NYS Music 20​15

Tag: DelFest

  • Best of NYS Music 2015: Staff Picks for Out-of-State Festivals

    While most might dream of tropical getaways when it comes to vacation time, music fans accrue their days to travel across the country—or world—for weekends jam-packed with live performances, indulgent food and experimental fun. From the east to the west coasts to the Midwest, NYSMusic staffers traveled near and far throughout the year to see their favorite groups in action. Here we give you our top picks for out-of-state festivals of 2015.

    2015 festivalsBest Small Festival: Arise Music Festival, East Coast Tsunami Festival, Grand Point North Festival and The Werk Out Music and Arts Festival

    With the growing number of small-scale festivals that seem to pop up each year, it’s no wonder that our team could not pick just one or two as their favorite—so we decided to include the ones we felt deserved an honorable mention. First up is Arise Music Festival, an event in Loveland, CO, that according to Andrew Wyatt “offers a spicy jambalaya of multi-cultural live music, electronic performances, art presentations, along with numerous workshops centered around eco-activism, social justice, and spirituality practice.” With nearly 100 musical acts, the three-day festival now in its third year featured the likes of the Polish Ambassador, Rising Appalachia, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Lukas Nelson, Turkuaz, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Trevor Hall, Emancipator Ensemble, Ozomatli and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, among others.

    Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan and Life Of Agony, the East Coast Tsunami Festival held in Reading, PA, treated hip hop, hardcore and metal fans to two full days of shows, including favorited groups Body Count, Mobb Deep, Murphy’s Law, Madball and more. And despite sound issues during day one, Jay Saint G. still dubbed the festival as “a wave of brutality that every music lover should experience.”

    Up next is the Grand Point North Festival held in Burlington’s Waterfront Park with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Headlined by Vermont’s sweetheart Grace Potter, the fifth annual installment boasted two nights of music featuring Phish’s Mike Gordon, the Flaming Lips, Shakey Graves, Greensky Bluegrass, Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers, among others, and special guests like Kenny Chesney who joined Potter to perform their single, “Wild Child.” Alexandra Provost and Laura Carbone noted that “as Potter walked onto the stage, her skin glistening from raindrops, the audience went wild” and that she “put on an astounding performance, showing off her piano, guitar and bluesy vocal skills.”

    And finally the Werk Out Music and Arts Festival at Legend Valley, a venue favorited by the Grateful Dead in the ’80s. With a stacked lineup featuring the Werks, Papadosio, Dopapod, Lettuce, Umphrey’s McGee, the Floozies, Consider The Source, Break Science and Tauk, the sixth year for the Thornville, OH, festival “was as always a ridiculously good time for all who made the journey,” according to Ben Landsman. With three stages, a silent disco and one fan wedding,Landsman noted that “between the beauty of Legend Valley, the bright spirit of the fans, the innovative music, this festival is one of the treasures of the Midwest.”

    Best Midsize Festival: Green River Festival
    Honorable Mention: Aura Music and Arts Festival, Boston Calling, Camp Bisco, DelFest, McDowell Mountain Music Festival

    Held at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA, the sold-out 29th annual Green River Festival was “fresh, exciting and invigorating,” according to Eli Stein. Featuring four hot air balloon launches, the family-friendly July event pulled out all the stops with a craft tent, Frisbee dog show, acrobats, karate demonstrations, swimming, a Mardi Gras-style parade and exotic local fare like elk, boar and venison burgers, a Korean food truck and kabob vendors. Throughout the three-day weekend, more than 40 performers ranging from Americana to dance, blues and jam graced the event’s three stages nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, including Eilen Jewell, the Wood Brothers, Rubblebucket, Marco Benevento, MAKU Sound System, Langhorne Slim and the Law, the Punch Brothers and tUnE-yArDs, which Stein noted was the perfect mixture:

    Musically, the festival served up a heaping slab of New England comfort food. The rest aforementioned activity, as they say, was just the gravy. Not only were the band selections great, they were clearly hand-picked and not just pulled off the nearest passing festival train. The music flowed wonderfully from set to set, and built to a nice peak at the perfect times. There was an evenness to the passion and approach of the musicians that made for a smooth transition no matter where you went.”

    Best Large Festival: Gathering of the Vibes and Summer Camp
    Honorable Mention: Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Hangout Music Fest, Lockn’ Music Festival, Peach Festival, Rock Allegiance, Rock On the Range

    Celebrating its 20th year, Gathering of the Vibes offered up an impressive lineup with headliners Wilco, Weezer, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Ben Harper, Greg Allman and the String Cheese Incident. The late summer festival returned to Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT, and treated fans to a super jam called Vibes 20th Anniversary Spectacular featuring Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Meters founding bassist George Porter Jr., Marco Benevento on keys and Joe Russo behind the drum kit, plus Jackie Greene on guitar. Although the four-day festival will take a break in 2016, VibeTribers Julia Wolfe and Steve Olker recounted the last day of the 2015 event and dubbed this run as one that would set the pace going forward:

    As the sun set over Vibes for the last time, [Ben] Harper closed out with his song “Better Way,” and it was finally time to head home. Seeing so many bands perform was both enticing and overwhelming at the same time, making leaving Vibes even more bittersweet. The range of genre, popularity, age and background is what makes Gathering of the Vibes separate from other festivals. After 20 years, Gathering of the Vibes has remained one of Connecticut’s most well-known festivals, and it’s attention to bringing about change while discovering your own inner peace is what will bring success for future gatherings to come. Until next time, thank you vibes for a real good time.”

    With more than 100 bands over four days on seven stages, this year’s installment of Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, IL, saw a stacked lineup of bands like moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Steve Miller Band, Widespread Panic, STS9, Big Gigantic, John Butler Trio, Krewella, Trampled by Turtles, Keller Williams and Grateful Grass, Yonder Mountain String Band, Violent Femmes and many, many more. Festivalgoers also had access to on-site camping, the infamous late night Red Barn Shows, musician workshops, a nonprofit village, arts and crafts and unique food vendors, plus some impressive improvements. In Pete Mason’s review of the festival’s final day, he detailed what made the perfect ending to the much celebrated event:

    The final set of the night to check out was North American Scum, an LCD Soundsystem cover band who might be the best band to close out Summer Camp. Members of the group are formerly of This Must be the Band, a Talking Heads band from Chicago, who have traditionally played one of the final sets at Summer Camp. This incredible two hour set featured the entire Sound of Silver album and, because everyone else was playing Grateful Dead songs, a spirited version of “Scarlet Begonias” to cap the night.”

    Read more from Summer Camp Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.

  • DelFest: The Best Fest

    There is a poignant imperceptible fact regarding DelFest – Del McCoury did not headline his own fest, in spite of being one of the very few living lifelines tracing back to the origins of Bluegrass. Del McCoury holds 31 International Bluegrass Music Awards, and countless other special music honors as well. Rather than being an envied member of the music community, he is revered as a living legend by both fans and musicians alike. The man has earned his place at the top of the pack, yet he is so gracious and gentlemanly. He steps aside and honors others in the most respectful manner — allowing today’s top festival artists to shine in the moonlight hours while he respectfully collaborates with others.

    Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own” ~ Eyes Of The World, Grateful Dead

    It is certain and true that at DelFest, everything is shared: songs, stages, meals, water, and even clean up. On a more soulful level, where the timeless music really hits, love and kindness is shared and echoed back from the mountain wall in the distance. Unity binds this community. When Trampled By Turtles performed “Hallelujah” silence and shivers rippled through the crowd before turning into a sing-along, becoming a sonic soul movement in time momentarily reuniting the crowd with Leonard Cohen, the original songwriter.

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    There were others too that reset the life button. Hot Rize bellowed out in harmony “I Am The Road, I Am The Way” as if to say every individual are on his or her own journey, but in this case, all roads led to DelFest. There is a mysterious yet binding energy about DelFest. That is, all things are connected — the people to the music to the land. Nothing is a coincidence.

    Railroad Earth closed out their set with “Mighty River,” before segueing into “Like A Buddha.” The mighty river flowed along the edges of the Allegany Fairgrounds providing solace from the hot daytime sun and just like a Buddha, the crowd smiled for what would amount to endless miles of their journeys. It should be noted that there is a distinct and definitive change in Railroad Earth’s performance; they are ever transformative. At this point, it is clearly evident that working with Warren Haynes has had an auditory effect on the band’s music.

    Many of the artists performing were either returning bands or festival staples. Old Crow Medicine Show likely presented the most transformation. From a once small, unknown bluegrass, roots band with a catalogue of songs that were widely covered to the now Grand Ole Opry show time country stars. Collectively, they present well with their adorable, sparkle shirts and Mason jar lighting.

    Jason Isbell was received well with his poetic country rock flare playing songs in support of his upcoming new release, Something More Than Free. DelFest has mastered the art of blending genres of music, giving Delavarians (aka festivarians) a variety of music they may not otherwise listen too.

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    But, wait! Bluegrass was abound and plentiful. Del and Dawg (David Grisman) played a set together and the natural progression for those two together were to share stories, as often occurs in the genre. The Seldom Scene resembled that traditional bluegrass sound, though some consider it progressive.

    The campgrounds were ripe with picking sessions. DelFest is set apart from the rest because the ideal is reversed. Other festivals have picking sessions too, but generally, it’s where pickers get their start. Not at DelFest. Big names will often be found just around the tent corner, sipping moonshine and picking until the sun comes up. The Charm City folks (from Charm City Folk And Bluegrass Festival) hosted Leftover Salmon for a late, late, late night session. Another camp, where everyone is named Del and all were fed gourmet meals, hosted a picking session with surprise guests, Cabinet as well as Eric Brumberg of the Brummy Brothers. Sometimes, the campground is where the magic happened. Cabinet also collaborated with Dead Winter Carpenters earlier on Sunday playing “Friend Of The Devil” and “Whiskey Ain’t My Wife.”

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    Another presumed fact about DelFest is that if there is success of an early performance, that band will generally hold a spot in the late night slot the following year. First year performers often get the early slot on the Potomac stage. The Broomstix, a young funk band may well be on their way to discovery. Hometown heroes, Grand Ole’ Ditch found their way to the stage too, playing their interpretation of bluegrass. One year ago, they could be seen playing Cumberland’s Town Square and now DelFest, they too, are the road and the way. It is certain, both of these bands will be making an impact on the music community in the coming months and likely, next year’s late night ramble. DelFest creates the next big artist.

    DelFest is a Delebration of family too. There are children of all ages with matched activities ranging from playing with others around the parameters of the grassy field to structured playtime with arts and crafts, or workshops. Del McCoury encourages all ages, even on stage. The crowd went wild when three generations of McCoury lineage stood on stage together, the littlest being pre-schooler, Vassar McCoury. It’s not hard to figure out his namesake. With a little violin in his tiny hands, his showmanship shinned brightest. Del McCoury seems to be molding his children and grandchildren to carry the proverbial torch which is comforting to think that DelFest is here for the long haul.

    The Travelin’ McCourys may well have been the stars of the weekend, but with their rendition of “Loser,” it was easy to see why. They paid tribute to the late great BB King with event emcee Joe Cravin and Evan McCoury.

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    All things come together at DelFest. From witnessing the transformation of Jeff Austin and his rockin’ jamband to the two ladies of the soulful sounds of Lake Street Dive, it was Greensky Bluegrass that set the tone for the entire weekend playing Grateful Dead’s, “Eyes Of The World.” Just as the song says, what we hear, are in fact, songs of our own. Everyone from established musician to concertgoers, forge their own road and it becomes their own way, collectively gathering at the best festival in the country.

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  • Festy News: 2015 DelFest Lineup Announced

    The 8th annual DelFest in 2015 is once again set to take place over Memorial Day Weekend in the mountains of Cumberland, MD. After all, “all roads lead to DelFest.”

    The festival hosted by, the Del McCoury Band welcomes back Old Crow Medicine Show to the lineup, who have been busy with their 2014 release, Remedy. One other headliner is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Also in attendance will be stage sets from Trampled by Turtles, Railroad Earth and Greensky Bluegrass,who were such a hit last year; Leftover Salmon will rejoin DelFest, in support of new release, High Country. Also included are The Jeff Austin Band, Hot Rize, The Travelin’ McCourys, Shovels & Rope and Steep Canyon Rangers, and the Black Lillies, who will be making their first appearance at the festival.

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    Delfest is once again located at the Allegany Fairgrounds in Cumberland, MD, along the Potomac River. As a festival that thrives on the family-friendly ideal, the musical collaborations are potentially limitless given this year’s line-up. Attendees can expect intimate appearances of various artists during workshops, late night shows and informal picking sessions. In keeping with tradition, the Music Academy take place as well.

    DelFest also offers a variety of activities. The Kidzone has fun events scheduled throughout the weekend. Food venders and crafters will line the Grandstand music meadow providing a unique shopping experience.

    Festival tickets are currently available on line at DelFest.com.