Time to GET DOWN at Sunshine Get Down

Sunshine Get Down makes its second appearance at Florida Sand Music Ranch in Brooksville May 16-18 with a great lineup of talent from across the Sunshine State and well beyond — 25 bands and performers, artists at large, MCs, Gulf Coast Harm Reduction, a tie-dye workshop, yoga flow, children’s activities, artists painting, craft and food vendors, and STILL more!

Two truly great MCs will be on hand to “man” the Sunshine Stage and the Blueberry Patch Stage. “Grateful” Ed Greene is the host of The Freak Show on WMNF 88.5 Tuesday nights. He has been a regular on concert and festival stages all over Florida. Tracy Hostetler is MC with the Sarasota Folk Club, Rock and Roll Revival, and the Will McLean Festival, and formerly she was a programmer on WSLR 96.5.

Dillon Reeder will host Yoga Flow Friday and Saturday mornings. On Saturday, Arnie Mazilah will host a tie-dye workshop. Also on Saturday, join the Name That Grateful Dead Tune Contest.

On to the music!

THURSDAY, MAY 16

The Tony Tyler Band will hit those first notes at 5 p.m. The evening’s headliners are Wall of Echoes: A Tribute To The Music Of Pink Floyd. This band blew the roof off several years ago at this venue, and we are excited to see our beloved Christian Ryan joining them on reeds.

Mushroom Soup is an Allman Brothers tribute group led by Ted Isch, former drummer with Butch Trucks in his Freight Train Band; the lead singer is Tim Chandler, the TC in several groups well known in Florida. Great funk and R&B on its way from Atlanta in the form of Adam & the Testifiers.

Three years ago, we were introduced to Hannah Harber & the Lionhearts, and they played an absolutely stunning set that perfectly walked the line between folk rock and country rock and, well, it was deluxe. Then we discovered that “her” guitar player was in fact her husband, Thomas Wynn, who for years fronted the great band Thomas Wynn & the Believers. This time we get Harber Wynn. PRO TIP: don’t miss ’em.

FRIDAY, MAY 17

Friday is a banger start to finish, even when in bluegrass mode. Don’t sleep in; they’ve rounded up twice the usual suspects for Foolish Sextet with Alan Gilman, Turner Moore, Rich Sheldon, Alex Shames, Michael Hoffman, and Tucker Waud. Arrests should be imminent.

How about some bayou funk, rock, and psychedelica with The Low Heavies? Or perhaps tangled-up Americana, bluegrass, country, folk, and wild covers with Free Range Strange?

Gypsy punk, jams, and newgrass come from the Rockies and Ponder the Albatross, and there will be reggae and ska, too, from The Strangeways: Still skankin’ after 30+ years! It’s going to be that kind of day!

South Florida’s killer rockers Tand have been pushing their boundaries all across the U.S., and we are looking forward to their visit!

Two of the Tampa area’s very best bands also play Friday. Honeywhat have truly honed their sound to a fine edge with great original rockers and excellent writing and playing. We’d say precisely the same thing for the outstanding Row Jomah from Clearwater.

That leaves those other two bands. The last ones of the evening, deservedly so. Antelope: A Tribute to the Group Phish, feature four brilliant musicians. HINT: NOT a phishing scam! And then you’ve got The Ain’t Sisters, although you could probably tell anyway. This magical Atlanta quartet continually knocks our socks off (especially mine).

SATURDAY, MAY 18

Day 3 begins with a very important message: our music is in MAGNIFICENT hands, thanks to The Sgammato School of Music and all of its wonderful teachers, students, and supportive parents. THIS IS THE WAY.

From there, you can ease into Saturday (for a while, at least). The eclectic and profoundly engaging shoeless soul are up, followed by more great Americana string band music from The Wandering Hours. And another very exciting new project is rapidly gaining new fans with their indie folk rock from the heart: Light the Wire.

Now fasten your seatbelts. Grindstone Sinners out of Jacksonville hit the road, well, stage, at 90 MPH, and they do NOT slow down! 22 years in the business, Earth Bombs Mars specialize in original songwriting, head-friendly covers, and primal improvisational exploration.

Tire Fire continue to be the best definition of the Florida-Georgia line with superb players from both states, offering their amazing bluegrass fusion. You’ve also got new darlings Minim, who have been killing on stages all over.

The night closes with two amazing sets. Rainbow Full of Sound hails from Asbury Park; they are a Grateful Dead tribute/jamband featuring keyboardist Waynard Scheller, who has performed with Bob Weir, Jorma Kaukonen, and more. They will be throwing down a DeadZep set!

The last set on the Blueberry Patch Stage features Melody Trucks & Friends. Melody is the vocalist and percussionist and daughter of the late Butch Trucks, one of the founders of The Allman Brothers Band. She will be bringing along the fabulous Fitzkee Brothers (drummer Alex is now 17, bassist Drew is 19) and two great Maryland boys, Nick French on keyboards and Otto Grundman on guitar. But wait! There is a LOT more, namely Vaylor Trucks, brilliant guitarist and Melody’s brother. Both Melody and Vaylor are all in on Roots, Rock, Revival, the educational summer camp for musicians created by Butch Trucks. They were both also integral components of the Jam Cruise Masters at Sea education program in February.

Melody Trucks Band – Skipper’s – 02.01.24. 📸: Joel Shover Photography

With educators such as Sgammato, Trucks, Trucks, and many others, you KNOW our scene is in GREAT hands!

Speaking of Chris Sgammato, he is an artist at large for the festival. Alto sax, guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals? You just never know. The other ridiculously talents AAL is Arrie Bozeman, who sings and plays guitar and mandolin. She will also be performing with her bands The Ain’t Sisters and Tire Fire.