2020 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival Dates

October 30, 2019 by David Dean 4 Comments

Shakori Hills banner in the Outpost — photo by Elizabeth Larson

The biannual Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will be held Thursday, May 7 through Sunday, May 10 and Thursday, October 8 through Sunday, October 11, 2020. These dates will be the 18th annual spring festival and 17th iteration of the fall festival.

Tickets for Spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots will be available at the Holiday Rate starting Weds., Nov. 13 at 10:00 a.m. through midnight Tues., Dec. 31, 2019. The Holiday Rate is the lowest ticket rate offered for the spring festival.

Early Bird tickets will be available starting Weds., January 1, 2020 through Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 and at that time tickets will increase to Advance Rates. Tickets will be available at the gate starting Monday, May 4, 2020.

Ticket details for the fall festival will be announced at a later date.

Typically, the festival starts the first Thursday in May and October. It just so happens the first Thursday in May, 2020 falls on Mother’s Day weekend.

Therefore, we are going to celebrate moms at the spring festival! There will be a champagne toast on Mother’s Day and we are working on several other programs to say, “thanks, Mom!” More details will be announced as we get closer to the spring festival.

The fall festival in October has been moved back one weekend and will start the second Thursday of the month. This change is due to the way 2020 falls on the calendar.

Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is a non-profit event that benefits the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center, itself a non-profit. The Shakori Hills Arts Center provides free or greatly reduced music and arts programs to rural communities in Chatham, Orange, and Durham counties.

The festival takes place on 72 acres outside of Pittsboro that have been described as a, “music lovers’ paradise.” The site accommodates four stages and an average of 50 acts per festival. Recent headlining acts include Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Galactic, and Steve Earle.

More information can be found online at www.shakorihillsgrassroots.org and by searching for the #ShakoriHills hashtag on social media.

Burn Ban for Fall 2019

September 30, 2019 by David Dean 5 Comments

This post will be updated with any changes throughout the festival.

We are implementing a burn ban for the 16th Annual Fall Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance.

This includes all open flames, such as campfires, Tiki torches, charcoal fires, etc… Gas grills are allowed. Camp Rangers will be enforcing this ban.

Conditions on the property are very dry and we ask that you keep this in mind throughout your stay with us this week.

We know how much the fires add to your festival experience and do not come by this decision lightly. However, given that we have not had significant rainfall in the last 30 days, we feel this decision is the safest for all attendees.

The nightly drum circle fire will continue, but we ask that you not burn at your campsite.

Please dispose of cigarettes butts properly and do not smoke within 15 feet of festival structures, including buildings, tents, and vendors.

If you need somewhere to store your butts, check out our new pocket ashtray in the merchandise tent.

Not permitted:

Open flame burning of any sort
Campfires
Charcoal grills
Tiki torches (FYI: the ground is hard as rocks)

Permitted:

Gas grills
Votive candles for jack-o-lanterns
LEDs / glow sticks

Review our Camping Policies and our Smoke and Fire Tips for additional information.

Help Bring the Pumpkin Parade Back!

September 17, 2019 by David Dean Leave a Comment

The Great Pumpkin will be visiting Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance each evening of the festival this fall, lighting the Woods Trail with a parade of mystical, magical jack-o-lanterns.

You can contribute to the beauty and fun by bringing a jack-o-lantern to the festival. We’ll have a crew of Great Pumpkin faithful hanging dozens of jack-o-lanterns in the trees along the Woods Trail and lighting them each night.

Pumpkin carving fall 2018 by Mike Shepherd — photo by Mike Shepherd

How you can help:

- - Bring a carved jack-o-lantern or two with you to the festival, and either a small LED light or a few votive candles.
  - Try to delay the carving until the night before you come, as carved pumpkins rot fast!
  - Dipping your carved pumpkin in a mild bleach solution can help delay the rot process
  - Find a spot for it along the Woods Trail
  - Replace your candle each evening
  - Or you can simply leave it at the Ranger Station between Middle Earth and Hilltop, and our Great Pumpkin Crew will find it a place and light it each evening
  - Alternatively, bring uncarved pumpkins to the Kids Area and let the young artists do the carving!

And make sure to come up the Woods Trail each evening to take in the spectacle!

Join the “Punkin Heads” group on Facebook if you have any questions or want to share Pumpkin Parade ideas.

Special thanks to the Wilson family (Tim, Kathe, Jeremy, Jacob, and Alex) who started and supported this beloved fall tradition for many years. Tim and Kathe decided to pass this fun activity on to the next generation and we need your help to get it done.

Thank you!

Sound Advice

May 2, 2019 by David Dean 2 Comments

Guest Blog submitted by Ray Goodrich, Marketing Director Foothills Brewing

Our Five Senses are largely how we perceive the world around us. Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. Everything you know, everything you feel, everything that’s ever happened to you . . . has been aided, abetted or initiated by those senses. And the beautiful thing is, there’s a relationship between all of them. Smell helps taste, hearing helps sight, touch helps . . . well, all of them. And if one stops working? The others will take over and become stronger as a result. The Senses weave together a corporeal tapestry that allows us to immerse ourselves in the known universe.

I bring this up because . . . well, I’m convinced that good beer makes good music sound better. And good music makes good beer taste better.

Now, hear me out. (ha!) Not just any beer, mind you. And not just any music. Well, almost any music. But in particular, live music.

Let’s say you’re at a show (like Shakori Hills). You can be there enjoying the music (sound). You can see the band and the crowd (sight). Smell and touch are in play too (though decorum prohibits me from elaborating).

What’s missing? Taste! Sure, there are probably great food options available at your show. But who wants to rock out while juggling a Philly cheesesteak? Each has their place – just not, in my opinion, to be enjoyed together.

No, what every truly transcendent music experience calls for is an equally superior craft beer. One that stimulates you with the cold touch of the cup, the aromatic whiff of the hops, and the heady sight of white foam atop golden liquid – and ultimately, with the superior taste that this particular situation demands. A taste that, under these circumstances, only a cold craft beer can provide.

When (not if) you come to Shakori Hills this year, please feel free to put this theory to the test. You may find yourself transferring the good vibe you’re feeling from the music to that cold Hoppyum in your hand – and vice versa.

Regional Acts Not to Miss – Spring 2019

May 1, 2019 by David Dean Leave a Comment

Guest Blog submitted by Grant Golden, regional talent buyer for Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance

Arson Daily

If you’re not familiar with these no-frills indie rockers (above photo by Kendall Atwater) then you’ve likely been living under a very dense rock. Arson Daily nearly stole the festival when they played last Shakori and they’ve been swiftly building steam ever since. They land somewhere between alt-rock, blues, garage rock and indie and they’re liable to switch their energy up at the drop of a dime. These boys started out playing the front porch stage with a suitcase as their kick drum, won the band competition, and now have become one of the most anticipated acts of the festival. You’d be foolish to miss one of their two sets this year.

Grove Stage, Friday, 7:15 p.m.

Dance Tent, Saturday, 9:15 p.m.

www.arsondaily.com

Victoria Victoria

This Triad-based crew represents everything good and pure about pop music. Vocalist Tori Elliott’s lyricism is focused on self-reflection, body positivity and self-love and it delicately glides atop creamy soundscapes that bounce between R&B and folk leaning structures. It’s easy to get lost in their sounds, and what better place to do so than the Meadow Stage on a Friday afternoon?

Meadow Stage, Friday, 3:30 p.m.

www.victoriavictoria.org

Young Bull

If you’ve ever been to Shakori Hills before then you know that once the sun goes down, something magical fills the air on our 72-acre farm. Folks dance a little harder, cheer a little louder, and the bands have a way of connecting with that energy to make for unforgettable moments. That’s why I couldn’t be more excited to have Durham’s Young Bull close out the Friday festivities for us. Young Bull is an eclectic hip-hop crew with R&B and Soul leanings. Bouncing seamlessly between smooth ear-worm melodies and swiftly spat bars, Young Bull will compel the Shakori crowd to bounce, shout and sway along to their silky smooth grooves.

Cabaret Tent, Friday, 11:30 p.m.

www.youngbullmusic.bandcamp.com

Chris Frisina

Every good festival attendee knows that your weekend is a marathon and not a sprint. You can’t be boogeyin’ and jiving the whole time, so it’s important to wind down every now and then. I can’t think of a better way to do so than by catching one of Chris’ two sets this festival. Whether it’s his Saturday morning jaunt on the Meadow stage or if you plop yourself down on the Dance Tent floor on Sunday morning, you’d be remiss to miss one of these sets. Frisina’s work is timeless, it’s steeped in country and folk tradition but still feels contemporary and authentic.

Meadow Stage, Saturday, 11:15 a.m.

Dance Tent, Sunday, 10:30 a.m.

www.chrisfrisinamusic.com

Guest Blog: Volunteer for the Tickets, Stay for the Magic

March 18, 2019 by David Dean 2 Comments

Written by Guest Blogger: Taari Coleman, longtime Shakori Hills GrassRoots Volunteer

The first time you volunteer for the festival it will likely be for the ticket. And no one faults you for that, it’s the same reason most of us did.

You’ll sign up to do set up, or work in the kid’s tent, or in one of the food booths and as you scroll through the application you’ll be casually thrown by how many ways you can offer your time, how many ways you can make a difference.

Because it’s your first time, when you arrive at the Festival Grounds, you might be a bit nervous. And no one faults you for that either. Most are nervous when faced with meeting new people and potentially embarking on a new task. But the nerves quickly fade as you realize that everyone around you is exactly where they want to be, and very happy to be there.

And then you’re put to work. You’re painting faces, scooping ice cream, directing drivers to parking spaces, checking wristbands, or riding around with the trash and recycling crew. And everyone is excited to see you, even if they’ve just met you a half hour ago. Maybe you weren’t aware that the spirit of Shakori exists not only in each individual person, but in the very ground itself, in the effort put in to make this thing happen and make it good, in the way people smile and cheer as they pull slowly up the gravel driveway, but you know that now, because you helped pull it off and you feel it the way you can feel the beginnings of rain on your skin.

So the first time you volunteer it’ll probably be for the ticket; but the second time you volunteer for the festival, it’ll be because you know that the magic is real and you want to be a part of that.

Click here to volunteer.

A Conversation With Ellis Dyson of Ellis Dyson & The Shambles

March 16, 2019 by David Dean Leave a Comment

Ellis Dyson & The Shambles are a rowdy bunch of swinging jazz cats harkening a sound of the past. They don’t just “try” to play like old-time jazz musicians—they create new material in a language in which few are currently fluent. Ellis Dyson & The Shambles live and breathe jazz styles many have abandoned. Swing, traditional New Orleans jazz, ragtime, old-time, gypsy jazz and other styles ring as real as if penned during the Prohibition Era in a shotgun shack on Frenchmen St.

They are preserving a nearly lost form of American music and bringing past into the present with a sound so authentic it will make you think you’ve stepped back in time. GrassRoots had a chat with Ellis Dyson & the Shambles’ banjo player and frontman, Ellis Dyson, where he talked about his in-depth exploration of sounds from the past and how he hopes to preserve them.

Dyson started listening to swing and old-time music and playing old-time banjo when he was 18. Once he started on the path, he went “down a rabbit hole,” devouring 19th and early 20th-century music. That voracity has never left Dyson, and he remains a serious student of old-time sounds. According to Dyson, “A lot of what I try to do is musicology. I try to keep a clear mind about where the music we are playing comes from and who created it. I want to preserve those traditions, but still exist in the modern realm of music.”

Roscoe Holcomb was the old-time banjo player that started it all for Dyson. Holcomb was a coal miner from the mountains of Kentucky who is known for his falsetto voice and his unique style of banjo playing. Dyson dove into old recordings and learned Holcomb’s repertoire, but was also led to old-time jazz via Louis Armstrong.

“My ear evolved, I started understanding the music more, and I started exploring more,” said Dyson. “There is so much old-time jazz, and I am trying to get to as much of it as I can. It never ends, and I have to accept that I can’t listen to it all.” It sounds like Dyson is trying to get it all in his ear, anyway, and that effort shines through his music. “A lot of the music I play is basic and direct at heart,” explained Dyson. “It’s the nuance of it I have had to work most on. The hardest part for me has been making these innately simple songs really swing. The more I listen to the greats, the more I understand how to do that.”

About six years ago, when Dyson felt he was getting better as a musician, he sought out other musicians playing in the styles he was pursuing. Slowly and surely, members of The Shambles stumbled in from the UNC-Chapel Hill Music Department. “Danny Abrahams and I were the first two,” shared Dyson. “We would rehearse in Kenan Music building on campus, and we were right there in the thick of it. There is a great jazz program at Carolina. Neither Danny nor I were majoring in music while in school, but Danny was minoring in it, and he was involved in all the jazz groups at school. I got lucky falling in with all these great musicians who had a much deeper understanding of music than I did.”

Dyson may have started this journey as a listener and a novice player, but he has evolved into a confident bandleader who can make a dance floor shimmy, sweat, and sin. His dedication to his craft and study of American music history, mostly through intense listening, has not only moved crowds but inspired listeners to dig deeper into these nearly long lost musical styles. “I hope the music pushes listeners to explore as I do,” revealed Dyson. “Of course, I want them to buy a ticket and see us again, and buy our CD, but ultimately I want to preserve these traditional forms of music. This is music that was built here in our country in a time when there was tremendous adversity. It shouldn’t just die out. It’s not fair to the music or the people who created it. It’s damn good music.”

You can join Ellis Dyson & The Shambles on their mission to preserve early forms of American music at the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance in our Dance Tent on Friday, May 3rd. Ellis Dyson & The Shambles are also involved in our Roots in the Schools program, which you can learn more about here.

BUY TICKETS FOR SHAKORI GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL OF MUSIC & DANCE HERE

LEARN MORE ABOUT ELLIS DYSON & THE SHAMBLES HERE

Photos by Kendall Atwater

Your Happy Place – Camping at Shakori Hills GrassRoots

March 7, 2019 by David Dean 4 Comments

Camping at Shakori Hills GrassRoots Music & Dance doesn’t just provide lodging during the Festival; it completes your Shakori Hills GrassRoots Experience. Tents are nestled in the woods where the environment is shady and cool. Thousands of campers shout, “Happy Shakori!” to each other as they wander the trails. Passing theme camps and impromptu jam sessions as they make their way towards the sounds floating from the stages.

If tents aren’t adequate shelter in your book, RVs are welcome. If the late-night hangs aren’t up your alley, set up in our Family/Quiet Camping Area. No matter the camping experience you desire, you will find your happy place here at Shakori Hills GrassRoots.

If you want to extend your stay here and have a more extensive selection of spots to call home, early camping is encouraged. Find out more about early camping and anything else you would want to know about camping in the details below. See you at The Festival!

BUY CAMPING PASSES HERE

CAMPING GUIDELINES

Most importantly be respectful of your neighbors and the land! Please clean up your campsites and take home with you what you brought, we appreciate it. We offer trash and recycling bags at the ticket booth for sorting your trash.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind so everyone can enjoy their festival experience:

-Vehicle and RV camping area is limited, please park closely and considerately.
-Vehicle/RV and tent camping in designated areas only. There are marked nature preserve areas, please respect this and do not camp here or have fires here.
-Vehicle/RV campers must display vehicle camping pass on the upper driver’s side windshield. On an RV/camper without windshield: on the door of the RV/camper. The sticker must be on a vehicle that is camping, if you want to come in and out with a vehicle, you are towing the camper, etc. with you need to purchase a 4-day parking pass and park in the lot near the festival entrance.
-Regretfully, we must enforce towing in the marked NO PARKING zones. -Vehicles parked in no parking zones will be towed by a professional towing service to a parking area on-site.
-For safety, comfort and the environment please no driving around the festival grounds. If you are using a vehicle camping pass and need to leave the festival grounds, we request that you do so between 8 a.m. and noon.
-No driving in campsites after dark! If you arrive after dark and wish to vehicle camp, you must camp in the vehicle camping section of the main parking lot.
Motorized Vehicles are not allowed, if you have special mobility needs, please contact us in advance.
-Bicycles must have lights after dark.
-Camp Rangers are available to help you — look for people wearing Camp Ranger t-shirts.
-Outdoor hot-water showers are available

-ALCOHOL POLICY: We have a No Public Display of Alcohol Policy — meaning you must keep your alcoholic beverage in a cup – bottles and cans are no longer permitted in the stage and festival areas. We will ask you to conceal your alcoholic beverage if displayed.

-No radios, amplified music, generators or idling vehicles will be allowed.
-No outside firewood, please. It brings in bugs and tree diseases that our trees are not used to. We have firewood available for purchase on site.
-Sorry, NO DOGS! Service dogs will be permitted if they are for the service of the human they are with. Please check service animals in at the Ticket Booth upon arrival. See below in “Nearby Lodging” for pet boarding.
-Public intoxication and drug abuse are not acceptable, and we reserve the right to (and will) intervene if we believe anyone is acting inappropriate and/or disrespectful.
-Please take only memories, leave only footprints.

TENT CAMPING

Tent camping on-site is based on price per tent (no matter how many nights). Tent camping is $25 in advance and $30 at the gate. Each tent camping pass is good for a 10×10 tent/canopy/tarp or smaller, anything larger will need two passes. Tent campers note: Early tent camping (before Thursday) is an additional $10.

All camping is on a first come, first serve basis. Roping to save space is not welcome!

Shuttle: Tent campers without vehicle camping passes cannot drive a vehicle into the campsite, but there is a shuttle that runs from the parking lot to the tent camping areas.

Please read further vehicle camping guidelines below.

RV & VEHICLE CAMPING (for 4-Day ticket holders)

Vehicle and RV Camping is for 4-day ticket buyers only. After Thursday, we can’t guarantee that there will be room for vehicles in the campgrounds.
A Vehicle Camping Pass (car or camper under 25 feet *not including tow vehicle*) is $84 in advance and $94 at the gate and includes space for a)one vehicle and b)one big tent/canopy (larger than 10×10) or two small tents. You can receive up to two tent camping passes with your Vehicle Pass. Tents larger than 10×10 will require two passes. For the vehicle/camper to enter the camping area (to drive past the ticket booth) a Camping Pass has to be adhered on the vehicle: on the upper driver’s side windshield; or on an RV/camper without windshield: on the door of the RV/camper.

An RV Camping Pass (camper + tow vehicle or RV/camper 25 feet or over) is $125 in advance and $135 at the gate and includes space for a)one camper + tow vehicle or large camper and b)one big tent/canopy (larger than 10×10) or two small tents. You can receive up to two tent camping passes with your Vehicle Pass. Tents larger than 10×10 will require two passes. For the vehicle/camper to enter the camping area (to drive past the ticket booth) a Camping Pass has to be adhered on the vehicle: on the upper driver’s side windshield; or on an RV/camper without windshield: on the door of the RV/camper.

Wednesday Vehicle and RV camping are an additional $10, you must check in when you arrive.

If you have a Camper (under 25 feet) + Tow Vehicle and don’t wish to pay the RV price, you are welcome to tow your camper to the campgrounds, unhook, and then park the tow vehicle in our main parking lot; otherwise, you must pay the RV price.

Large vehicle owners also note that RVs and buses 35 feet and over will be limited to the front camping area adjacent to the main parking lot.

Vehicle camping sticker needs to be displayed on each vehicle that is camping. If you are camping with a vehicle and a camper, each vehicle/camper must have a sticker. If you want to park the vehicle that is towing the camper in the parking lot, you can purchase a 4-day parking pass for it.

Sorry, there are no hook-ups and generators are not allowed!

FAMILY/QUIET CAMPING AREA

If you have children with you or enjoy quiet at the festival, you may want to consider camping in the family/quiet camping area. We have two of those on site, and they both contain tent and vehicle camping. Ask the parking crew where this is upon arrival.

EARLY CAMPING/SET-UP

We allow people to begin camping or set up camp starting the Saturday before the festival. There is a $10 early set-up fee. Early Vehicle or RV Camping is $10 per day.
If you plan to set up early or camp early, please pay your fee and pick up your camping passes upon entry to the grounds. Do not set up without receiving a camping pass! You may set up as much as you want, but you cannot rope off extra space to be used later.

CAMPFIRES

Please see the ticket booth for this year’s campfire notice. If the weather has been arid, we will not allow fires.

SPRING 2019 – FULL LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT

February 20, 2019 by David Dean 8 Comments

We are excited to announce the full lineup of performers for Spring 2019!

Our line-up is always carefully crafted to showcase national, regional, and local acts that span multiple genres. This spring Lukas Nelson and Promise of The Real will headline with their rocking Americana and country roots in what promises to be electrifying performance. We welcome back the West African and funk sounds of Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba and our bluegrass buddies Driftwood. Local rock favorites Arson Daily almost burned down the Grove Stage last year with their high energy set so you know we had to get them back.

We have partnered with Music Maker Relief Foundation to present a special Blues Revue featuring Cool John Ferguson, Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen, and Harvey Dalton Arnold. Fans of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and old-time Swing will not want to miss Ellis Dyson and The Shambles featuring special guest Katharine Whalen.

From the Meadow Stage to the Dance Tent, and everywhere in-between, each of the 50 + performers has been thoughtfully curated to create the perfect soundtrack to your Shakori Hills GrassRoots experience.

4-Day Passes, youth tickets, and camping spots are on sale now!

Early Bird ticket rates end Thursday, February 28.

Day passes go on sale Friday, March 1.

Purchase tickets online here!

Visit these fine locally-owned businesses starting March 1 to get 4-Day or Single Day Passes:

Townsend Bertram & Co, Carrboro, NC
Circle City Books, Pittsboro, NC
The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC
Redix Store, Wilmington and Wrightsville
All Schoolkids Records locations

FULL LIST OF PERFORMERS

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Donna The Buffalo, Turkuaz, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Zach Deputy, Preston Frank, Driftwood, Kat Wright, Sophistafunk, Megan Jean and the KFB

Travers Brothership, Otto Von Schirach, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, The Tan and Sober Gentlemen, Young Bull, Ellis Dyson & The Shambles w/ Katharine Whalen, West End Blend, Gaslight Tinkers, Bella’s Bartok, The Broadcast

Niito, DJ Rang & Brevan Hampden, Ecstatic Dance Music Maker Blues Revue featuring Cool John Ferguson, Pat ‘Mother Blues’ Cohen and Harvey Dalton Arnold, Maj Deeka, The Oblations w/ Dino Horns, The Materials, Sirius B, RK III, Victoria Victoria, jphono1, Bulltown Strutters, Honey Magpie, James Davy, Chris Frisina, Local Flora, Laura Boswell

Creative Music Performance, Casey’s Laugh & Learn, Compost Theatre, Tanglewood Puppets, The Holland Brothers, Strung Together, Big Wonderful Variety Show, Wyld Fern

Shakori is Family

February 17, 2019 by David Dean 2 Comments

The Shakori Hills family lost one of our most beloved members on Saturday, February 16.

James Olin Oden has been a festival regular for the past ten years. He first came as a fan and quickly got involved as a performer and even as a staff member for a short time.

His uniquely uplifting musical sound, a blend of his Irish and American roots, wisdom of all manner of subjects, and love of the GrassRoots family will be missed dearly.

Details of a memorial being planned for the Spring 2019 festival will be announced once they have been finalized.

In the meantime, we felt James’ words and music were the best way to honor the man. Below, enjoy a piece he wrote for the Spring 2018 program followed by some clips we thought helped capture his spirit.

slán leat, James

Shakori is Family

Originally printed in the Spring 2018 Festival Program.

written by James Olin Oden

When I first came to Shakori 10 years ago, I really had no idea what I was getting into. I knew that I was going to a music festival and there would be campfires, with lots of musicians, music lovers and artists all over the grounds. Well, in between all the fun and camaraderie, what I found was family.

We’re a peculiar family to be sure. Made of all kinds of different camps, many with names like Camp Sparkle, No Hope (and Know Hope), Rivendale, Frabjous, and Wayward Way to just name a few. There’s no rule that this should be; it just happens in a Grassroots kind of way. Each camp has its own peculiarities and proclivities, and we intermingle quite a bit, cross pollinating ideas and moments of utter silliness. Also, the camp decorations are something to behold. In Fall one of my favorites is the Festivarians site, where they have I think a 100 or so jack-o-lanterns hung in a grove.

The fires at each camp have always been a very central thing. We gather round and conversations flow freely as does music. Sometimes in the wee hours of the morning we just sit and stare and breathe together. Not that we can’t do a Shakori without fire (we just did; it was hard, but we did it, together!), but they have always proven to be a central part of the event. Amongst the fires, rocks and trees of Shakori we live freely enjoying one another’s self-expression and our corporate expression as a group. We learn hard lessons about living with each other and allowing each other to breathe freely within the group. This is not to say there are no boundaries, we just work really hard to uphold the real boundaries and allow freedom wherever we possibly can. Because of this, we have all grown as one big Shakori family.

Every family has a vision, and at Shakori you see the music and dance flowing from the camps like many vibrant streams down to the stages forming a great river of music and dance. We gather at the stages forming a unity of both musicians and dancers flowing as one big pool of united humanity. It’s really amazing to observe. There are, also, workshops covering all kinds of things musical and cultural. Even these ultimately stem from the camps. Over the years I’ve seen many a person young and immature in their art (whether it be music, dance or those other media (-;) become strong leaders and find their way to stages and workshops. It’s a beautiful thing seeing your family grow.

None of this could happen without the staff, and they are a beautiful and integral part of this family we call Shakori. There is the board of directors that set the vision, the staff that handle the operations and booking, the rangers that look out for everyone’s safety, and the security that is there to ensure everyone has a good time. They all work in unison to make sure the festival keeps going. Add to that all the volunteers that put in so much hard work to make this thing come together (tents don’t raise themselves). It really is much like someone preparing a beautiful feast for all their friends. Great hospitality requires a great amount of work, and they do all this work selflessly for one big happy Shakori family.

So please do enjoy your time here. The land and the people of Shakori greet you with open arms.

Welcome to the family!

James Olin Oden Videos

James performs “Friend of the Devil” and “Uncle John’s Band” with his longtime playing partner Joey Arcuri on the Meadow Stage at the Fall 2013 festival.

Here James performs “Dance Right Out of My Grave”, a song he wrote about a performance by Driftwood, another Shakori Hills GrassRoots regular. This clip is from the DooDad Farm, our Greensboro friends down the road.

James would narrate a video of his arrival at Shakori Hills GrassRoots every year. His Spring 2016 video has the added bonus of his album “Deeper Dance” as the soundtrack and a glimpse into his horticulture knowledge.

2020 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival Dates

Burn Ban for Fall 2019