Santa Cruz American Music Festival 2017 Program Guide

SATURDAY, MAY 27

SUNDAY, MAY 28

11:00-12:00

Baskery

11:00-12:00

Barns Courtney

12:25-1:40

The Record Company

12:30-1:40

Brothers Comatose

2:10-3:25

JJ Grey & Mofro

2:10-3:25

The Wood Brothers

3:55-5:10

The Rides

3:55-5:10

Mavis Staples

5:45-7:15

Melissa Etheridge 5:45-7:15

Devil Makes Three

• Gates open by 10am on Saturday and Sunday. There are no ins and outs after 3pm. We recommend arriving early as both the Gold Circle and General Admission sections are on a first come, first served basis.

• Aptos Village Park is located at 100 Aptos Creek Road in Aptos, California.

Please note there is no parking at the event site. Free parking and a free luxury shuttle service, to and from the festival site, is located at Cabrillo College.

Signs will be posted directing cars to the parking site.

• The Cabrillo College parking lot opens at 8am and shuttle buses begin transporting ticket holders at 9am. No parking at Aptos Village Park. Specified areas for Disabilities Accessible parking and DA shuttles available at Cabrillo.

• What to bring: one sealed personal bottle of water, money or credit card to purchase Festival Bucks, sunscreen, hat, and a small personal-use camera (no video).

• What not to bring: dogs, food, alcohol, cans, bottles, containers, coolers, umbrellas, cameras with removable lens, recording devices, video cameras.

• All seating is on a first come first served basis. Seats are provided for each person in the Gold Circle section. Ticket holders in the General Admission section may bring chairs that are a maximum of 30 inches in height, with a maximum seat height of 10 inches.

• Park Rules: Smoking is not allowed anywhere inside Santa Cruz County Parks.

The Santa Cruz County Parks and Sheriff’s Department do not allow colors of any organization to be worn at any public event.

• Santa Cruz American Music Festival is a scrip-based event. Cash is not accepted at any booths except the Merchandise booths (Festival, Vintage & Artists only). Ticket holders can visit the Festival Bucks booth to purchase scrip tickets for $1 each, either with cash or credit card (Visa or Mastercard only). Use Festival Bucks like cash for all food and beverage purchases.

An ATM is located beside the Pavilion at the back of the park.

• The 2017 Santa Cruz American Music Festival is produced by Judy Appleby, Michael, Nick & Steve Blas, Connie Burroughs, Bruce Howard, Phil Lewis, Mike Spano, Jim Tracey & Margie Way.

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SANTACRUZ.COM | GOODTIMES.SC | MAY 17-23, 2017

• The food court offers a wide variety of choices, including BBQ, Asian, Mexican, Gyros, New Orleans cuisine, Gourmet Hot Dogs, Kettle Korn, Frozen Fruit Bars, Smoothies and other tasty delights. Water, other nonalcoholic beverages, beer, wine, and hot and cold coffee drinks are available at selected booths.

MUSIC FESTIVAL

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11:00 - 12:00

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n the tradition of bringing opening act unknowns who strike it big— think Trombone Shorty and Carolyn Wonderland—the three sisters who make up the Swedish band Baskery have been receiving raves from other musicians and critics who see them in small gigs and opening slots.

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Some of the greatest purveyors of Americana music are from elsewhere (think Australia’s Kasey Chambers) and sisters Greta (banjo, drums), Stella (double bass), and Sunniva (guitar) Bondesson so loved U.S. culture, they moved from Stockholm to Nashville in 2014 and then to Los Angeles, where they recorded a new disc with Grammy-winning producer Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Beyoncé, the Rolling Stones—talk about eclectic!).

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All three sing in perfect harmonies—like they were born to sing together. They were! Heavy on drums and bass and rock, they opened for the Brian Setzer Orchestra when they were known as the Slaptones and had their father, Janåke, on drums. In 2007 they changed their name and toured as a trio, opening for Gary Clark, Jr., Brandi Carlile and Robbie Williams.

They have been compared to the Dixie Chicks, the Roches and—yowza—Led Zeppelin. The trio has recorded four albums, including One Horse Down (2007); Fall Among Thieves (2009); New Friends (2011) and Little Wild Life (2013). You can expect to hear the latest songs from their upcoming record in this opening slot.

The great music magazine Mojo summed them up this way: “This is absurdly wonderful… Stockholm sisters turn Americana on its head.”

12:25 - 1:40

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ast year, two months after the release of The Record Company's debut album, Rolling Stone magazine called this power trio “one of the 10 new artists you need to know.”

If you watch TV you’ve already heard them as background music for 30 shows and commercials, including Coors Light and Miller Lite, and TV shows, CSI and Shameless.

But where this band really shines is in live performances and on its debut album, Give it Back to You, which was nominated for a 2017 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

The album’s first single, “Off the Ground,” was No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative chart.

2:10 - 3:25

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ike the Grateful Dead, JJ Grey says his band is better live than on records, although his albums have gotten rave reviews since 2001. The demand for him is so great that this is the fourth time he’s appeared at the festival.

Grey got his jam band credentials on the festival circuit with Widespread Panic, Galactic and Ben Harper. Anyone can play a song, but to stretch it out to a swampy drawl, like a jazz musician, and keep it fascinating for more than just three minutes, is the mark of a master musician and band. That’s Mofro’s mojo.

This Los Angeles trio’s name sounds too commercial for the authenticity they deliver.

But if you don’t think about corporate record companies, but rather, the glorious days of rough and ready vinyl recording, you get the idea.

Grey is from Jacksonville, FL, home of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jerry Reed, both big influences.

A coworker at an air conditioning company nicknamed him Mofro and it stuck. He recorded first under the name Mofro, but added his own name after his grandmother asked him if he was ashamed to use his own name.

The Record Company started when guitarist Chris Vos moved to L.A. from Wisconsin and met bassist Alex Stiff. The two shared their passion for vinyl records and old-time, drum-and-bass heavy rock ‘n’ roll, especially the John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat disc, Hooker 'n Heat.

His latest album, from 2015, Ol’ Glory, was called a “new gem,” by the Americana music magazine No Depression. The album was hailed as one of the best of the year, and Grey was said to perform with an “evangelical and fearless manner and a boundless compassion and honesty."

They started jamming with drummer Marc Cazoria in a Los Feliz neighborhood, where they recorded a demo—and where they still record.

Grey said it best to Santa Cruz’s Good Times: “I don’t want to think and add something to make an album more bluesy or have more soul or funk. I want it all to be there, but I want to stay out of the way of that happening.”

Aspiring artists can take inspiration from their origin story. They sent out a preview of their recording to hundreds of websites, asking listeners to give it 15 seconds. It got them a booking at the Montreal Jazz Festival and a tour.

We predict you’ll love them the first 15 seconds you hear.

The Santa Cruz American Music Festival would like to thank all of our valued sponsors, particularly Kendall Larsen at VirnetX; Louie Pieracci & Matt Kannely at Couch Distributing; & Andrew Weiss at Youngʼs Market.

We would also like to recognize the extraordinary efforts of the Rotary Club of Capitola/Aptos & all of our elite group of volunteers. This event could not possibly take place without all of their heartfelt, sincere participation.

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ICE MACHINES

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9 10 11 12

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KIDS AREA

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ATM Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise American Hat Makers McCollum Family Chiropractic SCAMF Merchandise Grandpa's Kettle Korn

Face Painting

7 8 9 10 11 12

Oriental Express Gourmet Faire Albor's Mexican Cuisine JB's Power Station

Poor House Bistro Gyro Boys

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Holy Smokes BBQ Michaelʼs on Main Norma Jean's Coffee Soda & Water Cold Beer & Wine

3:55 - 5:10

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tephen Stills could be touring the country, making a fortune playing the greatest hits that have him inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

But he’s an artist, like former partner Neil Young, always pushing the envelope, and this time you can expect fireworks.

Since 2013 Stills has joined blues veteran Kenny Wayne Shepherd and early rock and bluesman Barry Goldberg in what Stills calls his “dream blues band,” the Rides.

In a career of momentous hits, including “For What It’s Worth” and “Love the One You’re With,” Stills is a guitarist’s guitarist who recorded with Jimi Hendrix and Mike Bloomfield. He’s also amazingly multitalented, playing percussion on the Bee Gee’s hit “You Should Be Dancing” and guitar on Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

He’s already played Aptos with his solo band, and as part of the Jimi Hendrix tribute, and the idea of Shepherd dueling it out with Stills onstage is enough to carry any festival. This isn’t about changing partners or loving the one you are with—it’s a marriage made in heaven.

Add to the mix keyboardist Barry Goldberg, who toured with the Electric Flag and played on Mitch Ryder’s “Devil with the Blue Dress On,” and you’ve got a real thrill ride, with tons of history and lots of mystery.

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hen Melissa Etheridge burst on the scene in 1988 with her selftitled debut album, she was called a female Bruce Springsteen and compared warmly to Janis Joplin.

She did what few female rockers have managed—winning Grammys and charting high on Billboard charts—while maintaining her rock and soul credibility.

On her latest disc, this Leavenworth, KS native goes back to her musical roots saluting the Stax Records catalog of rock, soul and blues that were her early influences.

“At this late stage in Melissa Etheridge’s nearly 30-year-and-counting recorded career, the only strange aspect of a dive into the fertile Stax catalog is wondering why it took so long,” writes American Songwriter magazine.

“Her naturally boisterous grits and gravy approach is perfectly suited to tackle songs from the similarly styled vocals of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Albert King, etc. and she sure has the attitude to blow some new life into the (mostly) established classics she interprets here.”

Her latest work is the definition of the Santa Cruz American Music Festival, a tribute to the finest songs this country has produced, including “Born Under a Bad Sign,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” and a tune by Sunday performer Mavis Staples’ band, “Respect Yourself.”

Etheridge hasn’t turned her back on hits like “Bring Me Some Water,” "I'm the Only One," and "Like the Way I Do." On this tour, backed by three other musicians, she’s been stretching them out into jam territory.

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The Rides gives him a band that rivals his best. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been an established star in the blues firmament since his 1995 debut, Ledbetter Heights, which was No.1 on the Billboard U.S .Blues Chart.

5:45 - 7:15

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11:00 - 12:00

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arns Courtney’s musical career brings to mind the name of his first band, Sleeper Cell: The 26-year-old singersongwriter is bubbling under the surface, about to explode.

He compares to Ed Sheeran, for whom he’s opened, and Courtney has been touring and couch-surfing, like Sheeran did before he sold 33 million albums and won a slew of awards.

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Catching Courtney in his early incarnation is like getting a tip on Apple stock in 1980. The signs are already audible, though, and he's scheduled to play the much larger Bottle Rocket Festival in Napa and the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York. He’s played on Conan and opened for Blur, Sheeran, the Libertines and one of rock’s defining bands, The Who.

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His song “Fire” appeared in the Bradley Cooper movie Burnt and has been streamed 8 million times, landing at No. 3 in the Adult Alternative Billboard chart. A second single, “Glitter & Gold,” has been streamed 5 million times. Clearly, the word is out, even if he’s not quite swimming in the mainstream yet.

His latest EP, released in February, is playfully named The Dull Drums and has been getting strong reviews.

When Miramax movie producer Harvey Weinstein met Courtney, after buying his song for the Bradley Cooper film, he told Courtney he was surprised by his appearance, after only hearing Courtney's smoky, gospelinfused vocals. “When I first heard your music, I thought you would be a 70-year-old black man!” he told him.

A reviewer for EssentiallyPop.com who saw him perform both acoustic and electric put it this way: “Grab a performance while you can, this guy is the real thing!”

12:30 - 1:40

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e all know that a bluegrass band that hails from San Francisco—the birthplace of psychedelia, jam bands and earthy rock—is going to sound a whole lot different than one from Arkansas.

With a sound that captures the intensity of fine-spun rock paired with traditional instruments like banjos and standup bass, Brothers Comatose are more new-grass than bluegrass. They are redefining the genre.

This is music that appeals to a broad audience, not just those brought up to twang.

When you consider their roots, you'll get the picture. The band started with brothers Ben and Alex Morrison, who play guitar and banjo respectively, rearranging and jamming on tunes by Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival. They played living rooms and campfires before word spread and the gigs got bigger.

They added Ryan Avellone on mandolin, Giovanni Benedetti on bass and vocals and classically-trained redneck, Philip Brezina on violin for a sound that redefines what you know about bluegrass.

“This isn’t your daddy’s bluegrass anymore,” wrote Glide Magazine, which gave the band’s latest album, City Painted Gold, 8 stars out of 10, adding, “the album offers a case study in tightly tailored musicianship and the kind of close-knit harmonies that only siblings can deliver.”

The album title is a reference to the changes in San Francisco, a city that once was an artist’s sanctuary and now is so overpriced only rich tech people can afford to live there—a topic more contemporary than what you’d expect in the old-timey genre.

2:10 - 3:25

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alk about a change in direction. The bassist in this rootsy folk trio, Chris Wood, is one of the top names in modern exploratory jazz. His instrumental band Medeski, Martin & Wood has been touring for more than 25 years. His brother, Oliver Wood, was guitarist and singer for Tinsley Ellis’s blues band and then a member of the blues, funk, R&B band King Johnson.

But the two Boulder-born musicians always had a love for roots music, inspired by their parents’ campfire playing. This band takes them back to their own roots.

After playing separately for 15 years, King Johnson opened for MM&W at a gig in North Carolina. "I realized we should be playing music together," Chris recalled.

They added drummer Jano Rix and recorded nine albums since 2006, some live, some in the studio, with many esteemed guests including Buddy Miller, John Medeski, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and Zac Brown. Rolling Stone said the most typical thing about the band is how atypical they are.

“Oliver’s vocals describe what the brothers see as a study in contrast that is the American experiment — in short, that American heartache and the American dream are one and the same. “ No Depression magazine said: “They shift from gritty blues to soft folk to gospel and deliver each genre with sincerity.”

With backgrounds in experimental jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk, R&B and country, they are a perfect addition to a festival that draws from all kinds of American music and refuses to be locked in a genre cage.

3:55 - 5:10

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t’s hard to decide what’s more shocking about Mavis Staples—that despite having eight Top 40 singles, she didn’t win her first Grammy until 2011, or that Bob Dylan once proposed to her and she turned him down.

In her 67 years of performing, she’s seen it all and sung it all. She started performing with her family band, The Staple Singers, in 1950 at age 12. They had their first hit in 1956 with “Uncloudy Day.” Her father “Pops” Staples was close with Martin Luther King at a time when gospel singers became voices of the Civil Rights movement. The Staple Singers covered Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall" and Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth.”

MAY 17-23, 2017 | GOODTIMES.SC | SANTACRUZ.COM

In 1968 they signed with Stax Records and had a string of hits, including “I’ll Take You There,” “Lets Do It Again” and “Who Took the Merry out of Christmas?”

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Mavis Staples went solo in the 1960s and over the years worked with a collection of inspiring musicians including Prince, Lucky Peterson, John Scofield, Patty Griffin and Jeff Tweedy.

You can see her on the big screen in “Graffiti Bridge,” “The Last Waltz” and a biopic called “Mavis!”

Her album “You Are Not Alone” won a Grammy in 2011 for Best Americana Album. “This has been a long time coming,” she said in a tearful acceptance speech.

She recorded her newest work, 2016’s “Livin’ on a High Note” to show her joyful side and “lift people up.”

Expect to be uplifted!

5:45 - 7:15

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unday’s headliner is about to set a record—this is the first time a local band has topped the bill in 24 years at Aptos Village Park.

The festival usually tries to import exotic and significant bands from around the world, figuring that locals can see locals when they want. But fans can’t get enough of this raw and raucous devilish trio — they are so busy touring that we rarely get a chance to see them here in Santa Cruz anymore. This is a special treat!

TDM3 formed in Santa Cruz, a trio of two guitars, a bass and no drummer. This amazed fans because they managed with acoustic instruments and no bass drum to get audiences dancing. Their music has roots in bluegrass, folk, ragtime and blues—with a strong dose of the punk rock they were brought up on.

“We bend genres pretty hard,” guitarist Pete Bernhard says.

With upright bassist Lucia Turino, and guitarist and banjo player Cooper McBean, TDM3 released their first recording in 2002 and broke out in 2006 with a live album recorded in Felton called “A Little Bit Faster and a Little Bit Worse.”

They’ve played some of the biggest festivals in the world, including Outside Lands, Austin City Limits, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

The band’s newest disc, Redemption and Ruin, is a concept album divided between sacred and profane cover tunes. PopMatters.com said they bring “a hellacious drive to the side A songs of Bacchanalian abandon, and they are equally moving in their performances of the sacred material.”