Yes, my friends, I went to a jam festival this past weekend, chockful of Dead covers, prolonged breakdowns by prog rockers with goofy names (RIYL: Umphrey's McGee, Electric Apricot), and the ever present background whispers of slang terms for drugs on Shakedown Street, the name given to the festival's main road of vendors as well as the 1978 Grateful Dead album produced by Lowell George, of Little Feat fame.
Mentioned in May's issue of Rolling Stone's list of the best summer festivals that are "worth the trip" (Oh, you, Rolling Stone), May 30th-June 1st marked the fourth installment of Mountain Jam, the northeast festival hosted by Warren Haynes & Co. in the beautiful mountains of Hunter, NY. And while I take Rolling Stone, the magazine that puts out the same groundbreaking list of the best songs/artists/albums of all time nearly every month, as seriously when it comes to music as improvisationally challenged jam sessions that pass the 15 minute mark, I cannot lie to you. Peppered in between the usual jam-band festival staples was a lot of great music that would please jammers and nonjammers alike. And since it's summer and I'm still feeling pseudo "free love" right now, I'd like to share with you the music that kept me stomping and grooving all weekend:
Felice Brothers
Hailing from the the Catskill mountains of New York, the Felice Brothers are a folk/country band comprised of Ian Felice on lead vocals and guitar, Simone Felice on vocals and drums, and James Felice on vocals, accordion, organ, and piano as well as Farley on washboard and fiddle and Christmas on bass guitar (Fun fact: Wikipedia tells me that Christmas once got by as a "traveling dice player".) They are boys from the neighborhood, just 10 minutes outside of Woodstock, NY. And while they may not hail from my neighborhood or your neighborhood- the tales they tell of hookers and heroin- they wield the same magic power Springsteen has in convincing you for a split second that you hail from New Jersey. When my close friend asked me what the Felice Brothers sounded like before they came on, I replied, "They sound like something you'd want to hear while swigging a bottle of whiskey with old friends from back home". Sure enough, by the end of their set, we were both singing along, completely at home, stomping and singing along with the crowd, "I put some whiskey into my whiskey, I put some heartbreak into my heart."
RIYL: Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Guy Clark, early Bruce Springsteen
I may be an old soul, but good music is good music. Plus, it's summertime.
Free love and good vibes,
Lauren
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
Sharon Jones is the female equivalent to James Brown. Introduced by the Dap Kings, true sultans of suave, Sharon Jones danced her way to the front of the stage, her steps saying "Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do my thing." And by the end of her set, moneymakers were shaking- mine included- as Jones and the Dap Kings took the audience back a few decades in their time machine of soul. If you've ever once thought, "They really just don't make music like they used to," they do and it's best served live.
RIYL: Betty LaVette, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles
Levon Helm
I have seen the Last Waltz- the legendary Scorcese documentary about the Band's last hurrah probably over twenty times and twice within the past month, so seeing Levon Helm live for me was like seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating, but after he opened with "Ophelia", I couldn't help but become engulfed by an overwhelming sensation of Bandmania. And while the Band's heyday has long past, Helm's hasn't. His voice has aged gracefully and he sings and plays with the same fervor that you see in old tapings of the Band on tour with Bob Dylan. But unlike seeing Dylan live for the sake of seeing Dylan live now, seeing Helm live isn't as depressing because the old sound of the Band is maintained. Helm's Dirt Farmer was a grammy winner this year, and after seeing him play with a new cast of characters, it was clear to me that the spirit of the Band will continue to live on through Helm until he plans a "Last Waltz" concert of his own, which I hope won't be anytime soon.
Sharon Jones is the female equivalent to James Brown. Introduced by the Dap Kings, true sultans of suave, Sharon Jones danced her way to the front of the stage, her steps saying "Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do my thing." And by the end of her set, moneymakers were shaking- mine included- as Jones and the Dap Kings took the audience back a few decades in their time machine of soul. If you've ever once thought, "They really just don't make music like they used to," they do and it's best served live.
RIYL: Betty LaVette, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles
Levon Helm
I have seen the Last Waltz- the legendary Scorcese documentary about the Band's last hurrah probably over twenty times and twice within the past month, so seeing Levon Helm live for me was like seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating, but after he opened with "Ophelia", I couldn't help but become engulfed by an overwhelming sensation of Bandmania. And while the Band's heyday has long past, Helm's hasn't. His voice has aged gracefully and he sings and plays with the same fervor that you see in old tapings of the Band on tour with Bob Dylan. But unlike seeing Dylan live for the sake of seeing Dylan live now, seeing Helm live isn't as depressing because the old sound of the Band is maintained. Helm's Dirt Farmer was a grammy winner this year, and after seeing him play with a new cast of characters, it was clear to me that the spirit of the Band will continue to live on through Helm until he plans a "Last Waltz" concert of his own, which I hope won't be anytime soon.
RIYL: The Band
I may be an old soul, but good music is good music. Plus, it's summertime.
Free love and good vibes,
Lauren
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