Shakori Hills announces spring lineup

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music
and Dance is on April 18-21, 2013

Twice a year festies from all over the area travel to their mecca, the four-day paradise in Pittsboro, NC known as Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival.  The spring and fall installments fall within the perfect timeframe, six months apart and right as the weather is finally settling in to a consistent temperature.  To be honest the lineup barely matters at this point for me, Shakori Hills is a guaranteed great time filled with old and new friends and fantastically diverse music.  This spring gives us much of the same, as Shakori Hills announced their lineup yesterday much to my excitement.  While Shakori always brings in a couple of unique headliners, this year's pull feels like a truly special event.  From April 18-21 festival goers will be enjoying the sounds of Keller Williams & The Traveling McCourys, Oliver Mtukudzi & The Black Spirits and countless local and international acts that will get your feet stompin' and your hands clapping.

Known for it's wide-spread diversity, this year's festival brings back some Grassroots favorites and welcomes some new members to the family as well.  Late night sets from acts like Noot d'Noot, Dirty Bourbon River Show and Equanimous Minds have given way to vivacious dance parties while local standouts like The Tender Fruit and Sarah Shook & The Devil provide intimate shows that showcase the connections that these artists are capable of making with their music.  Sitting on the floor of the Dance Tent or Cabaret Tent while listening to a stripped down set from your favorite local folk artist is a feeling that's absolutely incomparable.  Shakori offers the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, with wild sets from Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba and The Beast (a special big band performance with trumpets, saxophones, trombones and more!) fitting in perfectly alongside the deep country acts and low-key folk artists that are found throughout the festival.


The top of this lineup is just as strong as any other in recent memory, an iconic singer-songwriter is joined by a revered bluegrass group, an African pop staple makes his return to the Grassroots festival, and the Shakori staples of Donna The Buffalo will be shredding on the washboard all weekend.  However, the pull of Shakori really does lie within the undercard.  Loamlands, the brand new group from Kym Register and Will Hackney of Midtown Dickens will have one of their first performances on the farm (they're debuting with William Tyler earlier in April), Hindugrass will be bringing their Indio-Appalachian folk jams, quite frankly there's something there for everyone.  While that's an overused phrase it's hard not to find a new favorite act within your little niche of musical tastes at Shakori.  From jangling country to soulful R&B to heart-pumping world music, there's a wide array of incredible music on display at Shakori Hills.  It's hard not to feel at home for these four days of bliss, so do yourself a favor and check out this gem of a festival.  The full lineup can be found below:

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance
April 18-21 at Pittsboro, NC

Abdias Ernesto Garcia
Apple Chill Cloggers
The Beast + BIG BAND
The Ben Miller Band
Big Al Hall & His Bare Hands
Big Fat Gap
Big Ron Hunter
The Brothers Comatose
Captain Luke
Chompin’ At The Bit
Cyril Lance
D&D Sluggers
Dark Water Rising
David Wax Museum
Deep Chatham
Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba
Dirty Bourbon River Show
Donna the Buffalo
Equanimous Minds
Gasoline Stove
Greg Humphreys
Hindugrass
The Horse Flies
Humble Tripe
Ironing Board Sam
John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff
Keller Williams & The Travelin’ McCourys
Joan Soriano
John Brown’s Body
Lizzy Ross Band
Loamlands
Lucy Michelle & The Velvet Lapelles
Locos Por Juana
Lynn Blakey
Matt Tedder
The Mighty Wonders
Noot d’Noot
Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits
The Owen Family Band
Paperhand Puppet Intervention
Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen
Preston Frank
Randy Dean Whitt
Sarah Shook & the Devil
Solas
The Tender Fruit
Thousands of One
Too Much Fun
Trilogy
Yomira John