Planting For Harvest Festival

Fall event lineup offers Leftover Salmon

Members of acoustic jam act Yonder Mountain String Band perform at last year’s Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival, which takes place annually in Franklin County. The lineup for the festival was recently announced, and Yonder will return for several sets.
Members of acoustic jam act Yonder Mountain String Band perform at last year’s Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival, which takes place annually in Franklin County. The lineup for the festival was recently announced, and Yonder will return for several sets.

Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival has earned a reputation as a home for acoustic music rooted in bluegrass and Americana. That reputation comes naturally, considering the headlining band performs just that type of music.

However, says festival director Brett Mosiman, “there’s more variety than first meets the eye.”

The lineup for the annual festival, which returns this year Oct. 11-13, was released late last month to those who attended Wakarusa, which takes place on the same festival grounds.

Mosiman notes that blues acts, reggae stars and singersongwriters have all found a home on the roster.

“Musically, it will end up being a little bit more diverse,” he says.

He also says that music for The Roost - a small satellite stage that will see its lineup announced in August - will be more eclectic for the 2012 version of the festival.

As it has for the past three years, Yonder Mountain String Band, from Colorado, will supply booking suggestions and the headlining showcases. Yonder is scheduled for three performances, and if they follow suit from last year, the various members will sit in on other artists’ sets throughout the weekend.

The band has what Mosiman describes as a “strong advisory” role in booking the festival, and he takes a list of suggestions to see what might work for the three festival dates.

Filling out the roster this year are about 50 bands. Top-billed artists - aside from Yonder, of course - are bluegrass jam favorites Leftover Salmon,alternative country pioneers The Jayhawks and the eclectic sounds of Mickey Hart Band, featuring one of the Grateful Dead’s two percussionists. Other artists include mandolin master Sam Bush, blues rockers North Mississippi Allstars and neotraditional bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers.

Mosiman says the talent budget has swelled by 30 percent or 40 percent over last year’s spending.

A full lineup can be found at www.yonderharvestfestival.com.

Harvest Fest features a much more relaxed vibe than its sister festival, Wakarusa, and has about half as many attendees during its three-day fall run than Waka does for the four-day summer affair.

Harvest Festival this year returns as a three-day event after a one-year experiment with a four-day run in 2011. Mosiman says the festival felt too hectic when expanded by a day.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now and include camping permits. Passes begin at $115 and will increase in price as the date of the festival nears.

Whats Up, Pages 14 on 06/15/2012

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