With all the music around the valley this summer, it’s going to be hard to stay afloat. That’s why we here at TargheeMusic decided to write up our own little music festival survival guide.
Jun
22
The competition was fierce in our first Targhee Bluegrass Poster Contest, with local and regional designers submitting impressive interpretations of the festival.
Kathleen Hanson, of Hanson Illustration, is our first winner!
(read on to hear more about her design inspiration, and see all of the poster entries!)
Jun
18
The Waybacks featuring Jens Kruger will close the 23rd Annual Targhee Bluegrass Festival on Sunday, August 15, 2010.
” … few bands have produced instrumental virtuosos who can follow the lead of newgrass icons like Sam Bush, Tony Rice and David Grisman … The Waybacks, on the other hand, feature hot pickers who are destined to become revered new-acousticians, thanks to their individual solo styles and the band’s novel and irreverent tenor.”
— Scott Nygaard, ACOUSTIC GUITAR MAGAZINE
From their website:
They draw freely from the old school and the old world, but The Waybacks are no throwback. They’ve been erroneously pigeonholed as a bluegrass band and celebrated as purveyors of “acoustic mayhem.” They are as uninhibited and unpredictable as the eclectic San Francisco Bay area that claims them, and for nearly a decade, their experiments have always proven sharp-witted and musically dazzling. They’re living proof that in music anyway, evolution and intelligent design are entirely compatible. “The whole spirit of improvisation – that’s always been the cornerstone of this band for me,” says founding singer, songwriter and guitarist James Nash. “Through all the stylistic changes and regardless of the instruments we’re playing, to me the fun of this band has always been that in some ways I can do whatever I feel like doing at any moment.”
Jun
17
Hot off the press . . .
Fueled by lead single “Tiny Light,” their incendiary live shows and rave reviews from critics nationwide, the self-titled album from GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS (Hollywood Records/Ragged Company) enter Billboard’s Top 200 at #20, Billboard’s Rock Album Chart at #3 and Billboard’s Digital Album Chart at #9.
The group, praised by Rolling Stone as one of the “Best New Bands of 2010,” delivered an electrifying performance of “Tiny Light” on yesterday’s Good Morning America and return to television July 15th for an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. This Thursday, June 17th, fans can also catch an encore performance of the band’s appearance on ELLEN.
The Boston Herald compared the group to the “Rolling Stones (circa Exile On Main Street), fronted by a young Etta James/Tina Turner/Bonnie Raitt-type singer” while The New York Post lauded the album with a 4-star review, declaring the “Vermont group hits peak… Potter and company deserve the hype.” Oprah’s O Magazine compared Potter to the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams, Rolling Stone said that the record “bursts with promise,” and the Dallas Morning News gave the disc an A calling it “an auspicious effort that definitely needs to be heard.”
Jun
8
It’s often hard for us to describe the experience that is the Grand Targhee Music Festival. Yes, people are friendly. Yes, it’s big enough without being too big. Yes, even the acts you’ve never heard of deliver in accordance with the well-deserved reputation of the festival. But these mere words still don’t do it justice.
And frankly, we’re not sure the following does either. But it is an honest, spot-on glimpse into one person’s experience – albeit one one-of-a-kind, musically-oriented, local character’s experience – at Targhee Fest last summer.
Just so we’re clear, here’s a pic of your tour guide (poached without consent from said tour guide’s FB page):
Reprinted with verbal permission from author (who may or may not remember giving us permission):
It might have been my allergies but I am pretty sure I was crying. That is how much fun I had at the Grand Targhee Music Festival. Anytime you start an article out with an admission of tears there is a chance that half of your audience stopped reading. However, if you are the kind of person who enjoyed Targhee fest I am going to do my best to pay homage to the experience. The weeks building up to the festival are always filled with anticipation, planning, and visions of mountainous good times. This helps set the mind properly for immersion into music festival world. I find to really get in the spirit a trip to the dollar store and $30 can fill your trunk with squirt guns, kites, goofy glasses, crazy straws and all the other fun goodies that make people smile around the campsite. Don’t forget the sunscreen.
Jun
7
I’ll confess, I’m glad I didn’t get to vote.
My role in the vote count at Saturdays Battle of the Band Showdown prohibited me from using a wooden nickel to determine who would open this year’s Targhee Music Festival. And with each band bringing their a-game to the concert at the Spud, the choice was tough. It was a common dilemma among the 500+ attendees who were treated to the sounds of Burning Olympus, Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit, Mandatory Air, LuNKuR and The Tie Hacks under the first nearly-clear sky Teton Valley had seen in over a week.
Remember what blue skies look like?