Resonate Suwannee April 4th to 6th Preview
Resonate Suwannee is back for its second year in this format in just three short weeks and I’ll be back in Live Oak to celebrate with the crew. The festival came together under this name last year when Resonance and Resonate joined with the headlining band STS9 to put together a smashing jamtronica, EDM, funk, prog lineup. It’s such a great vibe with minimal, if any, music overlap on the stages so you get to see as much music as you want in what is for me, the best music festival venue in the country, Spirit of Suwannee Music Park.Continue Reading
A Love Letter to Squeaky Feet From a Jam Fan
Dear Squeaky Feet, My name is Phillip Watson, I’m 33, 3 Kids, and I’ve been in love with jam band/improvisational music since I was 13. I’ve seen thousands of shows in the scene and I have probably listened to upward of 10s of thousands of recordings of everything from The OGs like The Dead and Phish, to the newbies and younger bands of today like yourselves. I consider Lotus, The Disco Biscuits, Papadosio, Spafford, and Phish as my favorite bands in the scene. Before I get into gushing over you, I just want to preface this with I have yetContinue Reading
Jam Cruise Day 5 Recap and Jam Cruise Awards
Our Final Day of Jam Cruise was a full day at sea with music all day. We got our 6ish hours of sleep, hit the buffet for breakfast, and got on our way. The day musically started at Lebo’s Yacht Rock on the pool deck. A Jam Cruise staple, and always a favorite, Lebo and his crew took us through Yacht Rock covers that had us all feeling like a Yacht Ship Captain. We felt especially boaty as we watched the entire part of the set we saw from the pool deck hot tub! We dried ourselves off, got ourContinue Reading
Jam Cruise 20: Day 4 Recap
We started day 4 getting off the boat and heading to 7 mile beach in Grand Cayman. We relaxed on the beach eating fried fish and jerk chicken, jumping in the ocean, and let the sun energize us before we headed back to the boat. Our Music journey started with The New Mastersounds 2nd set, this time on the pool deck! A standout moment for me was Lamar Williams Jr. Coming out for the Allman Brothers Aint Wasting No More! The Allman Brothers were my first live jam band I saw and I never would have expected NMS to coverContinue Reading
Jam Cruise 20: Day 3 Recap
We got off the boat and explored Jamaica, got some jerk chicken, and hit the beach before heading back to the boat to get Day 3 of music under way. Our night started with Cory Wong! Cory gave us his patented speed funk with everyone in matching track suits. Thick, heavy, and groovy lines from everyone in the band had the boat dancing and throwing their hands up in the air. From there we moved to TAUK. This set billed as just TAUK instead of their previous set of TAUK Moore. We spent close to an hour watching the progContinue Reading
Jam Cruise 20: Day 2 Recap
We got a healthy 6 hours of sleep, hit the buffet, changed into our Garden Party attire, and off we went into day 2! Our musical journey started with J & The Causeways singing their soul infused funk to us. A rocking first set of the day that also featured a sit in from Galactic’s Angelica “Jelly” Houston. From there we relaxed and grabbed ourselves a good spot for Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country. This was my first chance at seeing them live after they added hometown hero Will Clark, notably of Funk You, to the mix. The jam world’s countryContinue Reading
Jam Cruise 20: Day 1 Recap
Jam Cruise 20 is upon us and Day 1 delivered in an epic way — anchored deep in the funk roots Day 1 featured heavy funk hitters like Lettuce, Karl Denson, and the long awaited return of The New Mastersounds. Check in this year was a breeze after the disaster of waiting in line for 2 hours plus last year and it set the tone for pure unadulterated fun for next 5 days. The MSC Davina sailed away as we were blessed to have the funk masters Lettuce get the opening set for Jam Cruise. Lettuce opened up with oneContinue Reading
My Secret Valentine 4 w/ Detox Unit Preview
Reflective Events’ My Secret Valentine returns for its fourth edition this Saturday February 10th. The Event will be headlined by the Denver Bass Music Heavy Hitter Detox Unit. This will mark the DJ’s first show of 2024, his first show since dropping his very different sounding mix from new years at Sermon + Rust, and his return to Atlanta after his triumphant set from Imagine Music Festival. Up until a few days ago the location was kept secret. Reflective Events released a video with a QR code revealing the location as Bonfire ATL. I personally have never been there, butContinue Reading
Wednesday Abstract: Why Do Jazz and Jam Not Mix More?
A couple of months ago, Yussef Dayes had a show at Variety Playhouse here in Atlanta. In preparation for the show, I took a super deep dive into his music, which then led me down a rabbit hole of listening to jazz. Whenever I listen to jazz at a high frequency, a question always pops into mind: Why do the worlds of jazz and jam artists rarely combine? These two worlds of music that focus so hard on improvisation, musical talent, and a fanbase rabid to see how far these bands can push the sound, why is it so rareContinue Reading
Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival Preview
Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival is shaping up to be a fabulous respite from winter — perfect setting with a superb lineup of funk, jam and soul. This fest is very personal for me as I’m a huge fan and friend of several of the bands. Right from the top, The New Mastersounds haven’t played in the U.S. since the pre-pandemic tour in 2019 so it’s gonna quench that thirst that I’ve had for a looong time. It’s worth noting that this fest should feature a lot of great jams that you won’t see elsewhere based on a terrific trioContinue Reading