Joog: The term juke, as in Juke Joint or Juke Box, is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly. This is the blog for MyJoog.com - a listing of live music that anyone can update. Here we will focus on artists, venues, and shows that we experience through our travels. Visit MyJoog.com to find live music in your area. You can contact us at info (at) myjoog.com.
A week has already past since attending the 2014 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and I've been humming new songs I've heard the entire time. Bristol hosts one cool festival, with venues hosting music in both Virginia and Tennessee along State Street. We started the festival at O' Mainnin's for a quick Wolf Hills Brewing Company, after a 5+ hour drive, with The Whiskey Incident onstage. My Dad wanted to check out The Lonetones so we headed to Borderline Billiards and that was a good call. Good songwriting, nice array of instruments - including a cello, and another Wolf Hills. I very good start to the festival. Afterwards we hurried to the The Paramount Center for the Arts for Willie Watson of Old Crow Medicine Show and found a very packed theater. Only the last rooms in the back. And Watson delivered with the old timers act playing some old public domain songs as well as a couple originals. Watson also played a set afterwards at the 620 State stage to an even larger crowd. He is quite the popular act. After a quick bite it was time for Emmylou Harris and this was the largest crowd I've seen for any artist at this event. After a couple songs in the way back we too a side street for a spot adjacent to the stage that provided obscured views, but a good listen. And she was the ultimate Emmylou - graceful - but with a powerful backing band. Despite the great sound we left a tad early for the highlight of the night: Sturgill Simpson. His last two releases High Top Mountain and Metamodern Sounds In Country Music found a permanent residence on my phone. And Simpson showed why he's a rising star - great voice, songwriting, and backing band. Once again, the highlight of the evening and perhaps the festival. 
Saturday started with Fiddlin Carson Peters, a master fiddler and showman at ten years old. Keep an eye on that kid. This was followed by a new tradition, a Starr Hill Brewing Grateful Pale Ale at the Piedmont stage - this day listening to Virginia based Bryan Elijah Smith and the roots rocking Wild Heart Revival band. The band was incredible and I look forward to listening to their new release These American Hearts. Holy Ghost Tent Revival followed on the same stage and rocked the festival playing their new release, Right State of Mind, as well as a very cool cover of Joplin's Piece of My Heart. Lunchtime brought us to Quaker Steak & Lube and hometown girl The Annie Robinette Band, but I snuck out to see Alligator recording artist Jarekus Singleton. This was the find of the festival - funky blues, classic blues guitar, and a great backing band. His Refuse to Lose is on my playlist right now. My Father, being on a Shel Silverstein kick, recommended The Giving Tree Band, and what a recommendation. This Illinois band is talented - check out their gospel finale. We saw two of their sets - great compositions and musicianship. Eventually it was time again for another set by Sturgill Simpson followed by another new treat, St. Paul and The Broken Bones. Motown soul meets Muscle Shoals; this is one entertaining bunch. Saturday's finale was the legendary Ray Wylie Hubbard and he played his top arsenal Snake Farm, Mother's Blues, Redneck Mothers, Choctaw Bingo - among others. What a night. 
Holy Ghost Tent Revival had recommended Oregon's The Quiet Life, so Sunday started off again at the Piedmont stage with another Grateful Pale Ale and more good music. This is a band to put on your radar. With football Sunday we staked out barstools at the State Line Bar & Grille and listened to Todd Day Wait's Pigpen a three piece folk band from New Orleans. Good enough to purchase their CD. Next up was Arkansas native Adam Faucett who has it all, a mesmerizing voice, plays a good guitar, and nice songwriting. Look at Gypsy Sally's in November. We had to depart his set early for Shaver, Sunday's headliner and my favorite Texas outlaw artist. He's up there, only sings, but his voice remains true. I Want to Live Forever. After autographs, we were able to hit the tail end of Dale Watson and his Lone Star show. A classic. The festival finished where it all started, O' Mainnin's,with King Super and the Excellents singing Del Shannon. Pretty cool. Another great festival. 
Well, I've been searching for a replacement for The Belleville Outfit once they disbanded a couple years back and think I have found it in Venice California based The Dustbowl Revival. In fact, its a bit like Belleville Outfit joining the Holy Ghost Tent Revival.There's jazz, gospel, blues, bluegrass, and even some jig band character to the outfit - once again, what's not to like. I was recently sent their latest CD Carry Me Home, and it feels right at home immediately - starting off with the gospel traditional Swing Low. They continue the gospel sound in John the Revelator and continue the traditional trend with a jamming version of New River Train. Riverboat Queen may be my favorite primary due to the sexy vocals of Caitlyn Doyle - just in time for The Great Gatsby. But it could also be the instrumental solos - pretty cool song. And there's plenty more. Looking forward to the band playing this summer at the Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville, Virginia. Cheers.
| Bernie Petteway Trio 9:30 AM | Lizzy Ross Band 11:00 AM |
| Jacob Johnson 11:30 AM | Beleza Brasil 1:00 PM |
| Shana Tucker 1:30 PM | Holy Ghost Tent Revival 2:00 PM |
| Carolina Lightnin' 2:30 PM | The Steel Wheels 3:00 PM |
| Molasses Creek 5:00 PM | Aaron Caswell Band 9:00 PM |
| Martin Garrish 10:00 PM |
Scotty Melton, Annie Robinette, The Drunk Uncles, Carson Peters & the Rockhouse Stringband, Kelley & the Cowboys - these may not be household names yet; but they are truly what makes the 2010 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion special. See, these artists played some of our favorite sets over the weekend and which made it even more worthwhile - they were totally unexpected. These were the first time we heard of - let alone seen these artists. 
The Drunk Uncles got us grooving with some nice Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout and singable country tunes - particularly those from Bob Marley.Carson Peters made me a bit home sick, but this 5-year old is amazing on the fiddle. And Scotty Melton - what a songwriter - have to find a way to get his material - and not just those covered by Justin Townes Earle.
Over the weekend we were also able to catch up with two acts that we met at Floydfest and two acts who participated in MyJoogTV. While driving down, we listened to an EP from Big Daddy Love and they are close to becoming our new favorite act. Interesting songwriting, smooth vocals, and jammin' musicians - what more do you need. And their friends at Possum Jenkins can also put on a great show - more Americana in style - but equally as entertaining. Then there's Cadillac Sky and Holy Ghost Tent Revival. What more can we say about them, particularly since they stepped up for Episode 1 and Episode 2 of MyJoogTV. Cadillac Sky's performance at the Piedmont stage was the best set I've ever seen them and for HGTR - if you missed the Dance Tent - you missed a raucous crowd, a proposal, and a typical HGTR show: high energy, great music, and loads of entertainment. 
Saturday night was a real treat with The Gibson Brothers, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Cadillac Sky, The Felice Brothers, Drive-By Truckers, and Unknown Hinson. What a lineup. The Gibson Brothers are true professional - I could listen to them all night long. The Felice Brothers were energetic despite returning from Europe in the previous 24 hours prior to their set. The DbT proved that they are a real rock-n-roll band - they have that aura that says - we are the real deal. And Unknown Hinson - enough said - we appreciate the promoters for getting him on board. 
There were also other excellent acts we witnessed over the weekend. Blues were well represented with 
Tonight we film our second episode of MyJoogTV, where we pair musicians with makers of wine, beer, and spirits. This show will feature Holy Ghost Tent Revival in a discussion of beer and music with Abby Casarella, from Flying Dog Brewery. We plan on discussing touring, beer labels, Frederick, and anything else that comes to mind. We will then follow HGTR to Cafe Nola where they will be performing this evening. The show starts at 9:00 and best of all, it's FREE; come on out to see a great show. Plus Flying Dog beer is served at the cafe. And the video podcast should be available at the end of the month.
We woke early Saturday to the sound of portables being cleaned and shook off the drowsiness to examine the day's schedule. Like all festivals, there were many difficult choices to make on who to see. Like most Floydfest mornings, the day started with Kat Mills in the Beer Garden. No beers served yet, just nice acoustic music to allow us to collect our thoughts and literally charge our batteries. We decided to plan our afternoon around seeing Hackensaw Boys again and Joe Pug with our evenings revolving around the Main Stage: JJ Grey & Mofro, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Levon Helm Band. What a core lineup, right?
From 10:00 am until 2:00 pm, we basically criss-crossed back and forth across the festival grounds listening to parts of many artist's sets: Mitch Barrett, William Walter & Co., Rocknoceros, Blue Mule, Rising 
Appalachia, Hackensaw Boys, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and the Ralph Roddenberry Band. Except for the first and last, we had seen these acts before, all incredibly entertaining. Yes, we could have slowed down and stayed at the same stage - but then you end up missing so much good music. The biggest surprise among these was the Ralph Roddenberry Band - this year's festival theme appeared to be more roots rock and less bluegrass.
The afternoon ended with the main event - finally being able to see a live performance from Joe Pug. We've followed this artists since receiving a two song demo containing Nation of Heat and Hymn #101. We worked instantly hooked; the songs are full of powerful vocals and lyrics. Pug continued this craft with Messenger - just an awesome CD. And today we finally heard live sets to these songs. I don't want to come over as too dramatic, but his performance was chilling - spectacular. We missed his Front Porch performance that day, but we heard Jon Lohman sing his praises for Hymn #101. Watch out for this guy - he is going places.
In order to catch our breath, we headed to the beer garden to hear Possum Jenkins before returning to the Hill Holler stage and Mountain Heart. Foothills Brewing had also recommended Possum Jenkins and since Big Daddy Love was a hit, we figured why not. Plus we were able to try the brewery's awesome Sexual Chocolate stout. We enjoyed that brief interlude - good music and good beer - but returned to meet Echo Propp from WAMU Bluegrass Country. Echo has posted her travelogue of the festival that we recommend reading. Plus she had highly recommended that we see Mountain Heart - a very good "choose". The band is basically a bluegrass band that "crosses over" to other styles. How else to explain their rendition of Whipping Post. This band has the entire package - instrumentals, harmonies, Jake Stargel, humor; you name it. Definitely planning to see them Sunday at the Front Porch.
Besides Joe Pug, the other artist that was a must see was JJ Grey & Mofro. Since our first exposure at ACL in 1994, we watched and listened to Grey mature from a raw blackwater blues artist to a funky, soul, R&B, blues sensation. And now he's touring with a full band - not just Grey and Daryl Hance - but a full band: horns, keyboards, a third guitar. And he did not disappoint - from playing Lochloosa to Everything Good Is Bad to The Sun Is Shining Down to Orange Blossoms. Not convinced that Grey compares to the greatest soul singers of our generation - listen to A Woman. Hats off to the promoters for scheduling JJ Grey - that was the highlight of the day.
While the main stage was being cleared we decided to get a beverage from Starr Hill Brewing, The River Company Restaurant and Brewery, or Foothills Brewing, and see who was playing. The first band turned out to be Tennessee Boltsmokers, a bluegrass band out of Memphis. They had a nice Americana vibe to them as did the next act - Dangermuffin. Our friends, Steve and Jo from Blacksnake Meadery, had recommended this band so we pushed back our return to OCMS to see about the fuss, which is, the trio gets more sound out of an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and a drum kt than most five or six piece bands. Let's head to the beach.
Instead we headed to the main stage and the rest of the Old Crow Medicine Show. This band has been playing for a decade now, hard to believe, since their breakout CD Old Crow Medicine Show. They are worthy of all accolades, but sometimes I wonder why the Hackensaw Boys haven't reached the same level. Maybe the absence of a hit song? And whereas the crowd exploded when Wagon Wheel started, I prefer their more bluesy roots tunes: Tell It To Me or James River Blues. In any case OCMS puts on a good show and they definitely set the stage for the Levon Helm Band.
This was the second time in four nights that we got to see the old master perform - following their Wolf Trap performance. Even though the set list was practically identical it was still a thrill watching Helm interact with the crowd and the band. And what a band: his daughter Amy Helm, bassist Byron Isaacs, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, keyboardist Brian Mitchell, Jim Weider, and the entire rhythm section. I could listen to Amy Helm sing all night and Williams vocals on Long Black Veil were still chilling. Then there's Campbell, Williams, and Weider; who all masters of their craft. But the crowd was ready to hear Levon and he mustered all the energy that his frail body can exert and electrified the audience. And the photographers; the paparazzi was out in full force. But the crowd loved him - and we could barely hear the stage when they played The Weight. Another great performance.
After a quick refresher at the VIP Tent it was back to the beer garden and the second set from
We were fortunate enough once again to attend one of the premier music festivals in the country: FloydFest 8. The event is held right off the Blue Ridge Parkway a little southwest of the Town of Floyd and the Crooked Road. Its quite a sight driving along the parkway and seeing the top of the main stage surrounded by trees with the festival's parameter snaking towards the road. FloydFest runs over four days; however this year we were only able to participate during the two weekend days. To make matters more interesting I was accompanied by our 4 year old - time to see how other families cope - enjoy the festival with children. Needless to say I did not get a chance to see a fraction of the artists as last year; but from the dozen we watched a few observations. Donna the Buffalo is the bomb; they played throughout a nasty thunderstorm without a break and even played longer than scheduled as attendees emerged from hiding after the storm. The Belleville Outfit continues to impress and we were able to watch three of their multiple sets. And finally, why haven't I been listening to Yarn - these guys are good - Cross Canadian Ragweed, Reckless Kelly, and Randy Rogers rolled into one package with a little bluegrass sprinkled in.
We arrived Saturday with hundreds of other attendees in a mad rush to see the afternoon artists. Despite a brief backup at the off site parking - the buses couldn't get through the line of cars - we were able to grab a Starr Hill hefeweizen and watch Yarn in the Beer Garden. FloydFest does a nice job providing beer and wine to their patrons at the Beer Garden with its own stage and the new tent next to the main stage. The two neighboring wineries, Chateau Morrisette and Villa Appalaccia, provide the wines with Starr Hill, Magic Hat Brewing Company, The River Company Restaurant and Brewery, and Foothills Brewing providing beer. Getting back to Yarn, these guys are good. A week before I listened to their latest CD at the Purple Fiddle where they were scheduled to play before Floydfest. How does a band from New York City get such an authentic alt-country sound?
Afterward we ventured to the Dance Tent which always provides a more intimate and fun show and people were dancing away with R.I.S.E.. This is another act we will put on our radar and we followed sisters over to the Children's Village as they were scheduled to perform in front of the youngsters. The Children's Village is located adjacent to the quite camping area so that families have easy access from their temporary living quarters. The main attraction seemed to be Noah's Ark, but the village also contained a performing tent, covered sand box, and activity tents. Plus childcare services - at $7/hour - not a bad deal; this came in handy Sunday. Before we became to comfortable in the village I forced our way back to the Dance tent to hear Forro in the Dark, a group of Brazilian New Yorkers, play their style of "party" music - as in forró. The tent was shaking as the band used a pifano, timbau drum, zabumba drum, and a couple guitars to create a hypnotic sound. Who knows what they were singing - and who cares - it's more exotic to hear Portuguese singing. Another plus for FloydFest - more diverse styles of music. After catching our breathe, it was time for The Belleville Outfit. The Dance Tent continues to be the place to be. We first witnessed this Austin and South Carolina based group at Merlefest and love their fusion of swing, blues, jazz, and plain old Americana. With clouds threatening, and a child sleeping, we moved towards the main stage anticipating Donna the Buffalo and found a clearing next to a nice couple's tent. As soon as the rain started we were invited inside and stayed relatively dry while holding down the tent's support. Others were not as fortunate as they raced to the beer or vendor tents. Through it all, Donna the Buffalo kept playing - blowing amps - and even ruining a scrub board. How is that possible? They are easily my favorite band - welcome to The Herd. Their music is slightly cajun, slightly jam band - and worth the 5 hour drive itself. After about a half hour the storm blew over and a rainbow appeared right behind the stage - a new beginning to the day. Soon they started in with the very appropriate "Blue Sky" and our favorite "It's Love Time". The encore of "New Tara Zydeco" and "Hot Tamale Baby" was awesome, with Christian Dugas of The Duhks jumping in on the scrub board. As soon as the set ended we hurried to join Sol Driven Train in the children's parade through the festival grounds. This band had performed a few times in the Children's Village and New Orleans styled dancing music as we tramped across the field. After another trip to the Beer garden and a The River Company hefeweizen we finished the day at the rock climbing wall and then to The Duhks on the Holler stage. This Canadian band also rocks - incorporating Arcadian French cajun and zydeco into their repertoire. Being bilingual has its benefits. And it was the first time I heard "I like this band" from the little boy.
The one benefit of traveling with a child is you get to bed early - there was no staying up for the Blues Traveler or even The Lee Boys late night jam. We started Sunday, little guitar in hand, anticipating our friends, Oneside, but recurring van troubles forced them to cancel. "Why don't they just buy a new car like we had to when ours broke" was the response that I had to listen to all day. A side affect of this scheduling change was a chance to watch Yarn again, this time on the main stage, in addition to Adrienne Young. Back at the Children's Village, we watched a theater performance of Dragon Scales & Faerie Tales; I was fearing a dull and pandering performance, but it was actually funny and clever. The children and adults were laughing out loud and the laughter continued on the ride home. Nice. It was now time to utilize the child care services so that I was free to watch The Belleville Outfit again on the Holler stage. On the way, I noticed a jam session in the Dance Tent and found Holy Ghost Tent Revival just starting a short set. What a sound; a combination of old time classical music then jolted by hard rock jams. But its not just noise that you get from some jam bands - this is music with a purpose that oscillates between a classic 40's-50's sound into rock and roll. These guys from Greenville got it. We look forward to hearing more from them at the Sunflower festival in October. Moving to our intended target, The Belleville Outfit provided another set of great music - this time to a larger audience. I just love their sound and possibly a crush on Phoebe Hunt. Another storm was a brewing so I returned to the Children's Village and spent the next 20 minutes playing in the covered sand box as families scurried about. Once the rain subsided to a drizzle I returned to the dance tent to hear David Schultz who benefited from the weather and played before a full tent of attendees seeking a dry spot. It was a solid set and I'll keep these guys on our horizon if they travel up Interstate 95 from Richmond to play in our area. After a Foothills Brewing IPA I spent the reminder of my child free time listening to the great Peter Rowan performing traditional bluegrass music. This is another great aspect of Floydfest - they combine the new and established artists - and Rowan played his classics as well as those from Clarence Stanley and some of the other fathers of bluegrass. With the day winding down, we headed to the main stage to finally hear The Lee Boys and their peddle steel sound in the tradition of Florida gospel music. Shades of Robert Randolph, this is dance music with a gospel spin, although there was no dancing among us. Despite the loud music, it was nap time so I watched from the ground. The final act of the day was to see a couple of acoustic songs from The Belleville Outfit at the Front Porch stage. I can't wait until they tour the east coast. By now FloydFest was done and time to carry the still sleeping boy to the car and the ride home. No Railroad Earth for us.
