Catskill Chill festival lovers received a disappointing announcement that the fest is going on hiatus for 2017. Fans have been waiting for an announcement on 2017’s Catskill Chill Festival since the stage lights extinguished on 2016’s festival Sept. 25. Hoping for a lineup and date announcement for 2017, fans received the opposite news instead. Festival lovers can only hope the festival returns in 2018.
After seven years, Catskill Chill will take a hiatus in 2017. In a post to fans on social media, the Chillfam team reflected on how the festival brought people together and the one of a kind atmosphere that the festival created. The Chillfam team also thanked everyone from fans, vendors, bands/artist, volunteers, venues, promoters and media, who have supported the festival since its inception in September 2010.
One thing the festival promoters did not state in the post was why the festival would not take place, just stating that they needed to take a step back and that they will be be announcing Chillfam parties throughout the northeast real soon.
Many jamband favorites have played the festival throughout the years including Mike Gordon, George Clinton & Parliamant/Funkadelic, Greensky Bluegrass, Lettuce, moe., Twiddle, Dopapod, Kung Fu, Nth Power, Papadosio, and Pink Talking Fish to name a few.
Below is the festival’s statement issued through Facebook regarding the hiatus:
Putting an end to the winter season, the Minus Zero Winter Sports and Music Festival, is ready for another go-around. Festival organizers have announced the lineup for their second annual event, taking place at the Stratton Mountain Resort, in South Londonderry, VT, on April 7 and 8. Minus Zero, not only features music across three different stages, festival goers can also hit the slopes with their skis or snowboards.
Zeds Dead, will headline the opening night of the festival, with Bassnectar and GRiZ, headlining the closing night. Fans will see support from Illenium, Pierce Fulton – who returns for his second stint on the festival – and a back-to-back set by Nekro and Exssv.
Fans with lift passes can head up the mountain where they will find the Summit Stage, and take in not only beautiful scenery, but some live music before heading back down one of the 97 trails the mountain has to offer over it’s 670 plus acres. The summit stage will run both days (weather permitting) from 11:30 am – 3:00 pm.
Last years inaugural event saw the likes of Deadmau5, and Kaskade in the headlining spot with support from Surge Devant, Thomas Jack and Tony Arazdon to name a few.
Two day passes will cost $139.00 before fees. Fans in Manhattan can purchase a 2-day shuttle option to and from the festival for $209.00 before fees. Single day tickets cost $69.00 before fees. One, Two, and Three day lift tickets are available for $62, $122, and $180, before fees. Onsite lodging, V.I.P passes, and free parking are also available.
Montage Mountain, in Scranton, PA is ready for another four-day festival weekend this summer, as the Peach Music Festival, has announced its 2017 lineup for the festival’s sixth annual event which takes place Aug. 10-13.
This year’s lineup will include several New York State, including New Hartford native Joe Bonamassa, NYC natives Lettuce, who will feature Chaka Kahn during their set, and Buffalo’s Aqueous, performing two sets during the festival.
Other artist appearing over the four-day festival will include Gov’t Mule and Friends, My Morning Jacket, Dark Star Orchestra, Rusted Root, Mike Gordon, Papadosio, the Record Company, Whiskey Myers, Pink Talking Fish, Holly Bowling, the Jauntee, Elise Testone and Widespread Panic, who will be performing on two separate nights.
Also, Umphrey’s McGee, and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, will each perform 2 sets in one night during the festival.
Jam band fans love the Peach Music Festival. The festival has a wide variety of music genres that include folk, country, jazz, and several styles of rock.
The festival was created by the Allman Brothers Band, along with Live Nation Entertainment, in 2012. Festival lovers were worried in 2015, that the annual event would end, after the Allman Brothers Band decided to quit touring after 45 years in 2014, but side projects of band members appearing at the festival, helped ease the minds of attendees that the Peach Music Festival is sticking around for awhile.
Vendors for the festival have not been named as yet, and the festival itself is still taking vendor applications.
There are several different ticket levels to purchase. Pass levels include General Admission (GA), Reserved, VIP, and Super VIP. All passes include all four days of the festival. No single day passes are available. Prices for passes increase $20-$30 over time as the show draws closer. Children passes (ages 6-10) will be available at the door for $60 before fees while supplies last. Children five and under do not require a ticket.
Twiddle has announced the 2017 lineup for their second annual Tumble Down music festival, held on the Burlington, Vermont waterfront, will include Fruition, Madaila, Aqueous and more.
Tumble Down, Twiddle’s music festival returning to Waterfront Park in their hometown of Burlington, Vermont July 28 and 29, features four sets from Twiddle along with sets from Americana/bluegrass act Fruition, Burlington psych pop band Madaila, Buffalo jammers Aqueous, and San Francisco-based Midnight North. The festival also features daytime sets from New York based acts Lucid and Teddy Midnight, along with Strange Machines, Holly Bowling and Vermonters Navytrain and The Mangroves.
In addition to the waterfront festival, Tumble Down features late night performances each night. July 28 will see the Everyone Orchestra, conducted by Matt Butler and featuring Holly Bowling along with members of Twiddle, Fruition and Midnight North, at Higher Ground, while lespecial and the Pitchblak Brass Band play Club Metronome. On July 29, Mihali and Friends play Higher Ground, and Gang of Thieves with Backup Planet are at Club Metronome. All the late night shows start at 11 p.m. The Higher Ground shows are all ages and are $18 in advance or $23 at the door, while you must be 21 or over to attend the Club Metronome shows, which are $10.
Tickets for Tumble Down 2017 and all the late night shows are on sale now. A two day pass for Tumble Down costs $63.
Disc Jam Music Festival 2017 announced the initial lineup for its 7th edition. The June 8-11 festival returns for the third year to Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown, NY, a Berkshire Mountain town near the Massachusetts border.
The weekend of music, art and disc golf features more than 60 acts on its twin main stages and two side stages and features headliners The Motet, Break Science Live Band, Dopapod, Turkuaz, Manic Focus, TAUK, Kung Fu, Pink Talking Fish, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Aqueous, Gubbulidis (Twiddle side project), Ghost-Note (Snarky Puppy side project), Electric Beethoven, Consider the Source and Honeycomb.
The festival’s grounds are home to a 27-hole disc golf course that will play host to a number of tournaments throughout the weekend appealing to the enthusiasts as well as casual players.
Other announced artists reads like a list of the Northeast’s best talent, including: Yheti, lespecial, Esseks, Brightside, Of the Trees, Spiritual Rez, Roots of Creation, Holly Bowling, Hayley Jane, Agent Lockhart, the Mallett Brothers Band, Strange Machines, Congo Sanchez, Sophistafunk, Wild Adriatic, After Funk, Funky Dawgz, Funk You, Swift Technique, Litz, Calliope Musicals, Earphorik, West End Blend, Teddy Midnight, Mister F, Formula 5, Chromatropic, Annie in the Water, Goose, the Mushroom Cloud, Eggy, Lord Electro, William Thompson Funk Experiment, Ben Silver (Orchard Lounge), Toadface, Saltus, Uncle Bob, DELTAnine, Klassik, Leila, Detox, Tsimba, Zerogravity, Zoologic, Bunk Buddha, Bells & Robes, Icculus, Echo Mecca, Kroma Kode, In Flux, Stephen Lewis, Mether, Qwill, Oogee Wawa, the Other Brothers, Humble Digs, Monotronic, Resin Heads, Big Jon Short, Zack Slik, Political Animals, Schooley Mountain Band and Cal Kehoe.
Promoter Tony Scavone said of the talent:
We’ve put together a Who’s Who of Northeast musical talent without straying from our funk/jam roots, while keeping with the times to include the electro-fusion craze that has taken hold of new music being created by today’s fastest rising acts
In addition to the breadth of music and disc golf, there will also be flow arts workshops, interactive art throughout the grounds and daily yoga sessions. Craft and art vending will be sponsored by PhanArt.
Early bird tickets are available now at the Disc Jam website for $125. This includes camping and early entry to the grounds. Special VIP packages include a stay at nearby Jiminy Peak.
Check out Dopapod’s performance with the West End Blend horns from last year’s festival below:
Backwoods Pondfest, a staple music festival held just south of Plattsburgh, NY each summer, has announced it will not return in 2017. The festival’s promoters posted on the Pondfest Facebook page:
Hello Backwoods Pondfest family!
Coming off our 10th and best year yet, it’s disheartening for us to have to let you know that we will not be having our 11th Pondfest this coming summer. This was not an easy decision to arrive at, but after much discussion we’ve concluded that we can’t have our beloved festival for a variety of challenging reasons – rather than fight the universe, we’re instead remaining optimistic for what the future holds in years to come.
Many of you have kindly and graciously reminded us year after year that this festival is something special for you and your loved ones, and it truly pains us to have to make this choice. We look forward to making more memories with you, no matter what form in the future they may come. We love you and thank you for making Backwoods Pondfest such a special place for 10 years running. Sincerely –Backwoods Pondfest
Backwoods Pondfest was a staple of the summer in the North Country of New York. The festival finds its roots in the 70s and 80s, when Sandy Bazzano held ‘Pondstock’ each summer. Around the turn of the century, SWM Productions produced Pondstock for a few years, and was later resurrected in 2007 when Lowell Wurster of Lucid, Katie Bazzano (Sandy’s daughter), and Chris Boire teamed together to bring the event back under the name Backwoods Pondfest.
Initially held in early September, the festival shifted to August and saw a continually huge turnout from a loyal audience who came for a wide array of music offerings. Lucid performed twice each weekend, serving as host band, and welcoming acts that included Spiritual Rez, Twiddle, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Bernie Worrell, Pork Tornado, Pink Talking Fish, Chali2na, Ryan Montbleau, Assembly of Dust, Melvin Seals and JGB, The Breakfast, Cabinet, Conehead Buddha, plus up and coming bands including Formula 5, Mister F, Capital Zen, Annie in the Water, Hayley Jane and the Primates and many, many more over the 10 years Pondfest brought music to the North Country.
Reflecting on what he will miss the most from the past 10 years of Pondfest, Lowell Wurster replied
After 10 years of Backwoods Pondfest, what I will miss the most is the family. New people come every year, but there are a bunch of people who have come every year or most every year. Some of those people I only see once a year, some of them I see often. But once a year we are all together in the same place, at the same time to worship music and freedom. Pondfest isn’t like other festivals and these people understand that. This is more than a festival: it’s a community, it’s a family, and that is what I will miss most.
Pondfest may be gone for now, but if Pondstock can give rise to Pondfest some 20 years later, perhaps Pondfest will lead to yet another music festival, one that maintains the true feeling, freedom and experience of music festivals not found at larger, corporate events. The empty weekend on early August calendar will be the first time in 10 years we didn’t get lost in the back of the woods, by a pond, at a music festival.
The field for the 13th edition of Mountain Jam is set. The annual Catskills festival, held at Hunter Mountain, announced its lineup and headliners, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Steve Miller Band back in November. Friday, the full line up was announced, including additional headliner String Cheese Incident.
Also added to the June 16-18 bill are indie folk artists the Head and the Heart, reggae rapper Matisyahu, Brooklyn-based sax buskers Moon Hooch, Sudanese pop, krautrock, free jazz artist Sinkane, country legend Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives and “hometown” girl Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers.
Helm is the daughter of the late Band drummer Levon Helm, whose studio, affectionately known as “the Barn,” is located in nearby Woodstock.
Matisyahu, Moon Hooch and Sinkane will participate in the Late Night Jam. The full lineup is available here.
Noticeably absent from this year’s bill are festival hosts Govt Mule and Mountain Jam regular Grace Potter. However, festival mainstays Michael Franti and Spearhead and Gary Clark, Jr. will appear. Also appearing is Peter Frampton, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Holly Bowling, TAUK, White Denim and the Big Takeover.
Mountain Jam prides itself on its family inclusive environment and the kids can expect to see sets from the Paul Green Rock Academy and Ratboy Jr. along with kid friendly activities in the Kozy Kids area.
Three-day general admission tickets, camping and parking passes as well as several VIP packages are available at the festival’s website.
The initial lineup for the 15th annual StrangeCreek Campout festival includes Max Creek, Zach Deputy, Ryan Montbleau and Pink Floyd tribute band The Machine.
StrangeCreek Campout takes place over Memorial Day weekend, May 26 to 29, at Camp Kee-wanee in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The recently-announced initial lineup includes headliners Max Creek, the Machine and two sets each from Zach Deputy and Ryan Montbleau. New Yorkers Consider the Source will play two sets, and the state is also represented in the lineup by Banooba.
Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish tribute act Pink Talking Fish will play two sets at the festival, along with Grateful Dead tribute band Shake Down, Western Massachusetts band Bella’s Bartok and the Fritz and the Broadcast, both from Asheville, North Carolina. Other acts in the lineup include Hayley Jane and the Primates, the Alchemystics, Creamery Station, the Rev Tor Band and The Romano Project.
StrangeCreek features several non-music activities as well. Being a family-friendly festival, attendees with children can check out the Family Worm. The Wormtown Holistic Village has activities for the body, mind and soul. Every night, at various places throughout the festival grounds, the Firewormz put on a fire show.
Tickets for StrangeCreek Campout are on sale now and available for $110 through Tuesday, Feb. 14.
Firefly, the first ever fan curated music festival, has announced the lineup for this year’s weekend of live music and camping. The sixth annual event takes place on June 15-18 at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. With the lineup announcement, rumors were laid to rest and the Swedish House Mafia will not be part of the lineup, and they won’t be missed with the stacked lineup Firefly has produced for 2017.
Headliners for the biggest east coast music and camping festival will include the Weeknd, Muse, Twenty One Pilots, Chance the Rapper and Bob Dylan and his band. The festival will also feature Thirty Seconds to Mars, Alan Walker, Weezer, Dillon Francis, T-Pain, Busta Rhymes, Galantis, Benny Benassi, DJ Jazzy Jeff, AFI, Flume, Phantogram, K. Flay, Kesha, O.A.R., Franz Ferdinand, Daya, Capital Cities and OK GO.
Being the first ever fan curated festival, Firefly festival lovers had the chance to pick the lineup, choose what merchandise was sold and what designs would look like, activities, food and even the entertainment for Wednesday night’s pre-party as NYS Music reported earlier this year.
Since its inception in 2012, Firefly has produced a great mix of musical talent across several genres. Some of the best in the music industry have graced the festival stages throughout the years. Past performers include Paul McCartney, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, John Legend, Bassnectar, the Killers, Lupe Fiasco, Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding, Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, the Chainsmokers, Blink-182 and Deadmau5.
General admission passes for the four day weekend are now available and start at $289. Camping packages are also available at the FireflyFestival website.
The 120th annual Saranac Lake Winter Carnival will take place this year on Feb. 3-12. NYS Music is proud to present the 10 day line-up for The Waterhole Upstairs Music Lounge, which will feature 16 acts of both local artists and national touring acts.
The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival is the longest-running event of its kind in the eastern U.S. Originally established in 1897, the event has since grown into the 10-day celebration that it is today.
The Primate Fiasco uses instruments that are loud without electricity, giving them the opportunity to attack at any moment, in any location, with or without permission. No one is safe, not even an elevator or city bus. If the Primate Fiasco sees a dull moment somewhere, they will pop out of the nearest sewer drain or trash can to lead an irresistible dance party.
On stage, the sound is different. This band has pioneered what is possible with mind-bending accordion, funky pockets of a hyperactive Sousaphone player, and banjo that thinks it’s a Fender Strat. Add lyrics that grab hold of even the most inattentive audience and beats that channel surf like a remote that’s been sat upon. The music is always high energy and extremely imaginative. Most importantly, this is fun. People smile from the first beat to the last smoldering ash of what was previously a dance floor.
Annie in the Water’s music is a groovy combination of reggae, funk, rock, blues and jam, written with a conscious dose of positive vibes, unique melodies and intelligent lyrics. With the ability to fill an entire night with original music and also render well-known covers into a signature style, fans share extraordinary experiences that can’t be seen anywhere else.
After nine years performing more than 600 shows in over 13 states, the original duo of founding members Brad Hester and Michael Lashomb also lead a full band that will shock your soul into euphoria. The full band line-up includes featured members Joshua West (formerly of Lucid) on drums/percussion, Dillon Goodfriend (Fox Richardson) on keys/backing and Anthony Leombruno (Capital Zen) on Bass. Occasionally the lineup may feature percussionist Bill Bentz (Exit 30) and various woodwind or brass members.
Lucid decided to take a hiatus from touring in early 2016, after 13 years on the road. The band’s culminating performance in April captivated a sold out crowd at the newly renovated Strand Theater, in their hometown of Plattsburgh NY. Lucid’s only other appearance last year was at their home festival Backwoods Pondfest in Peru, NY. One of the reasons the band wanted to take a break from touring was so they could slow down and be more deliberate in their choice of venues and events. When asked about playing Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake, Lowell Wurster said “All the guys were really excited at the idea. We have been playing the Waterhole for many years, and we love Saranac Lake and the people who live there. We always have a blast up in the mountains; it truly is our second home.” In addition to a genuine love for the Adirondacks, the Waterhole has special meaning to Lucid because of its proprietors, Eric & Kiki. “They have done a stellar job keeping the music alive up there. The bands they are bringing in have raised the bar in the North Country music scene, and we are so excited to be a part of what they are creating. We want to help them keep the momentum building, ”
Eastbound Jesus draws on a mix of diverse influences from the worlds of bluegrass, country and rock and roll to develop their own sound that is at the same time distinctly familiar and completely original, one that they have dubbed “Northern Rock,” These six friends from the rural upstate New York town of Greenwich have released four studio albums and a live album over the past five years, all while packing venues across the northeast with an infectious energy that gets people smiling, dancing, and hollerin’!
Donna the Buffalo just celebrated their 25th year as a band and have proven to be a consistent purveyor of American music. What’s the recipe? To be sure, it’s infused with more spices than you’ll find at a Cajun cookout by way of a southern-fried, rockin’ country old-time jamboree. “For the dizzying array of styles and genres with which they work, Donna The Buffalo maintain a surprising level of consistency. The New York-based band has played around with folk, zydeco, and many other musical ideas over the course of their 25-year career, but they retain a sharp focus that has helped them create some truly lasting music,” writes Elmore Magazine.
If any band is a poster child for turning the power of positive thoughts and intention into reality, it’s the explosive horn-and-percussion trio Moon Hooch. In just a few short years, the group—Wilbur, fellow horn player Wenzl McGowen, and drummer James Muschler—has gone from playing on New York City subway platforms to touring with the likes of Beats Antique, They Might Be Giants, and Lotus, as well as selling out their own headline shows in major venues around the country. On Red Sky, their third and most adventurous album to date, the band uses everything they’ve learned from their whirlwind journey to push their sound to new heights, bringing together the raw, transcendent energy of their live performances and the sleek sophistication of their studio work into a singular, intoxicating brew that blends elements of virtuoso jazz, groovy funk, and pulse-pounding electronic dance music.
Currently based out of Massachusetts, the vocal cord conductor known as Honeycomb has quickly risen to the top of the food chain of northeast beatboxers, placing 13th in the 2015 American Beatbox Championships. With a unique approach as an equally versed music producer, and a frequent collaborator in both the live and studio settings, Honeycomb has built a sound fan base for himself through original productions and ear popping performances.
Jiggawaltz is a six piece band hailing from Burlington, VT and Upstate NY focused on performance, engaging their audience with tightly woven compositions and elegant sections of improvisation. Fusing together many influences including classic rock, funk, electronic dance music, Latin jazz, soul, disco, and metal to create a unique pallet of sounds sure to entertain audiences from all walks of life. With original songs that uniquely decorate time with melody and harmony and a large repertoire of covers, Jiggawaltz often blends songs together to create a rich collage of sound.
Spirit Family Reunion is a touring band based out of New York that aims to deliver raw, high-energy honest music. They have self-produced and self-released two full-length albums (No Separation in 2012 and Hands Together in 2015) as well as multiple songbooks and other collections of recordings.
Folkfaces is a group out of Buffalo, NY that plays a rowdy blend of rootsy folk, jazz, and blues, fusing classic forms with contemporary feelings and irresistibly danceable energy. Their inspiration comes from the mountains of Appalachia to the deltas of Mississippi, the swamps of Louisiana to the concrete jungle of the Rustbelt. Specializing in merriment and sticking it to the system, Folkfaces make the crowd dance and the hierarchy shatter.
Swampcandy is an internationally touring, primitive blues influenced Americana duo. Ruben Dobbs’ aggressive finger-picking and rhythmic style (which often adds up to sounding like more than one guitar) combined with Joey Mitchell’s bass playing, pounding kick drum and percussive bass throttling (representing the presence of a full drum kit) easily fill up the sonic space normally created by a trio or even a four-piece. Dobbs’ soulful, passionate vocals are the glue that holds it all together and makes the band tick.
Since their conception, ten piece funk/soul band West End Blend has been playing their version of funk and soul in venues all over the Northeast. Fronted by vocalist Erica Bryan, the band pays homage to classic throwback sounds while adding their own distinct vibe and flair. Behind her, the Blend packs a four-piece horn section, two guitars, bass, keyboards and drums onto stages every night. From humble beginnings in an epic sweaty funky basement dance party, the Blend’s goal has always been to bring that same atmosphere to every show.
To understand Bella’s Bartok, imagine what you would get if Salvador Dali and Toulouse Lautrec were fronting the Moulin Rouge’s house band, and you have the exuberant spectacle that is Bella’s Bartok. Described as “about as much fun as you can have with your pants on” (Dan Wolovick, Two Way Monologues), this six-piece powerhouse melds Bohemian Klezmer punk with pop sensibilities into an eminently danceable party. The diversity of musicians that make up Bella’s Bartok, combined with their boundless energy on stage, has been known to break a dance floor, or two (or three, but who’s counting?). Their sound moves way beyond labels, pushing the envelope towards the darker side of Eastern European music, referencing Vaudeville and 20th century eclecticism.
February 12– Folkfaces
Folkfaces is a group out of Buffalo, NY that plays a rowdy blend of rootsy Folk, Jazz, and Blues – fusing classic forms with contemporary feelings and irresistibly danceable energy. Their inspiration comes from the mountains of Appalachia to the deltas of Mississippi, the swamps of Louisiana to the Concrete Jungle of the Rustbelt. Specializing in merriment and sticking it to the system, Folkfaces make the crowd dance and the hierarchy shatter.
The 120th annual Saranac Lake Winter Carnival will take place this year on Feb. 3-12. NYS Music is proud to present the 10 day line-up for 
Currently based out of Massachusetts, the vocal cord conductor known as 
Spirit Family Reunion
Since their conception, ten piece funk/soul band 
To understand 