to long time Grateful Dead artist Taylor Swope. Taylor has been creating official Grateful Dead art since the former VP of Grateful Dead Productions discovered her in a parking lot at a show in 2003 and offered her a license on the spot. Her work has become iconic in it’s own right, having become widely associated with the generations of Deadheads who have grown up in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s passing.

Riding the wave of excitement that followed Fare Thee Well where her poster was one of only four featured at both stadiums, and sharing Town Mountain’s deep appreciation for American roots music, Taylor says she “thoroughly enjoyed creating this image. I am obsessed with swimming and water in general, so when Town Mountain asked me to draw them a river with a Steal Your Face, it was a natural fit.”

Town Mountain is no stranger to playing covers, and what has become one of the group’s more memorable live performance songs is their version of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” which they first recorded in 2008’s Heroes & Heretics. Town Mountain’s version “I’m On Fire” has reached over 1 Million listeners on Spotify and has garnered over 430,000 views.

Town Mountain is also prolific in songwriting; each member contributes their well-supplied vat of original material. They are finalizing their next studio release which was produced and engineered by GRAMMY winner Dirk Powell in his studio, The Cypress House, in south Louisiana. For a sneak peek at what to expect on the future album, watch the band perform a new original song, “Wildbird,” in this wonderful session filmed by Hype Music Festivals at the 2015 Suwannee Springfest in Live Oak, FL →  http://bit.ly/Wildbird_byTownMountain_HYPE.

Town Mountain is in it for the long haul… check out out where they’ll be travelin’ to next and keep an eye on TownMountain.net for further dates as well as a brand new selection of merchandise. For updates from the road, please visit facebook.com/TownMountain, twitter.com/TownMountain, and instagram.com/townmountainbluegrass

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The 18th Suwannee Springfest Schedule Announced The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury Band, Punch Brothers, Sam Bush Band, Jason Isbell

The 18th Suwannee Springfest Schedule Announced
The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury Band, Punch Brothers,
Sam Bush Band, Jason Isbell
~ March 20-23rd at The Spirit of Suwannee in Live Oak, FL ~

Suwannee Springfest celebrates its 18th year at the magnificent Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL on March 20-23rd. Festivalgoers can enjoy four days of camping and live music, arts and crafts, and a selection of great foods. Suwannee Springfest consistently features some of the world’s finest performers in Roots Rock, Bluegrass & Newgrass, Acoustic Blues, Singer/Songwriter, Cajun/Zydeco, New & Traditional Folk and other forms of American Roots music. Tickets are on sale in advance and at the gate.

Suwannee Springfest is excited to welcome to the 2014 stages The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury Band, Punch Brothers, Sam Bush Band, Jason Isbell, Southern Soul Assembly (JJ Grey, Anders Osborne, Luther Dickinson and Marc Broussard), Travelin McCoury Jam, Steep Canyon Rangers, Donna The Buffalo, Jim Lauderdale, Greensky Bluegrass, Floodwood, Town Mountain, Willie Sugarcapps, The Duhks, Aoife O’Donovan, The Honeycutters, David Gans, Rumpke Mountain Boys, The Whiskey Gentry, Henhouse Prowlers and many more. The full schedule of events is now available online at suwanneespringfest.com/lineup/schedule.

This energetic and family friendly musical celebration is a gem of a festival with a great lineup, spring weather and a stunning natural setting. Tickets for Suwannee Springfest are on sale in advance for $170 ($190 at the gate) inclusive of all taxes and fees, and include 4 days of primitive camping and music. Kids under 12 are invited to join for free. Fans can also upgrade their experience with VIP tickets for $300. For RV hook ups, cabin rentals and golf cart rentals, please call SOSMP at (386)-364-1683. For further information and tickets, please visit www.suwaneespringfest.com.

Suwannee Springfest 2014 Lineup
The Avett Brothers
Del McCoury Band
Punch Brothers
Sam Bush Band
Southern Soul Assembly (JJ Grey, Anders Osborne, Luther Dickinson and Marc Broussard)
Jason Isbell
Travelin McCoury Jam
Steep Canyon Rangers
Jim Lauderdale
Greensky Bluegrass
Willie Sugarcapps
The Duhks
Aoife O’Donovan
Floodwood
Ralph Roddenbery
Rumpke Mountain Boys
David Gans
The Honeycutters
Town Mountain
Grandpa’s Cough Medicine
Whetherman
Canary in the Coalmine
The Royal Tinfoil
Holy Ghost Tent Revival
Love Canon
Grant Peeples
The Stacks
Sloppy Joe
Uproot Hootenanny
Big Cosmo
Habanero Honeys
Tammerlin
The New 76ers
JacksonVegas
Quartermoon
James Justin & Co
Rosco Bandana
SOSOS
The Whiskey Gentry
Bibb City Ramblers
Two Foot Level
Henhouse Prowlers
Come Back Alice
Gypsy Wind
Nook & Cranny
Beartoe
Mickey Abraham’s Acoustic Ensemble
Artists at Large: Jeff Mosier, Bobby Miller, Jon Stickley, Lyndsey Pruett and Steve Pruett

Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, located just north of Live Oak, FL, is a one-of-a-kind music park and premier 500+ acre campground nestled on the shady banks of the historic, tea-colored Suwannee River in North Florida. SOSMP hosts a variety of events throughout the year including Wannee, Magnolia Festival, Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival, Hulaween, Aura Music Festival, The Purple Hatters Ball, The Zach Deputy Disc Jam and more. In addition to these events, the park offers live music during the week in the Music Hall and a natural amphitheater for outdoor music festivals.

Along with the camping, there are nearly 12 miles of trails suitable for hiking, biking, horseback riding and nature exploring. Bring along a fishing pole and wet a line from the dock on Rees Lake. Canoe and bike rentals are available at the on-site canoe outpost. Or take a dip in the nearby Suwannee Springs. SOSMP is located between Jacksonville, Florida & Tallahassee, Florida about 30 minutes south of the Georgia State line, about 45 minutes north of Gainesville. Please visit the park’s web site at www.musicliveshere.com or call them at 386-364-1683 for more information.

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Jonathan Scales Fourchestra & Galen Kipar Project Perform at Isis Music Hall on Sat 3/15

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra & Galen Kipar Project
Isis Restaurant & Music Hall
Saturday, March 15, 2014
www.isisasheville.com

Isis Music Hall in Asheville is proud to host an evening with Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and Galen Kipar Project on Saturday, March 15th. Both bands have been busy writing new music for upcoming albums and are excited to present some of the tunes at the show. Scroll to the bottom of this for a couple of videos of Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and Galen Kipar Project Performing live.

Doors are at 5pm if you would like to sit down for dinner prior to the show. The show starts at 9pmas and general admission tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. There will be some balcony seating available. Call 828-575-2737 for dinner reservations or with questions. Isis Music Hall is located at 743 Haywood Road Asheville, NC 28806.

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. Photo by Mike Morel.

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is heading into the studio in the middle-of-nowhere Virginia at Summit Sound to record the bands first TRIO record, no guests, not extra orchestration, just raw Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. This will be their most ambitious record for the band, inspired by Roy “Futureman” Wooten, the album will be their first real attempt to put together an “epic, long-form masterpiece.” The new release, Mixtape Symphony, is expected to drop in late spring through Ropeadope Records.

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is an example of musical sincerity. Weaving together collective and individual influences without compromise, they are as much themselves as they are a unit—a crucial trait of landmark instrumental ensembles. Equally captivating is steel pannist and founder Jonathan Scales’ compositional skill as is his tasteful, avant-garde improvisational approach.

“Scales is to steel pans ….what Béla Fleck is to the banjo—an über innovator,” says Driftwood Magazine. Drummer and percussionist Phill Bronson drives the Fourchestra’s time-shifting, modern grooves with graceful polyrhythmic chops and the listening ability of a true master. (His talent has been praised by Victor Wooten, Oteil Burbridge, Ellie Mannette, and others.) Bassist Cody Wright rounds out the ensemble with a groundbreaking hybrid picking style stemming from his background as a highly practiced fusion guitarist. With gut-wrenching grooves and blistering, soulful melodic lines, Wright’s mix of flash and feel adds a unique depth to the Fourchestra.

Together, the group explodes onto stages with an indescribable sound that is as much felt as it is heard, and is said to have “a Thelonious Monk-like attitude with a Mozart creativity that works.” (Pan on the Net) The group’s self-titled debut collaborative album features unparalleled sonic density and envelope-pushing compositions. Guest collaborators include Grammy winning masters Victor Wooten and Howard Levy (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) and is fully orchestrated with horns and strings.

For more about Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and tour dates, please visit www.jonscales.com.

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Galen Kipar Project. Photo by Folktography

Galen Kipar Project has been on the rise since 2006, and are currently recording their fifth album at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, NC and at the Jefferson Center with Summit Sound’s engineer in Roanoke, VA. They will be launching a kickstarter campaign soon to help fund getting the new music out to the world and expect to release the album by the end of the year.

Crafting a fusion of folk, classical, jazz, and blues, Galen Kipar Project has been hailed as “complex yet accessible” and “cohesive and poignant” with “experimental folk masterpieces.” Based in Asheville, GKP is Lyndsay Pruett (violin/ vocals), Jeremy Young (Drums), Ben Portwood (upright bass/ vocals), Galen Kipar (guitar/ harmonicas and vocals), Aaron Ballance (lap steel guitar/ dobro) and Jon Morrow (8 string Novak guitar/bass).

Galen Kipar Project has released four albums, the most recent being The Scenic Route in 2010. “The aptly titled effort is loaded with images of mountains, rivers, forests and streams, and backed by lush arrangements, fluid vocals and Appalachian instrumentation that bring to life what is essentially a musical portrait of Western North Carolina,” says the Mountain Xpress.

Songwriter and host of the Grateful Dead Hour, David Gans states about the album, “It’s like a collection of short stories, brilliantly constructed and with a unique and compelling literary voice. I keep coming back to each song, listening more deeply and being drawn more deeply in.” Gans says about Galen’s music, ” I was hooked right away… Strange, slightly other-worldly acoustic music sung in a sweet, slightly distracted voice. I think of it as a sort of American Primitive, with hits of Sandy Bull in the guitars, Brett Dennen in the voice, Donna the Buffalo in the rustic simplicity, and something altogether new in the wonderful orchestrations… In the words of Tina Fey, “When I hear the sounds of this nearby world, I want to go to there.'”

For more about Galen Kipar Project and upcoming shows, please visit www.galenkipar.com.

 

 

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Donna the Buffalo Adds Dates in the Midwest and Orlando ~ Tara Nevins Announces Dec Shows

Donna the Buffalo Adds Dates to their Journey across the Country!
~ New Dates~

DtB Adds Four shows in the Midwest between December 13-20th
Adds Orlando on January 5th

Tara Nevin Announces shows
Atlanta on December 5th and Asheville December 7th

www.DonnaTheBuffalo.com

Photo by John D Kurc

Donna the Buffalo are on an extensive tour across the country and back. Having started in Florida at MagnoliaFest, they have made their way through the south and are on the way to Austin, TX where they will be playing Lambert’s this Saturday, October 27th. The travel on to Albuquerque and Flagstaff, and then into LA to celebrate Halloween at The Mint before San Diego and Pioneertown.

Early November brings the band into the Bay Area for four shows with David Gans– San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Mill Valley. Then they loop around the Northwest into Eugene, Portland and Seattle before heading back East.

Tara Nevins branches off from DtB for a bit  in early December and has gathered a fine group of musicians to perform with her in the South. She has announced December 5th at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta, GA and Friday, December 7th at The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC.  More information will be coming soon. Stay tuned…

NEW DtB DATES–  In mid-December Donna the Buffalo heads back out on the road to play Kent, OH (12/13), Columbus, OH (12/14), Chicago, IL with Steve Dawson (12/15), Philadelphia (12/20) and is playing and “End of the World” Party at The Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY with Sim Redmond Band

Well.. The World must go on… and so does the tour…. Donna the Buffalo is answering The Herd’s call to come back to Florida with eight-day New Year’s Eve run which includes a night at Revolution in Ft Lauderdale (12/28), three nights at Skippers in Tampa (12/29-31) and three nights at the Green Parrot in Key West (1/2-4/13), and the NEWLY ADDED show at The Plaza ‘Live’ in Orlando, FL on January 5th.

Donna the Buffalo Roam the Country
Sat 10/27   Austin, TX   Lambert’s
Mon 10/29   Albuquerque, NM   The Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall
Tue 10/30   Flagstaff, AZ   Orpheum Theatre
Wed 10/31  Los Angeles, CA  The Mint
Thu 11/1  San Diego, CA   Winston’s
Fri 11/2   Pioneertown, CA – Pappy and Harriet’s
Sat 11/3   San Francisco, CA Slim’s *w/ David Gans
Sun 11/4   Santa Cruz, CA   Moe’s Alley *w/ David Gans
Mon 11/5  Mill Valley, CA   Sweetwater Music Hall *w/ David Gans
Wed 11/7   Sebastopol, CA   Hopmonk Tavern *w/ David Gans
Thu 11/8   Eugene, OR   WOW Hall
Fri 11/9   Portland, OR   Doug Fir Lounge
Sat 11/10   Seattle, WA   Tractor Tavern
Fri 11/23   Jamestown, NY  Crystal Ballroom
Sat 11/24   Pittsburgh, PA The Rex Theater
Thu 11/29   Towsen, MD  Recher Theater
Sat 12/1   Winston-Salem, NC   Ziggy’s
Wed 12/5   TARA NEVINS Atlanta, GA   Smith’s Olde Bar
Fri 12/7   TARA NEVINS Asheville, NC   The Grey Eagle
*Thu 12/13   Kent, OH   Kent Stage
*Fri 12/14   Columbus, OH   Woodlands Tavern
*Sat 12/15   Chicago, IL   City Winery *w/ Steve Dawson
*Thu 12/20   Philadelphia, PA   The Blockley
Fri 12/21   Rochester, NY   Water Street Music Hall *w/ Sim Redmond
Fri 12/28   Ft. Lauderdale, FL   Revolution
Sat- Mon 12/29-31   Tampa, FL  Skipper’s Smokehouse
Wed-Fri, 1/2-4/13  Key West, FL  Green Parrot
*Sat 1/5/13   Orlando, FL   The Plaza “Live”
www.donnathebuffalo.com

Finally, there is a Buffalo Named Donna…………..  Be part of a fun and beneficial project in which Donna the Buffalo if working with the National Wildlife Federation In this amazing opportunity to help relocate over 140 wild bison from a private ranch in Montana, to their native lands on the Wyoming Wind River Reservation
Click to find out more

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Donna the Buffalo Kicks Off Fall Tour, Travels West, and Adopts a Buffalo!!

Donna The Buffalo Kicks Off Their Fall Tour This Weekend & Then Travels West

Donna the Buffalo kicks off for their Fall tour this weekend starting with the last festival of the season at Magnolia Fest in Live Oak, Florida! Then the band makes their way to the west coast for the first time in a few years with stops in Mobile, New Orleans, Austin, Albuquerque and Flagstaff before few shows in southern California. Then they head north and link up with David Gans for four shows in the Bay Area after which they make their way to Eugene and Portland and finish up the tour in Seattle before heading back east.

7 Day South Florida New Year’s Eve Run

Donna the Buffalo is answering The Herd’s call to come south with a seven-day New Years Eve run in South Florida which includes a night at Revolution in Ft Lauderdale, three nights at Skippers in Tampa and three nights at the Green Parrot in Key West.

Finally There is a Buffalo Named Donna!
SAVE THE BUFFALO ~ ADOPT A BUFFALO!

DtB has launched a campaign to help relocate over 140 wild bison from a private ranch in Montana to their native lands on the Wyoming Wind River Reservation. The band presented the following idea to the National Wildlife Federation and they loved it! It costs just $50.00 to move one of these bison back to its native land.

What DtB proposed is a “SAVE THE BUFFALO” campaign where if you donate $50.00 you will essentially “ADOPT A BUFFALO” and the bison will be NAMED AFTER YOU! (Or your child, or loved one, anyone you want actually). Donna The Buffalo started the campaign and have now saved and adopted a buffalo… and named it Donna. They are calling on The Herd for support as well. More information here: http://wp.me/pxjHY-1LY

Donna the Buffalo on Tour
Sat-Sun  10/20-21  Live Oak, FL  MagnoliaFest
Tue 10/23   Mobile, AL   Alabama Music Box
Wed 10/24  New Orleans, LA  One Eyed Jacks
Sat 10/27   Austin, TX   Lambert’s
Mon 10/29   Albuquerque, NM   The Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall
Tue 10/30   Flagstaff, AZ   Orpheum Theatre *w/ Sihasin (Jeneda & Clayson of Blackfire)
Wed 10/31  Los Angeles, CA  The Mint
Thu 11/1  San Diego, CA   Winston’s
Fri 11/2   Pioneertown, CA – Pappy and Harriet’s
Sat 11/3   San Francisco, CA Slim’s *w/ David Gans
Sun 11/4   Santa Cruz, CA   Moe’s Alley *w/ David Gans
Mon 11/5  Mill Valley, CA   Sweetwater Music Hall *w/ David Gans
Wed 11/7   Sebastopol, CA   Hopmonk Tavern *w/ David Gans
Thu 11/8   Eugene, OR   WOW Hall
Fri 11/9   Portland, OR   Doug Fir Lounge
Sat 11/10   Seattle, WA   Tractor Tavern
Fri 11/23   Jamestown, NY  Crystal Ballroom
Sat 11/24   Pittsburgh, PA   The Rex Theater *w/ Tiger Maple Stringband!
Thu 11/29   Towsen, MD   Recher Theater
Sat 12/1   Winston-Salem, NC   Ziggy’s
Wed 12/21   Rochester, NY   Water Street Music Hall *w/ Sim Redmond
Fri 12/28   Ft. Lauderdale, FL  Revolution
Sat- Mon 12/29-31   Tampa, FL  Skipper’s Smokehouse
Wed-Fri, 1/ 2-4, 2012  Key West, FL  Green Parrot

www.donnathebuffalo.com

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David Gans and Friends Tour the SouthEast this week!

David Gans and Friends tour the SouthEast this week with shows in in Asheville, HotSprings & Tucker GA!

Joining David for a few shows is Asheville’s Bobby Miller on Mandolin (Virginia Daredevils.) Bassist Jay Sanders (Acoustic Syndicate, The Invisible III, The E. Normus Trio) will join in on the fun on Thursday, May 3rd’s show in Asheville at the One Stop Deli and Bar along with The Galen Kipar Project!

David Gans is fully hip to the fact that all roads lead to the river.  He wanders those many roads, guitar in tow, a modern renaissance troubadour, a hippie minstrel — make that a honky-tonk hippie minstrel — carving out intimate spaces along the way to stop a while and play his music for all who will listen, music that beckons the attention, engages the mind, excites the senses, enchants the heart, all of it calling you to join him in his journey to the great flowing water.  David Gans’ music is that river itself: lyrics that hug the earth with currents and cross currents, melodies that flow insistently onward, eddying loop-jams that provide a recursive subtext to every ripple in the stream.  Set a spell and lend your ears to a captivating storyteller.

“I’m the hero of my  movie just like you must be in yours,” sings Gans in his moving portrait “An American Family,” signaling the universality of his themes, particularly that of the heroic outsider.  The Gans pantheon is populated by a wide variety of character types, all of whom share in common a longing for some kind of honest connection to other human beings.  Whether steadfastly mainstream or out on the freakazoid fringes, the people who speak these songs know that there’s something unbearably artificial and unsatisfying about the life they (and most other folks) seem to be living and so devote themselves to authenticity (or at least to dreaming of it).

In a voice that communicates at once the bliss and the heartache of being alive in the world, David Gans croons like the warmest invitation, like a soulful bear hug, but with a sardonic edge at times and the unmistakably wry gleam of the trickster.  Swift with allusions and wordplay yet always heartfelt and real, David doesn’t need to hide behind irony.  He’s not afraid to say “I love you” and mean it.  ”Looking for a melody to sing a simple song… I find my inspiration where it’s been all along,” he sings as a kind of invocation of the muse, a dedication to straightforward communication and the revelation of the familiar.

A Gans performance promises the listener a brilliant constellation of beautiful melodies and well-crafted, truthful lyrics sung by a sublimely earthy voice to the accompaniment of a one-man jamband capable of trippy grooves and exquisite precision.  In addition to his own compositions, David also pays homage to other great songwriters, from Townes Van Zandt to Bruce Springsteen to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, graciously and gratefully acknowledging the tradition that chose him to be part of its lineage.  If you’re sniffing around for this kind of wisdom, I suggest you seek out the next David Gans show immediately.  He’s easy to find.  All ya gotta do is “get out on the highway and follow that sound… “

–Barry Smolin, host/producer “The Music Never Stops” on KPFK 90.7 FM–LA

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Galen Kipar Project Florida Tour Leading Up to Magnolia Festival: Mojo Kitchen, Santa Maria, Prevatts & Mockingbird Cafe

Galen Kipar Project will be performing at dates at the Mojo Kitchen in Jacksonville Beach on October 13th, Santa Maria in St Augustine on the 14th, Prevatts in Middleburg on the 15-16th and then heads over to Tallahassee for a show at Mockingbird Cafe on October 19th before the weekend at Magnolia Fest in Live Oak for a couple sets!

Effortlessly crafting a fusion of folk, classical, jazz, and blues, the Galen Kipar Project has been hailed as “complex yet accessible” and “cohesive and poignant” with “experimental folk masterpieces.” Based in Asheville, GKP released their fourth album The Scenic Route in 2010 which features the unique sonorous sound that has become the band’s trademark. “In Asheville, fans call his act a ‘small-scale symphony.’ It’s probably more like chamber folk/pop, sometimes reminiscent of Adrian Belew’s quieter moods,” says The Roanoke Times writer Tad Dickens. GKP is performing as a duo for several shows this fall. Joining vocalist Galen Kipar on guitars & harmonica is Lyndsay Pruett on violin & vocals.

The Scenic Route was listed in WNCW’s Top 100 albums of 2010! Songwriter and host of the Grateful Dead Hour, David Gans states about the album, “It’s like a collection of short stories, brilliantly constructed and with a unique and compelling literary voice. I keep coming back to each song, listening more deeply and being drawn more deeply in. I was knocked out by their last CD, and was hoping I’d like the next one even half as much; if anything, I like this one twice as much.”

Gans goes on to state, “I was given a copy of his CD Why It’s Needed [2007]… and I was hooked right away… Strange, slightly other-worldly acoustic music sung in a sweet, slightly distracted voice. I think of it as a sort of American Primitive, with hits of Sandy Bull in the guitars, Brett Dennen in the voice, Donna the Buffalo in the rustic simplicity, and something altogether new in the wonderful orchestrations. I have heard this CD about four times all the way through since it hit my car’s CD player two days ago. One of the songs… made me cry the first time I heard it. In the words of Tina Fey, when I hear the sounds of this nearby world, I want to go to there.'”

Galen’s other endeavor keeps him on the water as he serves as a trout ninja (aka. fly fishing guide) with Curtis Wright Outfitters to Western North Carolina which has over 3000 miles of trout waters and streams. He gets much of his inspiration for songwriting while standing waist deep in a river. Galen states in an interview with the WVGazette, “Water, particularly rivers, have many different currents. Music is the same way,” he says. “Music has many different currents, and they all work together. Maybe that’s a little far-fetched, but it’s something that’s always fascinated me.”

True to his inspiration, Galen sings in the song Riversong, “Headin’ on down to the waterside, gonna take some time, to rest my mind. Gonna break there, gonna stay there. For a moment there, I’ll sigh.” Water is a consistent theme in his uplifting music. “I could easily picture myself finding a secluded stream high on the mountain and lying in the warm sun as the Galen Kipar Project played softly in the background. Maybe I can talk them into hiking with me one day, with instruments in hand, of course. I would even offer to carry a few things,” states writer and online radio host Jeremiah Greer in Magazine 33.

Galen Kipar is currently writing new music and in the pre-production phase of the next album. The WCGazzette writes, “Kipar says ripples of his trout-tinted soul will continue to be felt in the band’s upcoming release. ‘It will be accessible, with catchy hooks,’ he says of the album. ‘[But] it will also be complex enough that a fan will be able to listen to it and still come back and hear something new. That’s always been our goal.'”

GKP’s music was featured on WNCW’s 2010 Crowd Around the Mic Compilation CD with artists such as Darrell Scott, Jeff Sipe and Ike Stubblefield, Muddy Waters Reunion Band, Drivin & Cryin’ and Jim Lauderdale. Their hit October Snow was used in a commercial promoting the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) and the WNC Farmers Market Association and was also a finalist in the Google TV for All Contest.

The fan base of the Galen Kipar Project is growing exponentially, with a strong regional presence in the Southeast plus U.S. national touring, including performances at Magnolia Fest, Suwanee Springfest, FloydFest, Six Points Music Festival, and the Crested Butte Music Series. The GKP has also played the Knitting Factory in NYC and to a jam-packed, toe-tapping crowd at the Kennedy Center’s renowned Millennium Stage in Washington DC. This fall they will be returning to Magnolia Fest amongst other shows on their tour.

The New River Voice recalled, “If the Pied Piper-like migration of people to the stage during their FloydFest performance this past summer is any kind of barometer, the band is on an immutable trajectory of permeating Southwest Virginia with their versatile, yet immediately attainable sonority.”

 

GKP Florida Tour Dates:

Thursday, October 13, 2011 Mojo Kitchen
10pm, (904) 247-6636,
1500 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville Beach, Fl 32250-2602
www.mojobbq.com

Friday, October 14, 2011 Santa Maria
9pm, $5, (904) 829-6578
135 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, FL 32084-4402
www.santamariarestaurant.com

Saturday, October 15, 2011 Prevatt’s
9-12pm
2620 Blanding Blvd, Middleburg, FL 32068
www.prevattssportsbarandgrill.com

Sunday, October 16, 2011 Prevatt’s
5-8pm
2620 Blanding Blvd, Middleburg, FL 32068
www.prevattssportsbarandgrill.com

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Mockingbird Café
9-12pm, (850) 222-4956
1225 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32303

October 20-23, 2011 Magnolia Fest
two sets tba
3076 95th Drive, Live Oak Spirit of Suwannee, Live Oak, Fl 32060
www.magnoliafest.com

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