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Music Festival Producers Hope to End ‘Long Intermission’

Camping at a pre-Covid FloydFest

When people gathered at the St. Augustine Amphitheater in January for JJ Gray and Mofro, or The Yarmouth Drive-In on Cape Cod for Goose last fall, or the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, New Hampshire in October for a moe drive-in show, these could have been just any other concerts.

But far from it. After months of pandemic purgatory, they were the first chances for bands to re-emerge from lock down and return to the stage; for stagehands and countless supporting industries to get back to work; and for fans to once again enjoy live music in a “Covid-safe” environment.

Some have called this long strange trip “a long intermission” in the life of live music. It’s coming back cautiously and to a mixed welcome by even the most loyal, FOMO-wracked music lovers eager for a music festival – all the better if some festival camping is thrown in.

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Bingo! Jam Band Goose Flies Amid Music Festival Closure

When the coronavirus grounded concerts and festivals, rising jam band Goose wasn’t grounded long. The four skilled musicians from woodsy Wilton, Connecticut, kept on playing and live-streaming performances, virtual meet-and-greets, and generally staying in touch with their growing flock of loyal fans drawn to the band’s improvisational rock that can stretch into 20-minute jams.

This month, the band will nest in a barn in Fairfield County, Connecticut, to livestream their “Summer 2020 Virtual Bingo Tour” between June 19 – 28. Setlists created from bingo balls drawn on stage at the “Goose Community Rec Center.”

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Everglades Roots Music Festival Gives Swamp Life a Playlist

Don’t ask Jack Shealy what really excites him about Everglades Roots Festival at his family’s campground deep in the Florida swamp and expect an easy answer. It’s tough, and he really can’t put his finger on it. There’s the music, the Trail Lakes Campground itself, the Everglades experience, the Cracker Culture, even the skunk ape he’s certain lurks in the woods and maw just beyond the treeline.

It’s easy to understand Shealy’s struggle. Now in its third year, the festival will bring a hot line up of blues, bluegrass, and folk talent. The show’s line-up boasts two sets of Grateful Dead players Grass Is Dead, along with The Firewater Tent Revival, Free Range Strange, Gator Nate, Daryl Hance PowerMuse, and a host of other acts. In this installment of Sit Down with the Producer, we’ll see what makes Everglades Roots Festival and host Trail Lakes Campground shine is this neck of the Glades.

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FloydFest: Family Friendly Music Festival Camping

When a writer noted last year that FloydFest had made TIME magazine’s list ‘240 Reasons to Celebrate America’  as a “Summer Fests We Love,” FloydFest in Floyd, Virginia, and its co-creators Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson were being feted, it came as no surprise to those who know the event and the founders. To hear FloydFest exec Sam Calhoun sing its praises, the event is rockin’ on a roll – a 20-year roll. No small part of that is the smallest attendees at this welcoming festival.

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FloydFest: 20 Years of Blue Ridge Music and Festival Camping

Twenty years into the FloydFest, Sam Calhoun and his team have gotten festival production down to a science. But they know art plays an invaluable role. After all, curating music, arts, and culinary creations – even the camping experience – for one of the most respected music festivals along the East Coast leaves nothing to chance.

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