Lockn' Music Festival - Oh, what a lineup and is this the last chance to see The Allman Brothers

I was reminded last week by our friends at Starr Hill Brewery, about the greatest lineup to be at a festival in recent memory.  The Lockn' Music Festival is somewhat pricey, held in a remote area; but look at this star studded lineup. And, since the Allman Brothers are calling it quits this year, this may be your last chance to see the legends live. The festival is held on an estate located almost equidistant between Charlottesville and Lynchburg (Oak Ridge Estate, 2300 Oak Ridge Road, Arrington, VA 22922).  This is a camping festival, but hotels are available in some of the surrounding communities (transportation packages are sold out). A 4-day pass is $285, with VIP camping listed at $800. I guess I need to get some camping gear.

• Bob Weir & RatDog
• Bustle in Your Hedgerow
• Cabinet
• Del McCoury Band
• Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi
• Drive-By Truckers
• Dumpstaphunk
• FREEMAN
• Furthur
• Gary Clark Jr.
• Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
• Hot Tuna
• Keller Williams' Grateful Gospel ft. More Than A Little with John Kadlecik
• Keller Williams' Grateful Grass ft. Jeff Austin & Keith Moseley
• Larry Keel and Sam Bush
• No BS! Brass Band
• Phil Lesh & Friends
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band
• SOJA
• Steve Winwood
• String Cheese & The Gang - A Tribute to Kool & The Gang featuring The String Cheese Incident, JT Taylor, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
• Taj Mahal
• TAUK
• Tedeschi Trucks Band
• The Allman Brothers Band
• The Chris Robinson Brotherhood
• The Revivalists
• The String Cheese Incident
• The Wood Brothers
• Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
• Umphrey's McGee
• Widespread Panic
• Wilco
• Willie Nelson

Cracker - The Ultimate Rock Band

Cracker is easily my favorite rock band and with a run against The Drive-By Truckers, the Allman Brothers, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, may be my favorite American rock band of all time. In fact, they are band #1 in the myjoog.com database (the DbT are band #2). So of course I made the short trip to Falls Church to see them, and their compatriots, Camper Van Beethoven, perform at the The State Theatre on May 16th. And they seem to get better with age; Johnny Hickman can burn up the guitar and David Lowery is the ultimate conductor. Maybe its the fight with NPR that keep them motivated. In any case, they were rockin'. And its easy to forget how many great songs they released. Yes there are the classics like Low, Teen Anthem, Eurotrash Girl, & Get Off This. But then there's Sweet Thistle Pie, I See the Light, Take Me Down To The Infirmary, and I Ride My Bike. And let's not forget their Countryside, this night covering Dwight Yoakam - the guys are extremely versatile. The only disappointment was no Lonesome Johnny Blues. Maybe next time.

The Drive-By Truckers Friday Night at Floydfest

The main attraction for me at Floydfest this year was the one of the Friday night headliners - The Drive-By Truckers. Here's three songs from their awesome set.





The Drive-By Truckers At Floydfest XI - "Let There Be Rock"

The Drive-By Truckers At Floydfest XI - "Carl Perkins Cadillac"

The Drive-By Truckers At Floydfest XI - "Too Much Sex, Not Enough Jesus"

Floydfest XI - The Confluence of Music and Mountains

Another Floydfest, another short storm, and another long weekend of inspiring music and stories. I was hesitant planning a trip to the Blue Ridge this year, but the Friday night headliners of The Drive-By Truckers and Leftover Salmon were more than enough inducement to plan a road trip. And neither disappointed with the Truckers playing many old favorites - even when sometimes it seems recollection of the lyrics were a bit difficult.  But it didn't matter. Their sound was spot on, they looked relaxed and having fun - and we have Patterson Hood's solo CD Coming soon. Also seen on Friday were the rock n' roll of American Aquarium and Ha Ha Tonka as well as the folk music of Molasses Creek - a group that we saw many of their members the previous week in Ocracoke.

Saturday was geared towards Scott Miller, the former V-Roys leader who has returned to the Commonwealth in order to spead the word of Virginia's greatness - and to run the family farm near Stanton. I love Miller's songwriting, music, humor, mojo, etc - so I made sure I was present for his early start on the Virginia Folklife Stage and in the Pink Floyd Beer Garden. It references an extremely sullen moment, but "Appalachian Refugee" is a must listen. Sandwiched between Miller at both stages were Doug & Telisha Williams, Justin Jones, Morwenna Lasko & Jay Pun, and Chris Thile. Add in Danny Knicely, Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band, David Wax Museum, and Hoots & Hellmouth and its no wonder I never made it to the Dreaming Creek Main Stage all day. Why couldn't I hang for Anders Osborne?

The same held true on Sunday. The culprit was Darrell Scott who was performing at the Virginia Folklife Stage and then the Hill Holler Stage a little later. Also at these stages were Ricky Scaggs (with and without the Kentucky Thunder) and the Steep Canyon Rangers. Add in Glory on the Floor and Yarn in the beer garden and I never ventured to half the grounds all day. Getting back to Scott, he was as weary as us having just arrived from a flight from Scotland. Pretty relevant since his music resonates with the Scots-Irish traditions of the Appalachians. At the folklife stage he described his songwriter process in terms of "Double-Headed Eagle" and "East of Gary". Later we heard these songs and many more on the Hill Holler - showing why A Crooked Road is a must purchase with songs like "A Father's Song", "Long Wide Open Road", and the title track.

Ricky Scaggs was even more moving on the Folklife porch describing his days with Ralph Stanley, meeting Bill Monroe, and the life and times of PeeWee - his historic mandolin once owned by "PeeWee" Lambert of Stanley Brothers fame. Scaggs also talked about how relevant bluegrass music is today, and used Barry Gibbs of the BeeGees as an example. Gibbs appeared with him last weekend in Nashville at the Opry and Ryman and Scaggs is recording one of Gibbs songs on his upcoming CD.

Awesome weekend. Already thinking about next year. Here's Darrell Scott performing "Double-Headed Eagle".

Preview Patterson Hood's "Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance" this weekend

Here's a press release via Thirty Tigers that we wanted to share.

Athens, GA – Patterson Hood will be releasing his third solo record, Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance, on September 11^th on ATO Records. Hood co-produced the album with long time Drive-By Truckers’ collaborator David Barbe, who also plays bass on the album. All of his DBT band mates make appearances on the record (Mike Cooley, Jay Gonzalez, Brad Morgan and John Neff) as does Scott Danbom and Will Johnson from Centro-matic and Kelly Hogan. Hood’s father, famed Muscle Shoals bassist, David Hood also plays on the record.

Hood originally started out writing a book that was a half-assed fictionalization of a very turbulent period of his life when he was 27. The book eventually stopped coming but the songs continued to pour out. Most of this album comes from a short period of time between February and June of 2011. Hood says, “The songs begin in the period that the book was set in, but don't end there, as they really just were the impetus for writing about the life I am living now and contrasting it with the troubled times of two decades ago. It is in some ways the most personal album I've ever made. There has always been a lot of me in all of the albums we've done, but usually semi-disguised as character sketches and stories, but the first person narrative in this one is pretty firmly rooted in autobiography, albeit in two dramatically differing time periods.”

“I co-wrote this song with my dear friend Kelly Hogan, who also came in to sing it with me. She began the lyrics as a song for our late dear friend Vic Chesnutt and I re-wrote it with the intention of her recording it for her album. She ended up letting me put it on my album and it's a highlight to me.”

 

Hood and Downtown Rumblers will be previewing songs from the record with shows this weekend at XPoNential Music Festival in Philadelphia and the Bell House in Brooklyn. Their fall headline tour will be announced soon.

July 20           Winston-Salem, NC     Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art*

July 21           Camden, NJ                  XPoNential Music Festival*

July 23           Brooklyn, NY                Bell House*

Aug 03           Charleston, SC             Pour House**

Aug 16           Lexington, KY               Lexington Opera House** w/ Todd Snider

Sep 14            Pinnacle, NC                Jomeokee Music & Arts Festival*

Oct 12            Austin, TX                     ACL FESTIVAL*

*denotes shows with Patterson Hood and the Downtown Rumbers

**denotes Patterson Hood solo shows

Start Planning for Floydfest

Our favorite music festival, Floydfest, has announced its official lineup and along with the inherent beauty of the Blue Ridge parkway, pulls us in again. This year the festival runs July 26-29th and features some incredible headliners: Drive-By Truckers, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Galactic, Leftover Salmon, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Jackson Browne, Toubab Krewe. Add in some of our favorites such as Yarn, Sam Bush, Big Daddy Love, Darrell Scott, Steep Canyon Rangers, Anders Osborne, SOJA, Hoots & Hellmouth, Punch Brothers, Brandi Carlile, American Aquarium, Gary Clark Jr., David Wax Museum, Ha Ha Tonka, Dawes, Sara Watkins, and many, many more. You get the idea. And then there's the Under the Radar lineup with Justin Jones, Farm Vegas, Amber Rubarth, Bryan Elijah Smith & The Wild Hearts, Megan Jean & the KFB, Spirit Family Reunion among many other.

Tickets are extremely reasonable $60 for Sunday, $125 for Sat\Sun, $150 for Fri->Sun, and $175 for the entire four days. There's also two Beer Gardens, which includes Sierra Nevada Brewing Company this year, along with local wineries: Chateau Morrisette & Villa Appalaccia Winery. Floydfest is a party - even for families. My son still talks about his participation a few years ago.

2011 New Years Shows in DC

Still looking for a good music spot on New Years? Here's a few we have found in the MyJoog directory. which includes some heavy hitters such as Little Feat, The Drive-By Truckers, Booker T & the MG's, and The Seldom Scene.

Ocean Street - The Bayou DC Washington, DC:

Mercury Rising - Dogfish Head Alehouse Fairfax, VA:

The Rebels - JV's Restaurant Falls Church, VA:

The Blackjacks - The Light Horse Alexandria, VA:

Flow in the Dark - Tortoise & Hare Bar and Grille Arlington, VA:

5th Annual Rocknoceros New Years Eve Party - Jammin' Java Vienna, VA:

Ted Garber - Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard Dickerson, MD:

First Night Leesburg - Tally Ho Theatre Leesburg, VA:

The Seldom Scene - New Years Eve! - The Birchmere Alexandria, VA:

Little Feat - The Fillmore Silver Spring Silver Spring, MD:

The Drive-By Truckers / Booker T - Nightclub 9:30 Washington, DC:

RPM - IOTA Club Arlington, VA:

New Years Eve with Jammboxx - Lion & Bull Haymarket, VA:

Unruly Blues Band - New Deal Cafe Greenbelt, MD:

Shane Gamble - The Old Brogue Great Falls, VA:

Big Boy Little - The Zoo Bar Washington, DC:

The Blues Buckets - 219 Basin Street Lounge Alexandria, VA:

The Nameless Few - Ri Ra Arlington Arlington, VA:

Juniper Lane - McGinty’s Public House Silver Spring, MD:

Back to Zero - Whitlow's On Wilson Arlington, VA:

This Week at MyJoog

There's a strong Americana presence in the nation's capital this week starting tonight with John Mellencamp at DAR Constitution Hall. On Wednesday night, Slightly Stoopid comes to the Nightclub 9:30 and then Thursday we head west to WolfTrap in order to watch Paul Thorn. The following evening we either head back to DAR Constitution Hall to catch The Avett Brothers or head to Alexandria and The Birchmere to watch Tom Principato Band 'CD Release Show' which also includes Bill Kirchen. We finish the week back at Nightclub 9:30 for the second night of The Drive-By Truckers - who also play at the venue Friday night.  Or we stay close to home and watch four entertaining local bands at The State Theatre: The Dreamscapes Project, Melodime, Crooked Crow, and Cobra Collective. And speaking of The State Theatre; the 25th annual Wammies show is scheduled for this Sunday the 20th with the after party at Bangkok Blues.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS ANNOUNCE NEW TOUR DATES IN SUPPORT OF GO-GO BOOTS OUT FEBRUARY 15TH

Athens, GA – The Drive-By Truckers announce the first leg of their Go-Go Boots tour. The band will kick of the 15 dates on February 25th with a two-night stand in Chicago, IL at the Vic Theater; they will also do two-night stands in San Francisco, CA and Denver, CO. The Heartless Bastards will support through March 18^th.

ATO Records will release Go-Go Boots, on February 15, 2011.  Go-Go Boots is their eleventh record and was produced by their longtime producer, David Barbe (Deerhunter, Bettye LaVette, Sugar). In conjunction with Go-Go Boots, they’ll also be releasing their documentary The Secret to a Happy Ending, directed by Barr Weissman, on DVD.

DBT will be releasing a series of Go-Go Boots episodes directed by Patterson Hood and Jason Thrasher. The first episode and acoustic version of the song “Go-Go Boots” can be viewed on the band’s web site: http://drivebytruckers.com/episodes.html.

The band is also offering a free download of “Used To Be A Cop”. The track is available via the link above or the embedded code below.

DBT will end 2010 with a bang, playing at Terminal 5 in New York City for New Year’s Eve. For those of you that’s can’t make it to the Big Apple for NYE you can tune in to Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country (Sirius 63, XM 12) and hear the band’s performance live starting around 9:45 pm EST.

The Drive-By Truckers are Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, Shonna Tucker, Brad Morgan, John Neff and Jay Gonzalez.

###

Tickets for all dates go on sale Thursday, December 16th at

12pm EST at http://drivebytruckers.baselineticketing.com/

Go-Go Boots Tour:

Wed Feb 16 York, PA PULLO CENTER @ PENN STATE UNIVERSITY

 Thu Feb 17 Peekskill, NY PARAMOUNT CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Fri Feb 18 Washington, DC 9:30 CLUB

 Sat Feb 19 Washington, DC 9:30 CLUB

 Fri Feb 25 Chicago, IL VIC THEATER w/Heartless Bastards

 Sat Feb 26 Chicago, IL VIC THEATER w/Heartless Bastards

 Sun Feb 27 Omaha, NE SLOW DOWN w/Heartless Bastards

 Wed Mar 02 Reno, NV KNITTING FACTORY w/Heartless Bastards

 Thu Mar 03 Las Vegas, NV SILVERTON CASINO w/Heartless Bastards

 Fri Mar 04 San Francisco, CA FILLMORE AUDITORIUM w/Heartless Bastards

 Sat Mar 05 San Francisco, CA FILLMORE AUDITORIUM w/Heartless Bastards

 Wed Mar 09 Eugene, OR MCDONALD THEATER w/Heartless Bastards

 Thu Mar 10 Portland, OR WONDER BALLROOM w/Heartless Bastards

 Fri Mar 11 Vancouver, BC COMMODORE BALLROOM w/Heartless Bastards

 Sat Mar 12 Seattle, WA SHOWBOX AT THE MARKET w/Heartless Bastards

 Tue Mar 15 Missoula, MO WILMA THEATER w/Heartless Bastards

 Wed Mar 16 Boise, ID KNITTING FACTORY w/Heartless Bastards

 Fri Mar 18 Denver, CO OGDEN THEATER w/Heartless Bastards

 Sat Mar 19 Denver, CO OGDEN THEATER w/TBA

*There will be a limited number of 2-day tickets available for Chicago and Denver. Details will be posted to the band’s site.

Previously announced dates:

Thu Dec 30 Brooklyn, NY BROOKLYN BOWL SOLD OUT

 Fri Dec 31 New York, NY TERMINAL 5 w/special guests including acts from the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, David Hood, Kelly Hogan, horns and more!

 Sat Jan 01 Philadelphia, PA TLA

 Thu Jan 13 Athens, GA 40 WATT w/2^ND Sons

 Fri Jan 14 Athens, GA 40 WATT w/Don Chambers and Goat and Henry Barbe

 Sat Jan 15 Athens, GA 40 WATT w/David Barbe and The Quick Hooks and The Camp Amped Band

 Thu Jan 20 Ft Lauderdale, FL CULTURE ROOM

 Fri Jan 21 Tampa, FL THE RITZ YBOR

 Sat Jan 22 Orlando, FL HOUSE OF BLUES w/John Bell & Friends, Nickel and the Polar Bears

 Sun Jan 23 Jacksonville, FL FREEBIRD LIVE w/Futurebirds

 Wed Jan 26 Pensacola, FL VINYL MUSIC HALL w/Futurebirds

 Thu Jan 27 Huntsville, AL CROSSROADS w/Futurebirds

 Fri Jan 28 Oxford, MS THE LYRIC w/Futurebirds

 Sat Jan 29 Nashville, TN CANNERY BALLROOM w/Futurebirds

For more information contact: Traci Thomas 615-664-1167 / traci@thirtytigers.com.

More from the Drive By Truckers

We previously reviewed the Big To-Do from the Drive By Truckers here. Now take a look at this video the band just made public.


Drive By Truckers - Birthday Boy from Ghost Town Media on Vimeo.