Check Out the Glorious Second Wave of Suwannee Rising Artists!
To say that there was great rejoicing when the initial announcement was made about the new Suwannee Rising Music Festival would be a gross understatement. We whooped, we hollered, we jumped up and down — and that’s no exaggeration.
That initial lineup — Lettuce, moe., Oteil & Friends, Dumpstaphunk, The New Mastersounds, Ghost-Note, and the Melody Trucks Band — brought literal tears to our eyes, helping to assuage the hurt and disappointment we felt when we heard that the beloved Wanee Music Festival would not return after 14 magical years. It further helped to erase the sting of the loss of the Bear Creek Music & Arts Festival, which many still regard as their most favorite music fest.
If those had been the only seven bands playing April 4-5-6 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, we would gladly have said dayenu: it would be enough. The Sisters and Brothers of the Suwannee would gladly have come back.
But now we have 16 more bands and performers to add to the list for this much-need three-day gathering in the pines, and we are, quite frankly, ecstatic. At least 11 of these have played SoSMP before, several of them multiple times.
The New Orleans Suspects are welcome guests at the park. The quintet boasts former members of The Neville Brothers, The Radiators, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and James Brown’s band. They always lit up the Mushroom Stage (the amphitheater) at Wanee.
In the “as good as it gets” category, you won’t find deeper funk anywhere than on stage with The Fritz, Asheville ambassadors, currently touring on their outstanding EP Echo. They really funked it up at Suwannee Hulaween in October.
From Atlanta come Voodoo Visionary, another monster funk band. They too have several appearances at the park and just knocked out their third year at Funk Fest Punta Gorda with two killer sets before a solid Colorado run.
Florida represents, first with Come Back Alice from St. Petersburg. These outstanding rockers, led by husband-and-wife duo Dani Jaye and Tony Tyler, also rocked Suwannee Hulaween. Their searing rock mixed with funk, jazz, and blues always knocks us out.
More funk from St. Petersburg — and all over — arrives by way of Holey Miss Moley, a true juggernaut with ten to twelve people on stage (well, it just depends). In the opinion of many, they threw down their best-ever set to celebrate the January wedding earlier in the day of vocalist Miss Robyn Alleman-Pack. They too rocked Hulaween.
Electric Kif are also park regulars. This South Florida quartet play superb funky fusion and rock. There will be more great jam fusion from Ben Strok & Full Electric out of Jacksonville. And we’ll pile on the fusion with more from the experimental collective The Difference (more St. Petersburg).
Ben Sparaco & the New Effect started in Parkland but now work out of Nashville, where they continue to refine their craft. They play tremendous blues, rock, jam, and Americana. And Ben Fagan & the Holy City Hooligans bring their vibes variously from Charleston, from California, and from Costa Rica.
Riveting blues belter Kaleigh Baker’s Someday Honey will make their SoSMP debut. They too call St. Petersburg home and cover the waterfront, genre-wise. Silky-smooth singer Ella Jet & Future Soul, also St. Petersburg, will be there as well, as will dynamic Tampa singer-songwriter Shevonne Philidor.
Good Talk, a bouncy duo with hip hop sensibilities, make their first appearance at the park. And last, but absolutely NOT least, will be the hardest-working band on the scene, and by that we mean Valdosta’s Custard Pie, who are ready to rock any time, any place, under any circumstances. And they’ve gotten really good at it. They’ve earned this.
Early-bird tickets sold out immediately. Three-day passes and VIP passes are on sale. Sisters and Brothers of the Suwannee: we know you’re already telling your friends. Don’t miss out on this. It will be the first of what we hope is a historic festival series at SoSMP.
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