High Sierra 2017 Preview

Head up into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada for the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA, Thursday-Sunday, June 29th to July 2nd....
High Sierra

High Sierra 2017 Preview

Head up into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada for the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA, Thursday-Sunday, June 29th to July 2nd:

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29th

Grandstand

STS9, 9:30 PM – 11:30 PM

The acclaimed instrumental act combines numerous influences, including funk, jazz, psychedelic, and hip-hop. But they’re best known for their live concerts (QRO photos), which stretch to over two hours, and feature improvisational collaborative work not known in the jam-band community. Their festival performances, however, go even bigger (QRO photos at a festival), like at High Sierra ’14 & ’12 (QRO photos at High Sierra ’12).
STS9
Galactic, 7:00 PM – 8:45 PM

Hailing from New Orleans, Galactic (QRO photos at a festival) is a five-man funk band. They combine traditional jazz with brass-heavy funk that’s much like the city’s signature sound. Thrown into the mix are their cutting edge, ‘new school’ horns and the regional hip-hop known as New Orleans Bounce. Galactic (QRO photos at a festival) succeeds in producing a sound that’s entirely new while still paying homage to the style that made the Big Easy famous. Since their 2015 album Into the Deep was released, the band’s been touring across the country, and return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’12) to play twice.
Galactic
White Denim, 4:45 PM – 6:15 PM

Out of Austin’s psychedelic rock scene comes White Denim (QRO live review at home in Austin), but they’re more accessible than most psych-rock (QRO live review), like on last year’s Stiff (QRO review). They return to High Sierra to play twice.
White Denim
Jeff Austin Band, 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM

Progressive bluegrass mandolin player Jeff Austin was part of the core of the jam outfit Yonder Mountain String Band (QRO photos at a festival last year), but took a leave of absence in 2013 due to the pending birth of his child. While his absence from Yonder has become permanent, he has since formed his own band (QRO photos at a festival), and in 2015 released his own record, The Simple Truth. He returns to play High Sierra a second time with his own band.

Jeff Austin

Big Meadow

Con Brio, 10:00 PM – 11:30 PM

Billy Strings, 8:00 PM – 9:15 PM

BIG Something, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

River Whyless, 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

Hamish Anderson, 2:05 PM – 3:20 PM

Sweet Crude, 12:10 PM – 1:25 PM

Con Brio


Hamish Anderson


Vaudeville Tent

The Record Company, 12:00 AM – 1:30 AMQRO photos at a festival

Fruition, 9:45 PM – 11:15 PMQRO photos at a festival

Phutureprimitive, 7:45 PM – 9:00 PM

The Nth Power, 5:45 PM – 7:00 PM

Afrolicious, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PMQRO photos at High Sierra ‘14

I Draw Slow, 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM

Tank & The Bangas, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PMQRO photos outdoors

The Record Company


Fruition


Afrolicious


High Sierra Music Hall

The Brothers Comatose, 2:00 AM – 3:45 AM

Travelin’ McCourys with Jeff Austin, 12:00 AM – 1:45 AMQRO photos at a festival

Travelin’ McCourys

The Funk’n Jamhouse

Dopapod, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

The Werks, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AM

The Werks

The Mineral Building

Troubadour Session: Hamish Anderson, Sam Craft, Alexis Marceaux, Billy Strings, 12:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Hamish Anderson

 

 

FRIDAY, JUNE 30th

Grandstand

Ween, 9:30 PM – 11:30 PM

Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo form Ween (QRO live review), which had been one of the more enduring and out there acts out there, with a wide-ranging fan base more typical of jam bands (QRO photos at a jam band festival). They had a jam band-like longevity – twenty-eight years until Freeman had to call it quits in 2012. But you can’t push th’ little Ween without making them come up (QRO photos at a festival), as they’ve reunited last year for a handful of shows (QRO photos at a festival), following it up this year (QRO photos at a festival) with a full-fledged tour (QRO live review) and release of GodWeenSatan Live (QRO review), including returning to High Sierra.
Ween
Mike Gordon, 7:15 PM – 8:45 PM

If you’re going to High Sierra, you already know who Mike Gordon is. If Phish (QRO photos) has made themselves into the next generation Grateful Dead, then Gordon is the next generation Phil Lesh. He’s done everything from play above the marquee at the Ed Sullivan Theater to make movies & books. He plays his third High Sierra.
Mike Gordon
Hard Working Americans, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

High Sierra welcomes the return of rock ‘n’ roll supergroup Hard Working Americans (QRO photos), which includes Todd Snider, Dave Schools from Widespread Panic (QRO photos at a festival), Neal Casal of Chris Robinson Brotherhood (QRO photos at High Sierra ‘14) and more.  They play High Sierra twice.
Hard Working Americans
Also:

The Travelin’ McCourys, 2:45 PM – 4:15 PMQRO photos at a festival

Fruition, 12:30 PM – 2:00 PMQRO photos at a festival

Travelin’ McCourys

Big Meadow

Earth, Wind & Power, 9:30 PM – 11:30 PM

The Record Company, 7:35 PM – 8:50 PMQRO photos at a festival

Billy Strings, 5:40 PM – 6:55 PM

White Denim, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PMQRO live review

Tank & The Bangas, 1:50 PM – 3:05 PM QRO photos outdoors

I Draw Slow, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM

Butcher Brown, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM

The Record Company


White Denim


Tank & The Bangas


Vaudeville Tent

Deer Tick, 11:30 PM – 1:30 AM

The dirty side of alt-country garage-rock comes to High Sierra in the form of Deer Tick (QRO photos outdoors), who’ve been rockin’ bigger & bigger stages (QRO photos) and wilder & wilder shows (QRO live review) since the release of 2011’s Divine Providence (QRO review) and 2013’s Negativity. They play return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’12), to play it twice.
Deer Tick
Also:

Dopapod, 9:30 PM – 10:45 PM

River Whyless, 7:30 PM – 8:45 PM

BIG Something, 5:15 PM – 6:45 PM

The Werks, 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM

Con Brio, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM

Sweet Crude, 11:15 AM – 12:30 PM

The Werks


Con Brio


High Sierra Music Hall

Galactic, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

Hailing from New Orleans, Galactic (QRO photos at a festival) is a five-man funk band. They combine traditional jazz with brass-heavy funk that’s much like the city’s signature sound. Thrown into the mix are their cutting edge, ‘new school’ horns and the regional hip-hop known as New Orleans Bounce. Galactic (QRO photos at a festival) succeeds in producing a sound that’s entirely new while still paying homage to the style that made the Big Easy famous. Since their 2015 album Into the Deep was released, the band’s been touring across the country, and return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’12) to play twice.
Galactic
Also:

Afrolicious, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AMQRO photos at High Sierra ‘14

The Anatomy of a Band, 5:45 PM – 6:45 PM

Heavy Metal Hoedown, 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM

Soul Time!: A Celebration of the Music of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM

Shady Grove: The Music of Doc Watson, 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM

A Stanton Moor Drum Academy Master Class, 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM

Blues Jam, 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM

Afrolicious


Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings


The Funk’n Jamhouse

Manic Focus, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

John ‘JmaC’ McCarten has gone from being trained in classical at an early age to ultra-modern EDM beats today, playing his second High Sierra in a row.
Manic Focus
Also:

Phutureprimitive, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AM



The Mineral Building

Troubadour Session: Gio Benedetti, Bo Carper, Ben Morrison, Pamela Parker
Phutureprimitive

 

 

SATURDAY, JULY 1st

Grandstand

Trey Anastasio Band, 10:00 PM – 11:30 PM

Trey Anastasio Band, 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM

If you’re going to High Sierra, you already know who Trey Anastasio is. If Phish (QRO photos) has made themselves into the next generation Grateful Dead, then Anastasio is the next generation Jerry Garcia. He’s done everything from play above the marquee at the Ed Sullivan Theater to get a Tony nomination for his orchestration of Broadway musical Hands on a Hardbody. Somehow this seems to be his first time at High Sierra, but he makes up for that by playing two back-to-back sets on Saturday.
Trey Anastasio
Andrew Bird, 5:45 PM – 7:15 PM

Chicago multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird (QRO live review) plays everything from guitar to whistle, but is best known for his impressive violin work (QRO photos), which manages to be both timely and timeless (QRO photos) on such albums as Armchair Apocrypha (QRO review) and more, up to last year’s Are You Serious. Bird (QRO photos) is a great addition for a festival (QRO photos outdoors), or anything else: he even did the whistling in The Muppets.
Andrew Bird
The Greyboy Allstars, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

San Diego’s soul/jazz/funk ensemble The Greyboy Allstars includes Karl Denson (though not his Tiny Universe – QRO photos at a festival). They play return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’13), to play twice.



Also:

The Brothers Comatose, 12:45 PM – 2:15 PM

The Greyboy Allstars

Big Meadow

Deer Tick, 10:00 PM – 11:30 PM

The dirty side of alt-country garage-rock comes to High Sierra in the form of Deer Tick (QRO photos outdoors), who’ve been rockin’ bigger & bigger stages (QRO photos) and wilder & wilder shows (QRO live review) since the release of 2011’s Divine Providence (QRO review) and 2013’s Negativity. They play return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’12), to play it twice, this session acoustic.
Deer Tick
Carolyn Wonderland, 8:05 PM – 9:20 PM

Singer/songwriter Carolyn Wonderland has won a slew of Austin Music Awards from her hometown – and her marriage to ex-SNL writer, ex-Daily Show correspondent A. Whitney Brown was officiated by The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith. She plays twice at High Sierra ’17, for like her sixth time at the festival.
Carolyn Wonderland
Also:

El Ten Eleven, 6:05 PM – 7:25 PMQRO photos

Keller Williams, 4:10 PM – 5:25 PMQRO photos at a festival

The Suffers, 2:15 PM – 3:30 PMQRO photos at a festival

The Lil Smokies, 12:20 PM – 1:35 PM

Kat Myers & The Buzzards, 10:40 AM – 11:50 AM

El Ten Eleven


Keller Williams


Vaudeville Tent

Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, 11:30 PM – 1:30 AM

Ott & The All-Seeing I, 9:30 PM – 10:45 PM

Manic Focus, 7:30 PM – 8:45 PM

Polyrhythmics, 5:30 PM – 6:45 PM

Aoife O’Donovan, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PMQRO photos at a festival

Gene Evaro Jr., 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM

Achilles Wheel, 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM

Butcher Brown, 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM

Ott & The All-Seeing I


Manic Focus


Aoife O’Donovan


High Sierra Music Hall

Hard Working Americans, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

High Sierra welcomes the return of rock ‘n’ roll supergroup Hard Working Americans (QRO photos), which includes Todd Snider, Dave Schools from Widespread Panic (QRO photos at a festival), Neal Casal of Chris Robinson Brotherhood (QRO photos at High Sierra ‘14) and more.  They play High Sierra twice.
Hard Working Americans
Also:

Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AM

High Sierra Bluegrass Pick, 5:15 PM – 6:30 PM

Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More: A Gregg Allman Retrospective, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM

The 40th Anniversary of Terrapin Station, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM

Punk vs. Funk (of the Seventies Kind), 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Grateful Dead Jam, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Jerry Joseph

The Funk’n Jamhouse

BoomBox, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

From the center of Southern Rock in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, is BoomBox (which includes Zion Godchaux, son of Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux). They play return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’14), to play twice.
BoomBox
Also:

El Ten Eleven, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AMQRO photos

El Ten Eleven

The Mineral Building

Troubadour Session: Andy Dunnigan, Jonny Mojo Flores, Paul Kamm, Kat Myers, 12:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Kat Myers

 

 

SUNDAY, JULY 2nd

Grandstand

Gov’t Mule, 9:30 PM – 11:30 PM

Many festival jam bands draw their lineage back to sixties hippie bands like The Grateful Dead, but few as directly as Gov’t Mule (QRO photos). Originally begun as a side-project to the reformed Allman Brothers Band in the early nineties, Gov’t Mule was right at the cusp of breaking out on their own in 2000 when bassist Allen Woody died. But guitarist Warren Haynes and drummer Matt Abts recovered to become a festival mainstay, featuring a rotating cast of guest members and being guest members, like Haynes’ work in The Dead. They (QRO photos outdoors) play their third High Sierra, now behind this year’s Revolution Come…Revolution Go.
Gov’t Mule
Snarky Puppy, 7:15 PM – 8:45 PM

Snarky Puppy is a Grammy-winning pop-instrumental improvisational act – kind of a perfect fit for High Sierra.
Snarky Puppy
Also:

Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel feat. Stu Allen, 4:30 PM – 6:30 PMQRO photos at a festival

Grupo Fantasma, 2:15 PM – 3:45 PMQRO photos at a festival

The Lil Smokies, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM

Grupo Fantasma

Big Meadow

BoomBox, 10:00 PM – 11:30 PM

From the center of Southern Rock in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, is BoomBox (which includes Zion Godchaux, son of Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux). They play return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’14), to play twice.
BoomBox
Also:

Lebo & Friends, 7:50 PM – 9:20 PM

Achilles Wheel, 5:50 PM – 7:05 PM

Bokanté, 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM

Carolyn Wonderland, 11:45 AM – 1:15 PM

Lebo


Carolyn Wonderland


Vaudeville Tent

Gene Evaro Jr., 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM

Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons, 7:30 PM – 8:45 PM

SunSquabi, 5:30 PM – 6:45 PM

The Suffers, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PMQRO photos at a festival

David Lindley, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM

Kat Myers & The Buzzards, 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM

Midtown Social: Band Contest Winner, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM

Jerry Joseph


The Suffers


High Sierra Music Hall

The Greyboy Allstars, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

San Diego’s soul/jazz/funk ensemble The Greyboy Allstars includes Karl Denson (though not his Tiny Universe – QRO photos at a festival). They play return to High Sierra (QRO photos at High Sierra ’13), to play twice.
The Greyboy Allstars
Also:

Polyrhythmics, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AM

Guitarmageddon: Summer of Love, 5:15 PM – 6:30 PM

Survival of the Freshest: A History & Evolution of the Deep Funk Revival, 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM

Skerik’s Improv Lab, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

Bloody Mary Ball, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Funk Jam, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Polyrhythmics

The Funk’n Jamhouse

Ott & The All-Seeing I, 1:45 AM – 3:45 AM

SunSquabi, 12:00 AM – 1:15 AM

Ott & The All-Seeing I

The Mineral Building

Troubadour Session: Jerry Joseph, Lebo, Eric McFadden, Lesley Grant, 12:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Jerry Joseph

 

 

For festival website, go here: http://highsierramusic.com/

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