{"id":703,"date":"2015-08-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2015\/2015\/08\/30\/the-apple-jam-welcomed-new-venue-national-acts\/"},"modified":"2015-08-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-30T00:00:00","slug":"the-apple-jam-welcomed-new-venue-national-acts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2015\/2015\/08\/30\/the-apple-jam-welcomed-new-venue-national-acts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apple Jam Welcomed New Venue, National Acts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Apple Jam festival is in its sixth year, though its first at a new venue set on the beautiful grounds of Camp Moses<\/a> in Russell, MA.<\/p>\n

The Apple Jam festival was last held two years ago.\u00a0 The organizers took a year hiatus to reorganize and plan for a larger\u00a0festival.\u00a0 The last event was on a much smaller scale, with many of the artists performing being friends and family of the organizers. This years Apple Jam exploded, with a new, spacious\u00a0venue and the inclusion of performers who play on a much bigger stage, some nationally known. In other words, Apple Jam just stepped up its game and took\u00a0the festival to a whole new level.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo Credit: Jacqueline M. Sidor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apple Jam is family friendly, with many of the events encouraging interaction by all ages.\u00a0 A kids tent was set up, offering arts and crafts, face painting and a scavenger hunt. An art wall was available inviting attendees to paint and show off their creative flair. \u00a0A paved basketball court was taken advantage of by many attendees, while several others enjoyed playing, and being part of, the human sized foosball game.\u00a0 Later on in the day, the court was turned into a large work of art with chalk drawings splashed over the black top.\u00a0 With so many activities available for festival goers, the fun kept going all weekend.<\/p>\n

The weather held out on Friday, with the threat of rain in the air.\u00a0 The festival eased into the music and featured many Massachusetts’\u00a0home-grown acts on the bill, such as\u00a0Dead Collective,\u00a0California Widows\u00a0and Opel. \u00a0<\/b>Blue grass wound its way onto the bill\u00a0with the first performance of the festival by\u00a0Cricket Tell the Weather. \u00a0Holy Ghost Tent Revival and Spirit Family Reunion\u00a0<\/strong>brought Friday’s opening night to a close, as crowds continued to stream\u00a0their way in throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

Saturday not only had a beautiful day in store, but a jam-packed schedule full\u00a0of high-energy\u00a0performances as well. \u00a0The morning started off with some feel good bluegrass Americana jams by\u00a0Livestock. \u00a0Sugar Blood Jinx followed with their bluesy southern charm of a sound that featured growling vocals commanding your attention and begging you to\u00a0put on your dancing shoes.\u00a0Otis Grove, <\/b>a band that’s been starting to make\u00a0waves around the New England festival circuit, gave an energy-packed performance and continued to turn up the heat on stage.\u00a0 Groovy jams and feel good vibes were thrown out as The Sun Parade took the stage. \u00a0Lucid had a Dave Matthews Band meets Rusted Root with horns tone as they cranked out their intense set. With the double stage setup, the audience didn’t have to wait long between bands as the gorgeous day continued to rotate acts without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

The Mutherload, another band from the local Massachusetts area, provided a solid rock and roll groove. \u00a0Gary Phelps, the man behind the entire Apple Jam organization, cranked out a crunchy guitar sound as his band jammed out to the delight of the crowd. A festival and crowd favorite, Primate Fiasco, did not disappoint as they blew everyone away\u00a0with their funky Dixie sound. \u00a0Known for cranking out the grooves down in the field area, this time, they took their funkiness on stage where everyone could hear them throughout the venue. The concert field began\u00a0to get packed as the sun started to go down and the jams turned up the vibes.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo credit: Jacqueline M. Sidor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fresh off tour, a throwback vintage band, with a hint of the 10,o00 Maniacs sound, took to the stage as The Blind Spots belted out the tunes with powerful female vocals. \u00a0The evening wrapped up with Parsonsfield, a get on your feet and dance jam band that filled the air with mandolin and banjos.<\/p>\n

The first big headliner of the three-day run took the stage after the sun went down. \u00a0Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers wowed the audience. With Helm’s smokey and sultry blues tone, the set\u00a0was off to a steamy start. Sprinklings of the steel guitar added depth and it was nonstop dancing during their set. \u00a0Helm, the daughter of the famous Levon Helm, of The Band fame, is currently on tour promoting her debut album. \u00a0Her set did not disappoint. \u00a0Apple Jam was\u00a0also the debut appearance for\u00a0Ryan Scott, the guitarist with the Handsome Strangers.\u00a0He was noticeably having a blast during the performance as his excitement shined through. \u00a0Here’s a clip from\u00a0their set:<\/p>\n