This month in Live Wire: Local faves at GrassRoots Festival
Published by Natasha July 10th, 2008 in Local, Music, Live Wire.[Text by Luke Z. Fenchel] There are many ways to approach The GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, now in its 18th year. The four-day extravaganza, which runs from Thursday, July 17 to Sunday, July 20 in Trumansburg, combines the low-key atmosphere of a family gathering with the slightly ordered chaos of any major summer festival. Sure, the revered poet Lucinda Williams will be there, as will the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Ithaca favorites Keith Frank, Flying Clouds and Cyro Baptista. But GrassRoots also manages to cram a large chunk of local music into its packed lineup, so now is as good as any time to assess the state of music in the Tompkins County Area. Think of it as Christmas in July.
Begun and still maintained by a musical family that is part-mafia, part-cult, part-benefactors and part-visionaries, the Puryear clan has managed to make things fresh for many years while generally keeping things the same. Much of this is due to a reliance on Ithaca’s strong musical roots. By modifying the traditional formula of summer music festival — city invites national touring acts to blow through town — GrassRoots lays down a foundation of local artists and groups and peppers that lineup with familiar regional and well-known stars.
Thus artists who haven’t played much outside of The Chapter House are exposed to an audience that can potentially number in the thousands, and thousands of folks who rely on GrassRoots as tastemakers and arbiters are exposed to groups even if they don’t make it out most Saturday nights. Here’s a summary of the scene.
Favorites: Though GrassRoots’ director, Rosa Puryear insists that there’s “no certain style” to the music of the festival, and that a particular genre or musical idiom would “never disqualify” a group from being invited to play, it’s difficult to imagine GrassRoots without a few favorites. They include The Sim Redmond Band (Fri, 10:45pm, Sun, 4pm), The Horse Flies (Sat, 1pm), Jsan & the Analogue Sons (Thurs, 9:15pm), and Kevin Kinsella (Fri, 11:45am). All play well in the summer, and all are GrassRoots staples. Also staples — in the singer and songwriter category — include Jennie Stearns (Fri, 3:45, Sat, 8:30pm) and Mary Lorson & Billy Coté (Sat, 10:15pm). Samite (Sat, 4:45pm) fits in no category at all — though is most at home at GrassRoots. So are Bubba George (Thurs, 1:30pm, Sun, 1pm) and Jim Miller and the Rough Gems (Sun, 1pm). Finally, hosts Donna the Buffalo appear Thursday at 7pm, Saturday at 11pm and “close” GrassRoots Sunday at 7:30pm.
Up-and-Comers: Puryear explained the case-by-case selection process for GrassRoots: “Ithaca has a very rich music scene. There are a number of really good bands. It’s hard to have all of them on every given year. There is a rotation process.” The final lineup depends heavily on who is on “the radar” of the selection committee. Criteria include whether a band is ready to release a new CD, or has simply been “busting their asses all year.” Some of the up and comers include Gunpoets (Thurs, 3:45pm), Thousands of One (Thurs, 11:30pm) and Revision (Thurs, 5pm, Fri, 10:30am). Evil City Stringband, led by Richie Stearns, offers inventive old-time in a new package (Thurs, 7:15pm, Fri, 12:30pm). Finally, post-post folkies IY amazed as the house band for the Hangar Theater’s production of “Hair”; they appear as themselves Thursday at 2pm and Friday at 3pm.
Dark Horses: As most of these bands are more at home in a dingy bar rather than in a muddy field, most perform at the Cabaret Tent — GrassRoots’ answer to the nightclub. Catch blistering rock sets by Hubcap (Thurs, 12:45am, Sun, 5:30pm), The Sutras (Thurs, 5:45pm, Fri, 2pm), Joejoe (Thurs, 10:45pm) and the artists formerly known as Plastic Nebraska, Family Knife (Sun, 3:30pm). The Johnny Dowd Band (Thurs, 10:45pm), among the best known bands to perform at GrassRoots, a few years ago played opposite Patty Loveless. Nearly drowned out by the lilting country singer, Dowd — then performing as a duo with Willie B — reportedly asked the soundman to turn up the volume as much as possible. “F@ck you, Patty Loveless!” Dowd snarled. In other words, don’t miss the goings on in the Cabaret tent.
The GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance runs from July 17-20. For more information visit www.grassrootsfest.org.
Many bands appearing at GrassRoots will be playing elsewhere in town this month. Jsan & the Analogue Sons hit Castaways this Saturday, July 5. Also at Castaways, The Sim Redmond Band hosts its CD release party July 11. On Wednesday, July 16, The Ithaca Downtown Partnership presents a Pre-Grassroots Party — Keith Frank & the Soileau Zydeco Band with Donna the Buffalo on the Commons at the Bernie Milton Pavilion.
Some shows unrelated to GrassRoots bear mentioning this month. This Thursday The Town Pants, a multi-cultural potpourri, will play (Castaways, July 3). Saturday, July 12 the MacGillicuddies visits Castaways; the Chicken Tractor open. The Johnny Dowd Band hits the Chapter House on the same night.
In fact, July 12 is shaping up to be a big night for music. Jana Hunter, originally based in Texas, performs ethereal yet down-to-earth poems to ghosts of past lovers and random strangers; she’s performed Ithaca twice before (once in my living room!), and returns for a show at No Radio Records.
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