Suwannee Springfest 2015: March 19th – 22nd

Springfest2015_4x6_012715We’re back at it again! Springfest is Suwannee Music Park’s annual March festival, and is a great warmup for its staple Wanee Festival. We’ve been a couple of years running now, and we’re certainly looking forward to the experience and the lineup.

Spirit of Suwannee

Spirit of Suwannee

For those that don’t know, Suwannee Music Park is in Live Oak, Florida – a natural amphitheater surrounded by beautiful live oak trees. This year’s festival starts on Thursday March 19th, 2015, runs all the way through the weekend, and features three stages of eclectic bluegrass, folk, funk, and blues, camping, and all the good times one would expect from such a combination.

We’ve got a playlist to listen to in camp of our favorite artists this year, and you can listen along with us here, but here’s our breakdown of this year’s must see acts. Del McCoury is returning to Springfest again after being a headliner last year, which is fantastic and not as repetitious as it might seem at first glance. This year, Del will be headlining a set with David Grisman.

Grisman’s incredibly proficient mandolin performance will be a great compliment to McCoury’s bluegrass roots with his eponymous band, but should feature a substantial amount of interplay and improvisation that will make for a fantastic live show. Furthermore, the fact that McCoury is billed in another set with Keller Williams, a set they played for several months on tour last year, indicates he likely will be making several appearances throughout the weekend, announced and unannounced.

(Follow us on twitter if you want to make sure you don’t miss any surprises)

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The Wood Brothers were a favorite at DeLuna 2012, and this will be the first show this author sees since the brothers’ 2013 release,The Muse. Their newest LP is an introspective, evolving, dynamic, and diverse album that not only solidifies the three piece with a permanent percussionist, but solidifies the tone of the band perfectly. It will be a great set to see, no doubt.

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Shovels and Rope are a personal favorite, a regional favorite, and a website favorite. The strength in timbre that they create from such simplicity is an awe to see, and you owe it to yourself to check out every minute of it.

The whole festival is full of Blue Indian favorites: Blind Boys of Alabama and Donna the Buffalo, to name a few. The beautiful Lucinda Williams, The Duhks (a new favorite for us), and a litany of other pickers and grinners will make this one hell of a festival to see.

Tickets are still available and start at $175 for general admission and $300 for VIP.

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– David Dorer