NYS Music 20​18

Author: Michelle Leigh

  • The Wonder of the Wanee Music Festival

    There’s something magical about the Wanee Music Festival. It always feels like the start of festival season, the official kick off if you will.

    Wanee began as a two-day festival with only 11 bands; it is now a three-day festival with as many as 44 performers. The lineup never disappoints, and you always end up with a few crossover sit-ins that are memorable and unique. The days are long; music typically begins around 11 a.m. and can go until close to 3 a.m. Then there’s the drum circle afterward. It’s only natural that the park’s motto is “Music Lives Here.”

    Wanee Music Festival

    Still, Wanee Music Festival couldn’t be what it is without the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. Maybe I am biased as a born-and-raised Floridian, but I believe this park encompasses the best Florida has to offer. It consists of over 800 acres of sprawling oak trees, natural springs, and a brackish river that probably terrifies visitors. In many ways the park still feels untouched, even as it fills with thousands of people for events. I have no doubt this is why The Allman Brothers began hosting the festival in 2005 and continued until 2014. The park even offers bands on Wednesdays now. It is a perfect marriage that brings out all of the beauty and wonder that Florida has to offer.

    There are two primary stages in the music park—the Peach stage (main stage) and the Mushroom stage. The Peach stage is in a large open field, and there you will find the bigger names that typically rotate out yearly with a few regulars added into the mix. There is a large blowup mushroom with “The Allman Brothers” written on it as a way to pay homage to the festival’s roots; it sits near the large Ferris wheel that runs most of the day. The Mushroom stage is built strategically into the woods so as not to disturb Mother Nature but to embrace all that she has to offer. The amphitheater seating is made from old railroad ties that are carefully placed and stacked to not disrupt the large oaks that provide much needed shade from the Florida sun—as well as a place to hang your hammock. This is the stage on which the smaller bands play. Don’t let that description fool you, though; the bands that grace this stage are still top-notch and put on one hell of a show. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched a band play on the Mushroom stage only to find them again in a year or two on the Peach stage.

    At the festival, you will also find beer guys with light-up hats dancing the night away while working, festival crews dressed in matching shirts, and children playing with new friends and loving every minute of it. Without question, someone will be wearing an animal onesie even though its 90 degrees out. You are also certain to see a few tutus, and people of all ages. Somehow it all works seamlessly for these few wonderful days, and everyone is just there to enjoy the music, take in the scenery, and have a great time.

    This year’s festival headliners on the Peach stage were Dark Star Orchestra (Thursday), Widespread Panic (Friday and Saturday), and Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band (Friday and Saturday). Other acts that performed on the Peach stage were Bobby Lee Rogers Trio, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Sonny Landreth, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, and As the Crow Flies. The Mushroom stage was packed with talent as well. Midnight North, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, The Marcus King Band, Walter Trout, The Main Squeeze, and North Mississippi Allstars all played on Friday. On Saturday, talent included The Yeti Trio, New Orleans Suspects, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, George Porter Jr., Soul Rebels, and Karl Denson. Everything I saw was fantastic! Although Marcus King sitting in with Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band was my highlight!

    For an event of this size, festival organizers did a good job overall of not overlapping competing bands on the two stages. Any festival junkie knows that the worst part of the festival is trying to preplan each day at each stage so no bands are missed! It can be rather difficult. However, the close proximity of the stages to one another helps to keep festival goers on schedule.

    I always say that the weeks following Wanee are the “Wanee Hangover;” it is so hard to get back to reality and the daily grind. There is just something very special about the festival, where you think, “Take me back!” The biggest comfort is that, since this is the “kickoff” of festival season, at least you know the summer tour is right around the corner. Until next year, “Merry Wanee!” I hope you enjoy going to the woods as much as I do.

    This article originally appeared on Gratefulmommabear.com

  • An Evening with Bella Anastasio: An Inside Look at Phish and Her Life

    I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Bella Anastasio, one of Trey and Sue Anastasio’s two children. She was kind enough to answer some of my questions and genuine beyond measure; our meeting turned into six hours of hanging out and a new friendship. For a band with a following as large and rabid as Phish, who have been together for 30+ years, they have managed to stay fairly off the public radar. As a collective whole, they have also managed to allow their children to live normal, peaceful lives out of the public eye. I wanted to get a glimpse of life behind the scenes.

    Bella Anastasio

    Michelle Leigh: Do you personally play any instruments?

    Bella Anastasio: I play around on instruments often, but I don’t really play any specifically or very well.

    ML: I have seen some of your artwork, and it is really good. What are you hoping to do with your love of art? I know that you designed some shirts to help Tortola after the hurricane.

    BA: I could teach art or art history, but my dream job would be to become a museum curator. I would love that! It is a very hard job to get, but I am hopeful. I have never sold any of my pieces because I feel as if I don’t ever finish them. However, the shirts I designed and sold have raised about $1,300 for the One Love BVI. It is a charity helping all the British Virgin Islands with building materials to get housing and important establishments back up and running.

    ML: Why Tortola?

    BA: My family has been going to Tortola since before I was born. We used to spend weeks there every year until Eliza [sister] and I got older and couldn’t miss school. In my head, it’s a magical place where we created many family memories nearest and dearest to my heart. The people are so kind and welcoming, and many became family friends. None of us wanted to just sit around and let the people there suffer. We needed to at least try to help in some way, especially after everything they had done for us over the years. Tortola has brought so much light into our lives, and it hurts to think of the wonderful people who live there hurting.

    Bella Anastasio

    ML: What is on your phone that you walk around listening to?

    BA: I really enjoy podcasts and Broadway music. I listen to them often while I am walking to class or around town.

    ML: When you were growing up, did you and your sister travel with the band?

    BA: During the summers we would, but during the year we were at home with our mom and in school. The younger kids of the band certainly have a lot more fun stuff to do now than my sister and I did. They get bounce houses! It’s very different than it used to be.

    ML: What do you think about people bringing their kids to shows?

    BA: I think it depends on the venue, but at the right place I think it’s great! Some shows and venues I just do not think were meant for young kids. But at the right venue it’s wonderful.

    ML: When you and your sister were little, what did you get in trouble for?

    BA: We were actually pretty good kids and didn’t get in trouble much, but if we were doing something they didn’t like, they would always say, “It isn’t cute! Knock it off!”

    ML: What is the strangest thing you think Phish fans do?

    BA: So many fans feel like they know everyone and everything about the band. It’s odd.

    ML: Do you have any funny band stories you’d like to share?

    BA: A fan made a list ranking their songs 1-300. They [the band] decided they didn’t want to know #1 or #300; they only wanted to know #150 (which was “Ocelot”). Knowing #1 or #300, or even #2 or #299, would probably mess with you.

    ML: What about funny dad stories?

    BA: When my dad was asked to participate in the Grateful Dead’s ‘Fare Thee Well’ tour [replacing Jerry Garcia in the reunion shows], he was ecstatic! He was on a group text with the other members in the band. He looked like a little kid, he was so happy. He used to follow the Dead, so that was a huge deal for him.

    ML: What is your favorite Phish song?

    BA: Currently, I am really into “Character Zero.” It had never really been on my radar before, but now I am currently really loving it.

    ML: What is your least favorite?

    BA: I don’t know that I have a least favorite but probably the older, rarer stuff from the earlier albums. I prefer the more upbeat, funky songs.

    ML: What other bands do you enjoy listening to?

    BA: The Dead; Ween; Vulfpeck; The Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s; Sinatra; Bob Marley; and Aretha Franklin to name a few. I like a wide variety of music.

    ML: What is your guilty music pleasure?

    BA: One Direction. I had a roommate that was obsessed with them; she listened to them constantly!

    ML: What do you think people would be surprised to know about your family?

    BA: Probably that we really enjoy going to musicals together, and we are a very close family. Also, that both of my parents are completely sober and have been for awhile. My mom first and then my dad. My parents live a fairly quiet life and enjoy it that way.

    ML: What about your dad?

    BA: He is very healthy, meditates, and would go home after The Bakers Dozen [13-night residency at Madison Square Garden] and eat kale chips to unwind. When he’s not on tour, he’s in bed by, like, 8 p.m. and up at 5 a.m.

    ML: What is your favorite show as a fan?

    BA: Probably December 30, 2017. I was expecting it to be a low-key mellow night, and it was anything but! I assumed they would be saving up for New Year’s, but that whole show was incredible. (Leigh: As a fan, I must agree that it was a fantastic show!)

    ML: What do Phish fans do that you hate most?

    BA: It is difficult when people talk about not liking certain songs. For me, some of those songs have deep meaning; they are about my family. I also do not like when people say, “Oh, that’s dad music.” Well, they are in their 50s and they are dads! They aren’t 20 years old anymore, eating acid and running around on stage. Also, I really can’t stand the entitlement, fans claiming “their space” (to read more of my thoughts on that issue) and just not behaving the way the scene is supposed to. Fairly recently and on a few occasions some of the family members have tried to come into the General Admission area either as part of a gag during a show or just to be near their family, sadly some of the fans were awful. It was “their space.” (Leigh: remember fans, next time you are at a show, you truly do not know who you are sharing the groove with. We are all in this together!)

    ML: What do you love most about the scene?

    BA: The people. Although it is a primarily male crowd, the women I meet are fierce! Most of them are just incredible and full of love. I have become very good friends with some amazing women I met in the Phish scene.

    During my time with Bella, she took me to Nectars and told me the story of her parents meeting there … how her dad asked out her mom while they were both young and in college and the love story that followed. Bella beams with joy when she speaks of her family, and you can feel the love and admiration she holds for them. She told me she didn’t think it would matter what she or her sister grew up to do for a living because her parents would still fully support them and want to hear every last detail of their lives. Bella is charismatic and has a wonderfully down-to-earth nature. To know her is to love her, and Trey and Sue should be very proud.

    Although Bella didn’t become a true “Phan” until somewhat recently (in Phish tour years) she tours just like you and I believe it or not. She works on the budget and logistics months in advance, picks and chooses which shows she is able to attend while working around her life responsibilities. I would think she “could” tour differently but she chooses not to and seems to love it just the way it is. That is part of what makes Bella who she is. There is no entitlement, no expectations, no claiming of “space” (although I am sure she could). For a child that has grown up surrounded by one of the most fanatic fan bases she understands what this scene is supposed to be about. It is very refreshing to meet a 3.0 generation tour kid who is at heart and soul a 1.0 on the scene.

    If you would like to purchase one of Bella’s unique shirts, visit her shop, with all proceeds benefitting One Love BVI.

    This article originally appeared on Gratefulmommabear.com

  • Lookin Back on Lockn’ 2017

    For “veteran” festival attendees we still feel the magic around festival season. The weeks leading up; the excitement, the planning. It doesn’t get old you just learn a little more each year and hopefully pass that wisdom on to those coming up behind you. For Lockn’ 2017 I decided to bring my six year old, Ryder. It was by no means his first show but it was his real first festival and his first time camping.

    For music lovers taking their children to their first festival is the equivalent of people taking their child to Disney World for the first time. You see the magic and feel the excitement all over again with a new level of enthusiasm and a level of innocence you had forgotten. To watch the enjoyment and wonder through my sons eyes was incredible. He couldn’t get enough, he loved every moment and wasn’t fazed by any of the bumps along the way. We drove from Florida to Virginia and setup camp in the family camping area. He immediately met our neighbors and played safely under the eyes of multiple parents while I finished getting settled in. For the next four days he was dirty, stinky, covered in orange clay and he couldn’t have been happier.

    Ryder was able to experience music in a way that I believe bypasses most adults. He felt it. He instantly became part of the community and that is where the real magic happens. To him, no one was a stranger and he wanted to hear their stories about where they had come from and what bands did they really want to see. He met the owners of Morning Dew tie dye and spent so much time admiring their work and falling in love with every piece, they were so wonderful to him, answering his questions and embracing his curiosity. Once we left Morning Dew we headed over to the Handlebar Café to see if by chance they could fix a tire on his wagon. They could not have been kinder and did everything in their power to not only fix Ryder’s wagon but to let him help and teach him the process of what they were doing. They spent almost two hours on his wagon – for free. He told them they had to go to Garcia’s Forest and that it was the coolest place he had seen there.

    While all of this was an incredible experience to watch play out for my child it was heightened on a very emotional level for me as well. You see, Ryder has special needs. He has global apraxia, a motor planning disorder that makes it difficult children struggle to speak. But yet, everyone took the time to meet him and understand him. Another major obstacle is that Ryder has (SPD) sensory processing disorder. I was internally terrified of how he would respond to the crowd, the music, the lights, the smells, the food, everything! It is a lot for adults, to be honest I wasn’t sure how it would go. He really wanted a smoothie before we headed to the mainstage for the night, it was hot out and had already been a long day. I stopped by The Loving Cup and they were more than happy to accommodate his dietary restrictions even though they were slammed. In true festival magic it turns out they are from our hometown, Jacksonville Beach, Florida. I strongly believe in the energy that live music produces, there is undercurrent that binds the community together. Sure, some will never feel it and they float by. But others have experiences like Ryder’s where you feel at home.

    As we walked to the main stage Ryder asked me, “can we come back next weekend?” I had to explain that next week this would turn to a large empty field. So he asked, “well, where do we find this?” I simply replied, “tour baby.” Once we settled in for that nights shows I was tapped on the shoulder and a man said, “Will you give this to Ryder?” It was a beautiful stone shaped like a pyramid. He said, “I want him to have it.” It was one of the owners from Morning Dew tie dyes. Ryder loves rocks, gems, stones and all of the Earths wonders. He was over the moon with delight, it still sits safely on his dresser.

    Some people believe children do not belong at shows or that it is pointless to bring them because they won’t remember it. Personally, I believe even if they do not remember the “ins and outs” it helps shape them. My child who struggles every day to do basic tasks has never felt more loved and included. Complete strangers stopping to give him high-fives, dance with him, other children playing hopscotch with glow sticks in the dark, running freely with new friends while digging in the dirt and playing with bubbles. He traded a light up balloon for a flashing lantern so the children could continue to play once the sun was down.

    I had a friend question me about taking him out of school since it had just started to attend a music festival. I explained that to me, he is in school. This is the school of life and love and a fundamental part of growth and development. Ryder’s music teacher happens to play in JJ Grey and Mofro and gave us passes to be able to watch from backstage on Sunday. He was so excited to Mr. Eric at his “real job” as he calls it. When they finished Ryder went down and had his picture taken with Mr. Eric and Craig the drummer who was sweet enough to give Ryder his drum sticks.

    Although I am certain Ryder will not understand what he was a part of at Lockn’ for quite a while, Bob and Phil playing Terrapin Station for the 40th anniversary, being backstage, drum sticks from Craig which by pure coincidence Mofro was Ryders first show when he was an infant. What he does understand is being given a gem by a woman as she told him it was filled with positive energy for him to now go share with the world, a golf cart taxi driver giving him a geode intact that he had dug up in Indiana but he wanted Ryder to have it. All of these events may seem insignificant to cynical adults but to Ryder it was pure magic. He is already excited for Lockn’ 2018 and asks all of the time, “how much longer?”

    In a world filled with so much tension and negativity it feels like gift to be able to share with him a community that I believe in and love. I hope that he continues to feel the music and the undercurrent of energy and spreads the positive energy just like he was asked to. Cheers to you Lockn’ for putting on one hell of a festival for kids of ages all ages to love and embrace.