Photos by Rex Thomson, click here for a few accompanying videos as well
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With the end of another long winter the cycle of life begins again, as the world embraces spring, and the live music lovers embrace the first big festival of the year, The Suwannee Springfest held in Live Oak, Florida. Celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, Springfest has been growing itself, with new acts being embraced along with the Bluegrass, Roots and Americana music that has been a staple of the Festival since inception. With national chart topping acts like The Avett Brothers joining mainstays Donna the Buffalo, The Travelin’ McCourys and so many more filling the four day bill with the music of the heartland there was something for everyone in attendance. Despite the late march start time, attendees were treated to high temperatures, nearly nonstop sunshine during the days and a vast blanket of stars at night over the majestic Spanish moss covered Cypress trees that fill the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park. The Park, which hosts a variety of festivals nearly year round, seems an appropriate place to host the first camping festival of the year. The sunny weather in Florida allows dedicated music junkies a chance to shake off the winter blahs and get their feet moving and blood pumping steady again!
Kicking off the party on Thursday, the four stages around the campground were already humming with activity. As you enter the Park you drive past rows of cabins for rent, as the park is a year round functioning vacation spot, in addition to being a first rate music venue. A large music hall is located towards the entrance of the park, and houses two stages on the opposite walls, providing a showcase for bands Two Foot Level and Adele Cotton to share their songs. Outside, in the still cooling early evening, the Carolinas were well represented by the first sets of the weekend by Larry Keel and the Natural Bridge and Scythian. Larry Keel delighted the early entrants with his flat picking guitar fireworks while Scythian revved up the crowd with their high energy blend of Irish and American folk music. On the second permanent outdoor music platform, affectionately dubbed “Uncle Charlie’s Porch Stage,” Greensky Bluegrass played their first of two sets, riling the crowd with their mix of traditional instrumentation and modern songwriting styles. Following them was the Motet, a palate-cleansing rock funk hybrid act from Colorado that took an excited crowd one step beyond.
Friday
Waking up to the sun filtering down through the tree tops and the sound of children laughing is as pleasant a change from the harshness of an alarm clock as possible. As the first music of the day starts, the fans come streaming in, eager to hear bands like…The Honeycutters, Trampled by Turtles and The Steep Canyon Rangers. The Steep Canyon Rangers are enjoying a surge in notoriety at moment as they have been tapped to back up Steve Martin’s nationwide tour in support of Martin’s album Rare Bird Alert. A treat all by themselves, the Rangers played a set of music that could have just as easily existed a hundred years ago, yet was just as vital as anything being done in any era. After just a few songs, it’s easy to see how these skilled players scored such a high profile gig.
Legendary Jerry Garcia sideman and member of Garcia’s Bluegrass super group Old and in the Way, mandolinist David Grisman, took the amphitheater stage by storm, the ever present ghost of his late collaborator smiling as the crowd raised themselves to dance in the late afternoon sun. In the vast field located near the front of the park was the Meadow stage, and had the sizable one-two punch of powerhouse groups, Cornmeal and the second set from Greensky Bluegrass.
Cornmeal, the Chicago based progressive bluegrassers featured a powerful rhythm section, counterpointed by the trio of guitarist, Kris Nowak, banjo player Wavy Dave and fiery fiddler Allie Kral. The sun had set by the time Cornmeal kicked off their show, and had several of their popular originals and an inspired cover of ”Bennie and the Jets” to close out their portion of the show. Greensky Bluegrass followed and, having just finished a run of co-headlining concerts with Cornmeal, invited a few of the members out with them to close out the stage for the evening with a very well received cover of “I Know You Rider” (a song long associated with the Grateful Dead). When asked about what brought them to Bluegrass, Greensky’s Dobroist Anders Beck mentioned The Dead specifically, saying their more rootsy tunes brought him into it. “They don’t get enough credit for all the people they brought into bluegrass” opined Beck.
That mixture of rock and bluegrass (among many other influences) that the Dead possessed lives on in many modern bands, including the String Cheese Incident. Founding member Billy Nershi, alongside Leftover Salmon’s mandolinist Drew Emmitt formed the Emmit-Nershi Band to explore their Americana music roots. Using their Friday night set as a showcase for their fellow Colorado-based players, the stage steadily filled throughout their performance, while Nershi’s SCI band mate Michael Kang sitting in for the entire night. By the end of the evening, twenty players had formed a massive line, taking turns taking the lead for a twenty minute blow out version of the String Cheese classic “Jellyfish.” Though their set was the last “official” music of the evening, all across the spacious camping areas, the players on the bill joined with the many musicians around campfires and under the many pavilions. In the dark it was hard to tell who you were hearing as you approached, but magic melodies were the same nonetheless.
Saturday
Besides their regular sets, many musicians performing throughout the festival took time to lead workshops and tutorials for fans and pros alike. All the panels were well attended, and offered a rare opportunity for the casual players to interact with seasoned veterans. A fine chance for cherished memories to be formed and real connections to be made between audience and performers by letting them work and learn from each other. All over the park there were players surrounded by studious faces, soaking in new techniques and skills, opening themselves like plants to the sun’s nurturing rays.
Asheville, North Carolina was well represented on Saturday both in the evening’s headliner, The Avett Brothers and in native Asheville-ites Josh Philips Folk Festival. Philips’ band features a depth of styles from Americana to rock, roots and reggae. Backed by Stellar vocalist Debrissa McKinney and a versatile group, the positive energy flowed freely and soon the crowd was dancing. Texas made itself heard in the form of multi-instrumentalist Danny Barnes, who, accompanied simply by a drummer, put out a wall of electrified banjo and guitar that belied the simple presentation. Keeping closest to the traditional Bluegrass style, The Travelin’ McCourys brought their amazing pedigree to the amphitheatre, with Woody Platt of the Steep Canyon Rangers sitting in on the guitar. Fiddler Jason Carter, who had been pulling extra duty all weekend fiddling away as a McCoury, also sat in with the Emmitt-Nershi Band for both of their sets as well. Truly The Travelin’ McCourys were MVPs of the weekend, traveling the stages and grounds, instruments in hand looking or a song to join in on.
Following a rousing second helping of the Emmitt-Nershi Band, the amphitheatre crowd swelled to its mightiest of the weekend, from the front row all the way back to the many communal hammocks that encircled the back of the tree-lined concert area, in preparation for the Avett Brothers. In the midst of a career arc that any group would envy, the Avetts have had success across the board, from album sales to sold out shows coast to coast. With a non-traditional mix of cello, upright bass, banjo and guitar, they poured such heartfelt energy into each and every song that they left themselves spent and gasping. That passion was reflected back to them by their fans and during numbers like “Murder in the City” and “Paranoia in B Flat Major” where the crowd sang back to the band, perfectly in unison. After a short break, what would normally be a one or two song encore turned into a nearly thirty minute mini-set as it seemed the band could not bear to leave their fans wanting in any way.
Few in the crowd had completely recovered as Cornmeal took the stage for a second heaping helping, bringing their trademark psychedelic streak to the fore in a more pronounced fashion. Some songs started with a more traditional feel, but they inexorably melted into long, slowly building pieces of space music, whirling into a cyclone of crazed energy before settling back down again, crashing back to Earth. Hard working Jason Carter joined Allie Kral for some inspired fiddle interplay, and Carter’s band mates Ronnie and Robbie McCoury came out for the song “Rise Above” which Cornmeal segued directly into the Bee Gees disco classic “You Should Be Dancing.” The members of Cornmeal seemed to take particular delight in getting the McCourys to take a walk on the boogie-side. Closing their set with their traditional flourish, guitarist Nowak surprised both the crowd and his band mates with a prodigious leap skyward signaling a joyous end to a magic day of music.
Sunday
Waking up on the last day of any festival is always bittersweet, as the inevitable return to reality looms large for all, but that impending rejoining of society as a whole often leads to a “Blow it all out” feeling among the bands and fans alike, and all the music on the last day bore this out. Long traveled sideman and songwriter and sideman Verlon Thompson brought his guitar to the laid back morning fans, who listened to his thoughtful tales. The same held true for Jim Lauderdale, whose flashy style of dress belies his serious chops as a country/bluegrass singer songwriter. After starting off on a light note, Sunday’s entertainment got a bit crazier with a follow up helping of the Acoustic Syndicate. It’s been a while since the Syndicate did any extensive touring, and a majority of the crowd remained converged at their set, enjoying the melding of bluegrass and rock and roll.
While it’s rare for a festival to hit its fifteenth anniversary, it’s a function of the love that Randy Judy has for the festival itself. This year marked a decided effort to grow the party, and as such he has partnered with promoters Lyle Williams and Paul Levine to help book acts and plan the festivities. On Sunday afternoon the organizers took the mic one by one, outlining hopes for the future, and clearing up one of the most pressing questions on the minds of long time fans of the Suwannee Springfest—Would Donna the Buffalo, festival favorites and veterans of many Springfest memories be coming back. A booming roar went up when it was announced that of course the zydeco-roots flavored band would be back, which only grew louder as the band itself took the stage. Tara Nevins and her gang had the most adamant cheering section of the weekend, built by years of appearances and the hard working sound of a truly focused band, bent on musical elevation. By the end of their set, seemingly every musician on the grounds had joined them onstage, and the crowd was as one, dancing in the shaded expanse of the amphitheater’s dirt floor. With smiling faces as far as the eye could see, this was indeed a fitting end to the fifteenth Springfest, with a promise of bigger things on the horizon.
