For the past 45 years, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet has been making some of the most potent and popular Cajun music on the planet and they are now back on the road with their farewell tour “One Last Time – Au Revoir!” Born out of the rich Acadian ancestry of its members, and created and driven by bandleader Michael Doucel, BeauSoleil is notorious for bringing even the most staid audience to its feet. Their distinctive sound derives from the distilled spirits of New Orleans jazz, blues rock, folk, swamp pop, Zydeco, country and bluegrass, captivating listeners from the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans to Carnegie Hall.
We are thrilled to welcome BeauSoleil back to Strawberry’s Main Stage for a third time and final time.
The 4 musical personalities of Mr Sun are so strong that one might imagine the group could explode if not for the palpable love and humor that emanate from every note they play together.
Those personalities are: renowned fiddler Darol Anger, mandolin virtuoso and vocalist Joe K. Walsh, guitar genius Grant Gordy, and phenomenal Scottish bassist Aidan O’Donnell.
And their current, 2023 project? “Mr Sun Plays Ellington Plays Tchaikovsky.”
Says Darol, “Mr Sun is relaxing in a way that makes my mind flip on and spark and spin. I think it’ll do the same for most people who like acoustic string music.”
Acoustic string music, flipping, sparking, spinning? Why, that’s us, Strawberry! Hand us a hula hoop – here comes Mr Sun!
Check out this acrobatic tune they named after master musician friend and polymath, Danny Barnes.
Complemented by fiddle, guitar and mandolin, the tender harmonies of Kat Baker and Owen Ragland of Honey Run harken back to a summer picnic at the river, or the last time you absorbed a sunset from a meadow of tall, sweet grass.
With old-timey and bluegrass roots, this folk, string duo is delivering on the intimate acoustic sound, fresh with originals and new versions of tunes you thought you knew. Of late, they’ve been working on an EP of re-worked traditional old time tunes.
They are no strangers to Strawberry, and we are super excited to welcome Honey Run to their first performance on the main stage!
“What parts five players would perform, Matt Lorenz of The Suitcase Junket performs alone. ‘The band’ is built around a resurrected dumpster-diamond guitar, an old oversized suitcase, a hi-hat, a gas-can baby-shoe foot-drum, a cookpot-soupcan-tambourine foot-drum, a circular-saw-blade bell and a box of bones and silverware that operate much like a hi-hat,” – Folk Alley.
While his guitar buzz-growls out an old tube amp, and his feet pound out rhythms, Lorenz’s songs render voices, imagery, and narratives as wide and varied as mountain throat singers, roadhouse juke boxes, and newsreels of our planet’s destruction and salvage.
In short, The Suitcase Junket positively blows our minds, and we’re super pleased to welcome them back to Strawberry this spring!
“Carrying the torch for the next generation of bluegrass.” That’s how the San Francisco Chronicle describes AJ Lee and Blue Summit, and it feels right on point.
The Chronicle expands: “they deliver a well-rounded and texturally diverse set of contemporary bluegrass that honors the tradition while sounding fresh and vital, where the tones of the instruments; deft, tasteful playing; and tight, intricate arrangements are employed to great effect in support of Lee’s emotionally resounding, powerhouse vocal delivery.”
Hailing mostly from the Bay Area, we’re proud of this California band out there representing across the nation right now, and can’t wait for their return to our beautiful festival this spring. See you on the meadow!
Who caught these folks guesting with John Craigie last Strawberry? We’re super pleased that they are returning for their own riveting set of jazzy, southern-rootsy, folksy, rock-background-y tunes.
Anna Moss and Joel Ludford share intoxicating rhythm and sophisticated songcraft that can only come from a duo of multi-instrumentalists who have built and rebuilt a musical life together. To learn more about their re-building journey, check out the film “Busking,” a documentary by Timo Vergauwen.
“Experiencing a Handmade Moments show is kind of like enjoying a spoonful of political discourse wrapped in local organic bacon and deep fried in hemp oil — and it’s all silky,” Nick Brothers, Free Weekly.
Did somebody say bacon?
Here’s to experiencing some silky, soulful, and slightly salty Handmade Moments!
We are delighted that Nevada County’s own Achilles Wheel is returning to the festival this year! Prepare to be entranced by these “Sierra mountain improvisational-spirited rockers” while simultaneously shaking a leg to their “energy-generating psychedelic-tinged jam of rock and joy,” -The Grateful Web.
Fronted by writers/players Paul Kamm, Jonny Mojo and Shelby Snow, their soulful storytelling runs deep. Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally notes “the rhythm section is wicked, Paul’s rhythm guitar is first-rate, and Jonny’s lead can make a stone dance. But what so many jam bands lack, AW has in spades – namely, truly excellent songwriting.”
Quote the Raven is a folk-pop/Americana duo from Newfoundland and Labrador whose harmonies will happily send shivers down your chakras.
Their sophomore release titled Can’t Hold the Light, an album that delves into the lives of working musicians, won the 2022 East Coast Music Association for Contemporary Roots album of the year and has been nominated for two Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Their names are Jordan Coaker and Kirsten Rodden-Clarke, and they marry smooth vocal blends with a songwriting and performance aesthetic that is at once enchanting and haunting. And they’re witty, to boot!
We feel fortunate to welcome this impressive duo for a Strawberry stage debut.
William (Bill) Wollner, Strawberry’s Garbage and Recycling Crew Leader, has a Strawberry origin story that goes back to the early 1980’s, when he was paying a call to the home of his friend Mitch Third. Bill and Mitch knew each other from his high school days in Kansas, and had renewed their friendship after moving to California. On that day at Mitch’s in the early 80’s, some friends, Charlie and Dan, were also there visiting, and talking about starting a bluegrass festival. They asked Bill if he’d be interested, and he said sure! While he couldn’t make it to the first festival at Strawberry, CA, he was part of the second, which was the first festival held at Camp Mather. And he’s been going ever since.
Bill Wollner and co-leader Craig Brautigam at the 2022 festival.
Initially, Bill did a little bit of everything at Strawberry — garbage, bathhouses, brush crew, etc. One year he and his wife cleaned all the bathhouses all by themselves — he the men’s, and she, the women’s. They were exhausted, and had no time to attend the music or other fun. Bill said “ya’ll need a crew for this!” Staff agreed, and Bill was put back in charge of Garbage and Recycling.
Bill spends around 20 hours organizing and preparing before the festival even starts. He’s got 24 volunteers on his crew, over half of them have been doing it for at least 10 years, and they keep coming back. It’s a tight group. He calls each of them annually to see how they’re doing, and many have become very good friends.
One day, Bill and crew member Bob Smith were driving near Rock in Road at Mather, and a gentleman walked up, asking “Can you give my Aunt a ride down to the meadow?” The man’s aunt was elderly, and using a walker. Bill answered them yes, they could do so, but she’d be riding in a garbage truck. The woman replied, “I would be honored to ride in your garbage truck down to the meadow.” On the ride, she told him that this was the cleanest, best run event/festival she’d been to in her life, and she’d seen a lot. At the meadow, as she started to walk away, she paused and said over her shoulder, “Walt and Roy Disney were my older brothers.”
As Bill realized what this woman had seen and lived, and remembered how hard-working Disney crews kept Disneyland so spotless, he felt it was just the finest praise that he and his crew could ever receive. He was stunned and warmed by the memorable compliment. In recalling this, he says, “We always leave the camp cleaner than before. Nothing stays on the ground. It’s the Strawberry Way.”
When asked to give any other thoughts on the festival, Bill imparts that Strawberry has truly been a special part of his life since the early 80’s, and he hopes to keep going as long as he can. He really enjoys the music, and the people he gathers with – crew, staff, attendees – have become like family, with friendship and camaraderie like no other.
We are so grateful for you, Bill! Thank you SO much for your devotion to and nurturing care of Strawberry Music Festival.
Alert! Big Richard is on its way. This neo-acoustic super group made up of well established Colorado musicians is driven by sisterhood, harmony, humor, as well as the shared desire to rage fiddle tunes and smash the patriarchy!
Bonnie Sims on mandolin, Joy Adams on cello, Emma Rose on bass + guitar and Eve Panning on fiddle come separately from many veteran groups in the Northern Colorado music scene. Together, as a relatively new band, they create a collection of witty, accomplished, talented live wires who are ready to wow us this spring!
“Big Richard comes with a set of big balls and these ladies tout theirs without a second thought. These powerhouses convey who they are with a no nonsense, no excuse mentality.” (Grateful Web)
