Prepare Yourself for an Awesome Time Warp at Hometeam New Year’s Rally
We are a week out from Hometeam New Year’s Rally at Maddox Ranch in Lakeland, Florida. The Rally runs Friday, December 29th, through Sunday, New Year’s Eve. And the pre-party is Thursday, the 28th. This is an opportunity to park your car for a couple of days and avoid traffic during a very manic time of year. And you don’t have to go home until next year!
See if you can find another New Year’s music festival. Anywhere. See? This is the only New Year’s festival you’ll find… and the only one you’ll ever need.
Once again, there will be three stages at Maddox Ranch. Performances will rotate between the Main Stage and the Zonk Family Stage each day, and the late-night shows will be held on the de Bine Stage. Each of the seven headlining sets will be two hours, and almost all of the other sets are 90 minutes long, because sometimes 60 minutes just isn’t enough!
THURSDAY PRE-PARTY
The pre-party kicks off at 5 PM with a very special performance — Stereo Maven. Perhaps that doesn’t sound familiar. Suppose you knew that Stereo Maven are Dani Jaye, Heather Gillis, and Ari McManus, with Dallas Dawson on drums and Evan Sarver on bass from the Heather Gillis Band. That ups the ante a bit, don’t you think?
The Reality and Between Bluffs, two of the bands who killed at the pre-pre-party December 9th, are next up. The Reality’s manic funksmanship will really get the dance party going, and you should anticipate another knock-out performance from Between Bluffs.
JOOSE is back with more of their magnum opus about life, followed by the headlining set from funk monsters Holey Miss Holey, who have another amazing set cooked up. And the late-night set on the de Bine stage, led by Harmonica Man & the Sawgrass Band, is themed “Pickin’ On Hometeam.”
However…
Before the late-night set, there is a very special surprise set awaiting all of you who are able to attend Thursday. No hints, but let’s just say this will be very, very special!
FRIDAY
And now the music gets so deep, you can’t get under it, so wide, you… well, you get the idea. shoeless soul opens the day, followed by blues slinger Damon Fowler and his band. You may not have seen Hail Cassius Neptune yet, but we guarantee you’ll remember them when they finish! And no Hometeam would ever be complete without a set of good old Grateful Dead from Uncle John’s Band.
Augusta’s Funk You have visited us before, and we’re fortunate to have them back. Come Back Alice is up next with a real powerhouse of a set. Ajeva, who also killed at the pre-pre-party, are up to their usual tricks, and for that we are thankful.
The Heavy Pets blew out an incredible set last week at the Dunedin Brewery Toy Drive, so you know they are set to explode at Maddox. Late-night shenanigans will come courtesy of Genetically Modified Orchestra, with special guests, of course!
SATURDAY
Perhaps you were lucky enough to wonder around early at last year’s event on Saturday and/or Sunday and caught JOOSE and their Coffee Shop Sessions. They’ll reprise that early — like 10 AM early — under that wonderful parachute again. Not to be missed for jazz and fusion fans especially.
Saturday promises to be a day of discovery, with six bands that have not played at Hometeam before. Ink & Ash, a great duo from Atlanta, open the side stage, with the Cat McWilliams Band first on the main stage. Row Jomah, who masterminded the aforementioned Toy Drive, also had a great set and will deliver once again. Warning: more CATS!
We’ll squeeze in the Hometeam Family Photo before singer/songwriter Ralph Roddenbery brings along his Atlanta vibe. More funk? Sure, Toronto-style, with After Funk, who were dynamite last year. Even more funk? Ask, and ye shall receive! Another tentet of massive funk from Nashville: Dynamo.
The Juanjamon Band will postpone “knockin’ boots” long enough to deliver another killer set, and then it’s Crescent City time, time to put it in the Dumpsta! Dumpstaphunk headlines, and the late, late show highlights the Dot Line Projekt, again loaded with special guests.
SUNDAY New Year’s Eve
We have arrived! Time to kick out the jams and kick 2017 into last year. Valdosta’s Custard Pie played an awesome set at Great Outdoors Jam and return for more. We finally get Bonnie Blue, the excellent Jacksonville rockers, at Maddox. And they’d all better watch out, because Este Loves & the Hometeam Choir are back. OBJ. Summer show with Hometeam All-Stars. Great Outdoors. She rules!
If you’re unfamiliar with Boxcar Hollow, don’t bother looking at any self-descriptions. These boys color WAY outside the lines. And Hometeam is blessed to have the Melody Trucks Band in the house (OK, no house, but…). Those fortunate enough to have witnessed their Great Outdoors set know just how wonderful it was, not to mention that it was their debut performance!
Isaac Corbitt in any form is a blessing, but he and brother Newsome “got the band back together.” Hell, yeah! Also, good luck keeping Ike off stage at other times. Much-loved Applebutter Express is back for more of their “did they just play that song in bluegrass-y style?” and amazing musicianship to back up the fun. The Groove Orient also killed at the pre-pre-party and are ready to rock.
We don’t know if there’s a title for Mr. Florida, but, if there is, then it darn well should be Roosevelt Collier, leading his trio and a superjam. For starts, he has a mind-blowing band with Matt Lapham and Anthony AC Cole, and after that the stage might not be big enough to hold all of those about to jam with them. Break out the champagne during this one, kids. Finally, no better way to shut it down than with funktronic jamsters Future Vintage. No telling whom you’ll see during that set!
Hold on! We nearly forgot about the cavalcade of artists at large. We already called out Isaac Corbitt (he’d be one anyway!). We are fortunate to have a Georgia invasion with guitar badass Chris Critter Ricker (Copious Jones and Dot Line Projekt) and drummer Richie Jones (Donna Hopkins Band). Trombone, washboard and BBQ madman Clay Watson is on board, as is multi-faceted Chris Sgammato of Displace. And it will be a blast having Jon Ditty there for some thoughtful and entertaining rap (he has a great guest slot on the new Serotonic album; just sayin’). And Sgammato just had an amazing show at The Crowbar with many of his students performing!
And that’s just the music!
MORE STUFF!
Hal and Liza Balstein and their Rising Light compatriots, who have been involved with every one of the five (now six) Hometeam New Year’s events, once again have a full schedule of yoga, meditation, talks and discussions and much more. There is a great children’s program for this very family-friendly event. The Lost in Time crew will be on hand as well.
And we can thank in advance Receptor Sound and Lighting and Mobile Stage-It for enabling us to see and hear all of the music.
And — most importantly — you have the chance to slow down, chill out, dance your arse off, revel with old friends, make new friends, and enjoy, as Kenny Blair puts it, the great outdoors.
Or, as Jenelle Bean describes it:
“Releasing the stress of the year past, and embracing the opportunity to reignite passions that may have taken a back seat to your regular, everyday lives.”
A time warp into a dimension of sanity, brotherhood and sisterhood, love and understanding.
Cody and Jenelle Bean and their amazing staff cannot wait to see you in a week at Maddox Ranch!
Please be sure to read the Hometeam FAQ before you arrive!
