Shakori Spotlight: Dr. Bacon

Dr. Bacon is a Boone-based band that will perform
at Shakori Hills this Spring (April 17-20)

It's truly hard to believe that one of the most glorious events of the year is just over a week away. Shakori Hills is a festival that revels in immediacy, the second you step onto the festival grounds you're swept away by the beauty, the second you soak in the first act you wash away the woes of the real world, and the second you see that one band that sticks with you for the rest of the weekend you usually know it.

Those that are familiar with the festival have grown quite fond of these moments, every spring and fall there's one band that gathers a huge buzz throughout the 75-acre farm and it seems like the Fall's buzz came a bit late into the weekend. At every Shakori there's a band contest, usually kicking things off on Saturday, it's filled with amateur artists from across the region vying for a primetime slot on the Sunday schedule. Ranging from grizzled old men slaying on the fiddle to young children playing out for the first time, you're guaranteed to get a little bit of everything as you plop down on your blanket.

But for those that attended the contest last fall seemed to walk away with one band stuck firmly in their mind, Dr. Bacon. The farcical name gives little indication of the serious jams brought about by this Boone-based outfit. Dr. Bacon first found themselves in the band competition last Spring, placing second amidst an impressive array of musicians. But that finish fueled the spark for this self described Appalachian soul-grass crew to buckle down and "push [themselves] to the next level."

"Winning the competition in the fall was pretty surreal and didn't fully sink in until the show the next Sunday afternoon," the band claims, it even led to invitations to other festivals around the area. That "magical Shakori buzz" as they put it can lead to some pretty exciting opportunities. Much like getting thrust into a late night set on the opening night of this Spring's festival. When I heard rumblings of Dr. Bacon last year it was a fairly continuous string of applause, "they're nuts" they said,  "it's like a jammy Holy Ghost Tent Revival" said others, it was a non-stop flow of positive reviews that led me to delving deeper into this band once this Spring's lineup was released. Surely enough I was transfixed, Dr. Bacon sheds the expectations you'd have from a Boone-based band and serves up an amalgamation of funk, soul and bluegrass to make for a raucous live show.

"Traditional bluegrass is a constant influence on our approach," they sate "but we aren’t interested in imitating anything that has been done before in the genre." They describe their sound as "undeniably Appalachian, but not strictly bluegrass," somewhere in between "James Brown and The Punch Brothers." They're a band that seems to be steeped in Shakori tradition, they're largely inclusive while producing a sound that's all their own, opening up the realms for listeners from all walks of life to stumble upon their late-night Thursday set and have a guaranteed hell of a time. But surprisingly enough, the band's excitement doesn't just stem from their first big-time Shakori set, but instead from the undeniable sense of community.

"We definitely feel at home at Shakori, it is an indescribably good feeling to simply perform in front of people who are actively engaged and appreciate our music." And it's not just the crowds that Dr. Bacon is excited for, it's the people. The festivalgoers that roam around the campsites spreading positivity, high-fiving strangers and building the strong community all keep people hooked on this diverse festival. That's why Dr. Bacon is just as excited for their fireside jams as they are for their Thursday night Cabaret Tent set. the jams that happen out in the woods at the campsites are some of the best music of the festival.

"There aren't many other festivals where as a musician you can have your mind blown by an amazing on-stage artist, get inspired, run out into the woods, find an ad-hoc jam, and create something new and remarkable."

So whether you're kicking off your festival with their set at that Cabaret Tent, or if you stumble upon the soul-grass crew while meandering through the dimly lit woods, they're sure to get your feet movin' and your heart pumping with some wildly inventive tunes.

Dr. Bacon performs at the Cabaret Tent on Thursday night at 10:00 pm
Recommended Artists: Big Something, Bulltime Strutters, Big Fat Gap, Preston Frank, Clockwork Kids, Indigo Girls

Shakori Spotlight: The Brand New Life

The Brand New Life performs on Thursday, Oct. 10
on the Meadow Stage at 5:00 pm

I can barely contain my excitement over how close Shakori is. It seems like just yesterday I was packing up my mud-covered belongings and saying goodbye to the farm, but here we are just under a week away from the fall festival. One of the things I love about Shakori Hills is the simultaneous focus on local and international artists, and thankfully sometimes we can get a little bit of both wrapped up into one badass outfit. Take The Brand New Life for example, though the band is based out of Greensboro for the time being, they wonderfully encompass a new brand of Afrobeat styling. Though their rhythmic focus is rooted in West African traditions, they've got a dance-oriented groove that makes for an irresistible live show filled with soaring horns and funky guitar lines.

The Brand New Life is comprised of a crew of self-described "band kids" that cut their teeth in an educational setting, but quickly developed an addiction to rhythmically focused music. "The band started off as this conglomerate of sounds that we had all picked out independently," bassist Seth Barden claims. The group would get together for improvisational jams at their friends house and all of a sudden these various influences would morph into something special. Though they describe their music as Afrobeat-Fusion, there's clear elements of jazz, funk and dance music that shine through in different elements of their songs. While Barden was off studying jazz and European Classical at school, other members found their way into different genres. But The Brand New Life aren't a band that defines themselves by titles, they're clearly about the music.

Shakori Spotlight: The Beast

The Beast will be performing at Meadow Stage
on Friday night at 12:30 and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

If one were to give out awards for outstanding performances at Shakori Hills, we might as well go ahead and hand over the weekend's MVP award to The Beast.  It's hard not to be impressed by the jazz driven hip-hop crew, their unrestrained live act is filled with sharp lyricism and tight rhythms.  The Beast makes music for the mind and the body as their lively instrumentation compels concertgoers to let the music flow through them.  MC Pierce Freelon's words seem to morph into an instrument of their own, careening through adventurous vocal patterns that are lined with exuberant imagery.   And this is The Beast on a regular night!  The two sets that the group will be playing at this Spring's Shakori will be far from, "regular".

On Friday night the group will be returning to the Meadow Stage for a performance of massive proportions.  The Beast will be joined by a special Big Band, adding in horns, strings and percussion to the already eclectic mixture of sounds.  A Big Band performance sounds like the ideal experience for an act as expansive as this one.  The Beast's dynamics are already a huge part of their music, and with a wider spectrum of sounds to cover, all of the group's nuances will be more defined.  The group will take the stage at 12:30 on Friday night and will most likely play until the wee hours of the morning for a crowd of anxious listeners.  Whether you're at the foot of the stage or at fireside in the woods, these accomplished jazz musicians will eloquently weave together the introspective intelligence of their lyricism with the primal appeal of their bombastic rhythms to make festival goers dance their night away.

Shakori Spotlight: Noot D'Noot

Noot D'Noot plays at Carson's Grove on
Friday April 19 at 11:00 p.m.

One of Shakori's greatest draws is the quality of their late night shows.  Notorious for high-energy sets from a vast array of genres, there's no telling what to expect when the lineup is released.  But whenever you see a familiar face at the festival you can't help but feel elated.  That's what happened when I saw that Noot D'Noot would be performing this Spring.  Noot D'Noot is a band that I first saw opening for Of Montreal at The Cat's Cradle back in high school.  I knew my vision of the band was probably flawed, even though I still looked back on that set fondly.  High school Grant just didn't have the best musical tastes.

However, The show I experienced in the dance tent at Shakori 2011 from Noot D'Noot was unlike anything I could have imagined.  Noot D'Noot seized my attention from their first note, their soulfully funky sounds proved to be one of the high points of the weekend.  The eight-piece crew commands the stage with soaring horns and enough excitement to compel even the lamest of squares to dance their hearts out.

Shakori Spotlight: Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba

Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba will be performing
on Thursday April 18 and Sunday April 21 at Shakori Hills

There's two weeks left until Spring Shakori begins and if you're anything at all like me then you've been counting down the days since you left the gorgeous farmlands last fall.  This year's lineup boasts a powerful, diverse lineup filled with mesmerizing acts from all over the globe.  While it's always great to check out your favorite locals performing, one of the joys of the festival is the new sounds that you can immerse yourself in.  Never in a million years would I have imagined myself blissfully dancing to the sounds of Arrested Development at the first Shakori I attended.

I shared a similar experience the first time I saw Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba.  The tantalizing sounds of Cissokho's kora lured me into a trance, I was lost in the foreign yet focused sounds that were coming from this vivacious group.  I look around the stage and spotted Jonathan Henderson of Midtown Dickens rocking the upright bass and was perplexed to realize that this was a North Carolina act.  Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba combine the best parts of Shakori, a fantastic local act that has the capacity of taking you to a far-away land like that of Cissokho's home of Senegal.  Diali brings his traditional West African influence into this group, expanding the Carolina music horizons by bridging these cultural gaps between Western and non-Western music.