By Jesse Wood
The Wood Brothers, Elephant Revival, Keller & The Keels, Femi Kuti & Positive Force and Shakey Graves are just a few of the FloydFest 16 “Dreamweavin’” acts my wife and I are looking forward to this late July.
(Matter of fact, I think Shakey Graves has a song titled, “Late July.” Could it be an encore to one of his sets in Floyd, Va., an artist/hippie/farmer enclave off the Blue Ridge Parkway that has about 425 residents?)
The exciting part about that is I didn’t mention, for example, Bruce Hornsy & The Noisemakers, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Leftover Salmon, Greg Allman, Warren Haynes, Rich Robinson, Anders Osbourne, Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass, Nahko and Medicine for the People and a slew of other high quality, foot-stomping, soulful acts from across the musical globe.
One of the premiere global arts and music festivals in the country and an Across-the-Way Productions event, FloydFest takes place Wednesday, July 27 to Sunday, July 31. Think of it – for local readers in the High Country – as a MerleFest but just different. Both run a well-organized, top-notch festival for all ages, and the musicianship is certainly on point. Yet, the music is so much more diverse, more eclectic. Oh, and there is also a beer and wine garden, where beverages are sold for a reasonable price. You also can a take a detour on the Blue Ridge Parkway before, during or after the festival.
(On another personal note, one of my favorite festival memories is of the 2005 FloydFest, where I watched Xavier Rudd play about a dozen instruments, listened to Jim Lauderdale perform a Gram Parsons tune, and heard the force that is Ani Difranco. That was pretty cool. This year, I’ll be introducing my kids to FloydFest.)
Expect to hear rock, bluegrass, reggae, folk, Yiddish, Cajun, or Zydeco, African, Appalachian, and world music performers. Expect to peruse the local arts and crafts, participate in the dance workshops, yoga lessons, story telling, poetry readings, and entertain the kids in the “Children’s Universe” tent.
“This year’s lineup represents what we at AtWP love most: non-hype roots music that delivers soul-wrenching, heart-drenching performances every time,” AWP Producer and CEO Kris Hodges said when the initial lineup was released last fall. “When you strip away the hype, what’s left is the core or soul of anything. Strip our artists and us down and we’ll show you what we mean … and have fun, to boot! No roots. No tree. It’s simple.”
Floydfest 16 “Dreamweavin’” is a bit of a new beginning for FloydFest as FloydFest 15 was leapfrogged in honor and with fun of the 2016 leap year event.
“Dreamweavin’ 16 represents the ever persistent need to forge your own path, to evolve and change for the better,” Hodges said. “I feel like, in a lot of ways, we had FloydFest 15 while no one was looking as we delved deep to deliver the spectacular renaissance that was FloydFest 14.”
FloydFest is located at Milepost 170.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd, Va. Detailed directions are available by clicking to www.floydfest.com.
For more information, call 888-VA-FESTS or email info@floydfest.com.
Stay informed via FloydFest’s newsletter at http://floydfest.com/newsletter/, and find FloydFest on Twitter (twitter.com/floydfest), Instagram (instagram.com/floydfestva/) and Facebook (facebook.com/FloydFestVA/).
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