“I love these small festivals!” That was Paul Levine, speaking about Roosevelt Collier’s Summer Splashdown and Disc Golf Tournament, an intimate festival at the beach, in the Music Hall, in the courtyard, and in the pavilion at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak. Levine, who also runs Purple Hatter’s Ball and…
Normally, on a man’s 65th birthday, you ask him how his Medicare cards are. But Verdine White is by no stretch of the imagination ‘normal.’ The bass player and founding member of Earth, Wind and Fire has spent the last 45 years bringing joy and funk in equal amounts to the world, and he is NOT…
Here is a topic for debate: once again, I don’t care where you were last weekend, you didn’t hear music better than what we heard at Great Outdoors Jam (June 30 – July 3) in Mt. Dora FL. As good? OK. Better. Nope. There’s no debate in Florida. We know. Hometeam New Year’s Rally, Little…
It has happened again. Yet another festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park has finished its run. Here is the official announcement: For those of us in the jamband and bluegrass families, we used to count on AURA, Springfest, Wanee, Purple Hatter’s Ball, Magnolia Fest and Bear Creek. Bear Creek disappeared with the…
Before we get started, let me say “Thank you, Mandolin Orange!” I confess I approached my Suwannee Springfest assignment with some trepidation: I was clearly out of my element. I’m funking rocker, or a rocking funkster, or something. I like folk, and bluegrass, and Americana, certainly. But how would I manage an entire festival of…
Once again, the AURA Music and Arts Festival (March 3-5) reminded me why it is my favorite festival: wonderful music, wonderful people, wonderful venue. Once again, I didn’t want to take my wristband off. I wanted to keep those memories with me for another year. Those who were there are already pumped for 2017. There…
The 12th Wanee Music Festival is just four weeks away (Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, April 13-16). Have you started packing yet? No? Bought your ticket yet? No? Well, while you’re contemplating all of that, let’s examine the lineup more carefully while we wait for the daily schedule to be revealed. The Wanee Wednesday…
Hometeam New Year’s Rally was a stark, raving success. Brilliant music, weather that seemed more like June and and close-knit family combined to make this an amazing festival weekend. Before we delve more deeply, my mantra: I don’t care where you were or what you heard over the New Year’s weekend, it wasn’t better than…
With more than 20,000 Hulaweeners likely to descend upon the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park for this weekend’s Suwannee Hulaween from all over the country, there is a chance that you may not know about most of the superb Florida bands playing. So here is a brief primer on what to expect. Many of…
I had never attended MagFest before, because in a previous incarnation I could only do one festival in the fall, and Bear Creek was (*sniff, sniff*) at the top of my list of ALL festivals. Also, I was apprehensive about the lineup, not exactly in my wheelhouse. But I had noticed that the musical focus…