Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance

Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance

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Del McCoury Headlines 18th Annual Spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival

February 10, 2020 by Shakori Hills 2 Comments

Del McCoury Band Promo Photo Spring 2020

Getting antsy about the lineup for the 18th Annual Spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance?

Well, wait no longer! We are pleased to announce the full lineup of spring 2020 performers!

As usual, we have a variety of artists coming to perform. However, we are very excited to welcome back the Grammy award-winning Del McCoury Band, their first since 2014. 2020 will mark Del and the Boys fifth performance at Shakori Hills GrassRoots, making them some of Shakori Hills’ elder statesmen.

We strive to offer a unique experience, sure to please all music lovers and will have a mix of new and returning bands.

Rising Appalachia returns for two sets and Keller Williams will bring back his funky good times to the hills of Shakori.

View the full lineup for the Spring 2020 Shakori GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance below or on the Performers page.

Donna The Buffalo, Del McCoury Band, Rising Appalachia, Keller Williams, Lucas Ashby’s Braintrust Feat. Cyro Baptista, Consider the Source, Driftwood, Travers Brothership, Greg Humphreys Electric Trio, Bella’s Bartok, Preston Frank, Dr. Bacon, Empire Strikes Brass, Ellis Dyson and the Shambles, Swamp Kids, Miss Tess and the Talkbacks, Root Shock, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, Loamlands, Downtown Abby & The Echos, Ashley Heath & Her Heathens, Bubba George String Band, brahm, Aaron Lipp, Momma Molasses, Tenzin Chopak, Emily Musolino, Africa Unplugged, Richie Stearns, Onyx Club Boys, T. Gold, Blue Footed Boobies, KidBess and the Magic Ring, Trio 305, Julia., Golden Shoals, West King String Band, Bakalao Stars, The Shoaldiggers, PA Line, Sonny Miles, Cosmic Horizon, Easy Tiger, Bulltown Strutters, Broccoli Brothers Circus, Big Wonderful Variety Show, Wall of Sound, Dr. Fruit, Shakori JAM, Compost Theatre, Ecstatic Dance

Be on the lookout for featured bands in upcoming blogs. In the meantime, check out the Spring ‘20 Shakori Hills Spotify playlist for a pre-festival warmup.

We can’t wait to see everyone. Until then, keep jamming.

#ShakoriHills

Shakori Spring 2020 Full Band List

Filed Under: From the Festival Desk, News, Performers Tagged With: del mccrouy band, donna the buffalo, GrassRoots, keller williams, Music Festival, nc, nc music, pittsboro, rising applalachia, shakori hills

Roosevelt Collier: Good Times with Some Swampy Grime

September 11, 2019 by David Dean Leave a Comment

Over the years, Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival has presented many headliners who have brought the thunder, along with a never-ending supply of good times. Yet, never before has Shakori Hills GrassRoots brought a headliner who knew how to bring the party quite like Roosevelt Collier.

Roosevelt has become known as “The Dr.” and an artist at large who brings the sweet sounds of funk with him wherever he goes. His music warrants its own genre of “dirty funk swampy grime,” which is guaranteed to be the cure for whatever ails you.

You can come and groove with Roosevelt Friday, October 4 at 8:30 p.m. on the Meadow Stage. In the meantime, make sure to listen to his album Exit 16, which is available on all major streaming sites.

I chatted with Roosevelt for a couple of minutes on his drive through Florida to his next music destination about his beginnings, his records, and what he is bringing this year to Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival. What followed was a delightful conversation with a genuinely warm and bright individual.

How did you get started playing music?

I guess I was born with it. I was born into a family of music, y’know? Like everybody in my family played music, or went to see shows. I was born into the sound of music. I started playing through family and church.

Were you in the church choir or church band?

Yeah, all of that. Anything that dealt with church was me and my family. I was born and raised out of the church, so y’know all of my family played gospel music and sang in the choir and did all of that good stuff.

From there you also played with the Lee Boys for a while. What was that like?

That’s my family, y’know. That’s what I’m saying, we took what we were doing in church, and just moved it to the music scene. That was fun, it wasn’t nothing different except for us playing at the clubs and the festivals and the arts centers and all of that stuff. Man, that was a good time in my life just playing with my family.


I can’t even imagine how exciting it must’ve been to have that experience with the people you love.

It’s definitely like no other, y’know? You can’t find that bond nowhere else, just because it’s family.

Do you ever play together now?

Very rarely, they are busy and I’m busy so our timing is just not coming together right now.

So last year you came out with Exit 16, what was it like to record and produce that album?

Exit 16 came out under the great label, the GroundUP Label, which is spearheaded by Michael League from Snarky Puppy. Michael also helped to produce and write some of the tunes off of the record. And that was my first solo record, and the process was fully about learning how to make a record, and making some music.

I really want to thank that label and Michael League for just giving me a pair of wings, and just letting me explore my full potential as an artist, y’know? And that record did good! It was my first record and everybody loved it, and I’m so thankful and joyful.

It was a great task, and we all just went in and turned it out. I actually slept in the studio, I was knee deep in the process. We cut that record in about three days, going at about three tracks a day. We were in it. Bobby Sparks on the organ, JT Thomas on the drums, Michael League on bass, and me. And that’s it, man, that’s a wrap.


That sounds exhilarating to spend time in the studio and really turn this album out.

It was so fun! And I mean I guess, for me, I just wanted to be there. I didn’t want to get off track, so I stayed there late at night, woke up in the morning and got right back to it. It was a lot of fun, of course it’s tiresome too, there’s a lot going on with it, but the overall process is amazing and fun.

After finishing the album, you also went on tour with Michael League and the rest of Snarky Puppy. What was that like? 

Oh, man! So I’m thankful for that. Michael League is huge on artists, he cares about artists more than anything in the world, which is very rare with a label, y’know? So they have this platform that allowed their artists to come in and open up for him and be a part of the tour.

Snarky Puppy, they are actually still on tour now, and all of the artists on the label, they give them face on the tour. They give us about 6-8 dates, and it was totally amazing. Every night big shows, big crowds, going on tour on a bus, and to be a part of that whole experience was amazing.

How did touring with Snarky Puppy compare to the Free Energy tour?

Those are two different tours. Me playing with Snarky was a great opportunity for me as their artist on the label to get exposure and just giving us a platform of letting our music be heard.

The Free Energy Tour, it’s a big co-billed tour. I went with another Florida band called the Heavy Pets, we’re friends. And we always talked about doing a tour together, so we decided ‘Let’s just do a co-billed tour together, and let’s name it this, and look to really go out and spread love.’ That’s why you have the Free Energy Tour. That tour there is a great thing, and those guys are a great Florida-based band, the Heavy Pets. We just gotta make sure there’s good music from the great state of Florida.

So you describe your music as ‘dirty funk swampy grime’, how would you describe that?

Y’know my music has been labeled just about everything. And I’m from the south, I’m from Florida, we are from the swamp. We get down and dirty. It’s more like my roots mixed with a lot of southern rock and blues and funk. So to an extent, you’ve got a swampy, dirty blues comin’ to you.

Your music has also been nominated for a couple of honors, starting with you being featured as an artist at this year’s WOMEX (The World Music Expo) in Finland. 

Yes! I’m honored to be able to play WOMEX in October, y’know that’s a very big showcase, that’s one of the world’s biggest showcases. So I’m thankful and glad for that, and I mean I wasn’t expecting it at all, but this opportunity came so I’ve gotta take it, y’know? I am definitely ready for it.

You also were nominated by the 2019 UK Jazz FM Award for Blues Artist of the Year, what was that like?

Man, that was a pretty wild experience too. Just to be nominated for it is great, I wasn’t expecting it at all, not at all. And that helped me out a little bit there too, so man I’m forever thankful for London.

So going forward, what can we expect from your future music? 

We are definitely working on another album, that’s definitely in the mix, and we’re gonna look for the next year to tour real heavy.

I’m already up in the studio working on it, it’s almost halfway done now. This one is definitely different. Where Exit 16 was the story of my life, [it] told the story of who I am, where I’m from, and where I’m going. So this record is gonna be one chapter of my life, which is more of the bluesy swampy stuff. Just because I’m a part of so many genres.

So, at Shakori Hills this year, what can fans expect from you?

Alright, Shakori Hills listen. Y’all better come ready to get down. They know that Rosie don’t play no radio baby. It is going down as soon as we hit the stage, so please come expecting to dance and party.

Filed Under: Artist Highlight, From the Festival Desk, Performers Tagged With: comehearnc, festival, funk, GrassRoots, live music, Music Festival, nc music, north carolina, pittsboro, roosevelt collier, shakori, Shakori GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, shakori hills

The Fritz Returns!

June 18, 2019 by David Dean 1 Comment

The Fritz band photo

Hailing from the high trees and low tones of Asheville, NC, a funky-fresh new kind of sound has been taking over the nation. For the past eight years, The Fritz has been bringing a fresh new take on funk and soul music to the Tar Heel State and beyond. The band will return this fall to the farm for their second performance at Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance. During a moment of rest for the band, we sat down with guitarist Jamie Hendrickson to learn more about what makes The Fritz so electric.

The Fritz specialize in live shows that are built for dancing, grooving and moving. A typical week for the band includes dates in multiple states and the band embraces the live experience in their writing.

“At the heart of our being, we’re a live band. So everything is kind of made for high energy dance music, and everything that we write is written for the stage rather than for…an album and heavily produced. All of our releases so far have been pretty much how we would do them live. We overdub a little bit, but for the most part it’s just us in a room playing.”

Though the live shows are what they are known for, simply sitting in a room and playing seems to be what really gave The Fritz their unique sound. The band members are masters at improvisation, which helps to keep the energy high. From unworldly keyboard solos that sound like something off of Parliament’s ‘Mothership’, to face-melting guitar solos which channel the very essence of Jimi Hendrix, The Fritz knows how to create the kind of sound that gains a reputation.

The band met while each member was studying music at the University of North Florida. It was here that the group began to hone in on exactly what kind of band they wanted to start, a process which continued through their move to Asheville, and the subsequent eight years. Hendrickson attributes the band’s unique sound to the different musical tastes that each person brings to the group.

“Every person in the band has drastically different influences. Jamar was a classical piano major in college, and then some of the other guys were jazz performance…our bass player loves acoustic, celtic and bluegrass. So we just kinda listen to so many different things. When we do The Fritz, we kind of try to put away our individual influences and just see what collectively works best for what we’re trying to do.”

The Fritz’s sound continues to evolve every year, always reaching bigger and better heights. ECHO, the band’s 2018 release, recorded at Asheville’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios, features a tight horn section comprised of Justin Stanton (trumpet) and Chris Bullock (sax) from Snarky Puppy and Natalie Cressman (trombone) from the Trey Anastasio Band.

Since the release of ECHO last fall, the band has been in “songwriting mode” and planning out the next release. According to Hendrickson, “we’ll hopefully have some more details in the near future about that.”

As for their upcoming Shakori Hills GrassRoots performance, Henderickson says that the festival feels more like a “hometown festival” for the band after several months of touring. Though the location is convenient to their hometown of Asheville, the best part about Shakori Hills for The Fritz, is the energy of the crowd.

“The energy of the Shakori crowd is amazing, [there are] some great music listeners who really pay attention, and at the same time they like to have fun and like to party. We love the people at Shakori, it was a blast!”

The Fritz will surely be an act not to miss this fall. Their music is available online through all of the major streaming sites, with videos of their incredible live performances up on their YouTube page.

Watch the video for ‘Nothing to Find’ below, which was recorded at Echo Mountain Studios and features Chris Bullock, Natalie Cressman, and Justin Stanton.

Filed Under: Artist Highlight, From the Festival Desk, News, Performers Tagged With: asheville, comehearnc, echo mountain, fritz, Music Festival, nc music, north carolina, shakori hills, shakorihills

GrassRoots Live! at Shakori Hills

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Shakori Hills & GrassRoots News

Del McCoury Band Promo Photo

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Shakori Hills GrassRoots Virtual Festival Fundraiser

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