In a day and age when live performance ticket costs run into the a whole lot — even hundreds — of {dollars}, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass stays arguably the best free music occasion in the complete world.
And what do you get for nothing?
Within the case of HSB, you get lots.
This yr’s version of the pageant that Warren Hellman created and bankrolled starting in 2001 delivers three days of music — Sept. 29-Oct. 2 — on a number of levels in Golden Gate Park.
The lineup (as per common with this occasion) is great, providing up such longtime HSB favorites as Steve Earle and the Dukes, Peter Rowan, Dry Department Hearth Squad, Buddy Miller, Laurie Lewis and the Proper Fingers, John Doe and, after all, Emmylou Harris.
Listed here are our picks, separated by day, of 11 artists to catch at this yr’s pageant, starting from a younger blues guitar grasp and a “Cosmic Americana” troubadour to an Australian new wave act and a punk rock legend taking part in people.
Be aware: Most units run 40 minutes to an hour. For the whole schedule, occasion do’s and don’ts and extra data, go to hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.
Friday, Sept. 29
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram: The Clarksdale, Mississippi, native delivered the only greatest set that we noticed at this yr’s BottleRock Napa Valley, a three-day pageant that additionally featured such well-known headliners as Duran Duran, Pink Scorching Chili Peppers and Lizzo.
The 24-year-old bluesman proved to be an absolute pressure of nature throughout his hour-long set in Napa, sounding nice on the microphone and delivering among the most spectacular electrical guitar work that we’ve seen in years.
Put Kingfish down because the No. 1 act to catch on the 2023 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, which implies attending to Golden Gate Park early on Friday afternoon.
Particulars: 2:30 p.m.; Towers of Gold Stage
Cassandra Lewis: Some individuals apparently have a tough time discovering a becoming musical label for this Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s mixture of basic nation and psychedelic soul.
Effectively, heck, let’s simply ask her.
“When individuals ask, I simply inform them I create Cosmic Americana. Dolly Parton on acid. Janis Joplin on Jesus,” Lewis says on her web site. “I believe persons are beginning to get what which means.”
Really, we’re extra confused than ever after studying that description. However we’re nonetheless intrigued sufficient by what we’ve heard to need to examine Lewis out in live performance.
Particulars: 2:35 p.m.; Horseshoe Hill Stage
John Craigie: Positive, he initially hails from Los Angeles. However Northern California ought to take a minimum of partial credit score for this proficient troubadour, who attended UC Santa Cruz and actually noticed his musical profession take off whereas residing within the space.
Over the course of a number of acclaimed albums, Craigie has drawn comparisons to Woody Guthrie, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger, which tells you extra about this singer-songwriter then we ever might.
Particulars: 3:20 p.m.; Swan Stage
Lilly Hiatt: Musical expertise runs in Hiatt’s blood, as she is the daughter of the legendary John Hiatt. And the 39-year-old singer-songwriter is unquestionably placing it to good use in a profession that now consists of 5 full-length albums.
The Los Angeles native, who grew up with Nashville, blends rock, pop, nation and people in ways in which ought to enchantment to followers of Jenny Lewis, Neko Case and Gillian Welch.
Particulars: 5 p.m.; Arrow Stage
Saturday, Sept. 30
Sunny Battle: The battle between one’s self-destructive facet and the facet that’s attempting to maintain issues all collectively performs out on this singer-songwriter’s fourth album, “Anarchist Gospel.”
“All people is a beast simply attempting their hardest to be good,” she says on her web site. “That’s what it’s to be human. You’re probably not good or unhealthy. You’re simply attempting to remain in the midst of these two issues on a regular basis, and also you’re in all probability doing an (expletive) job of it.”
Battle, nonetheless, does a superb job in analyzing such subjects and conflicts, providing up an intriguing mix of people and punk with loads of nice guitar work.
Particulars: 11 a.m.; Swan Stage
Rickie Lee Jones: The Chicago native is greatest remembered for her eponymous debut album from 1979, which flew all the way in which to No. 3 on the charts and helped Jones earn a Grammy for greatest new artist. A lot of the hullabaloo was over the omnipresent single “Chuck E.’s in Love,” which certainly will nonetheless immediate fairly a response from the group when Jones (hopefully) performs it at HSB.
Jones not too long ago launched her fifteenth studio album, “Items of Treasure,” which finds the vocalist overlaying 10 tunes from the Nice American Songbook.
Particulars: 4 p.m.; Banjo Stage
The Church: Speak about individuals exhibiting as much as hear a sure track, followers will certainly end up to sing together with The Church’s signature hit, “Underneath the Milky Manner.”
But, this Aussie act has a lot extra to supply than simply that 1988 new wave basic. Its discography now consists of extra two dozen albums, together with the cool “Underneath the Milky Manner” father or mother “Starfish” and this yr’s well-received “The Hypnogogue.”
Particulars: 5:55 p.m.; Swan Stage
Irma Thomas: Don’t miss the “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” who will certainly delight music lovers at Hardly Strictly together with her highly effective mixture of R&B, blues, gospel, pop and soul.
Thomas has been doing this for a very long time, having launched her debut single — the High 40 R&B quantity “Don’t Mess with My Man” — manner again in 1959.
Practically a half century later, the vocalist would win her first ever Grammy Award, for greatest modern blues album, for “After the Rain” in 2007.
Particulars: 6 p.m.; Rooster Stage
Sunday, Oct. 1
John Doe Folks Trio: Right here’s your likelihood to see a founding member of probably the greatest punk bands of all time — Los Angeles’ mighty X — carry out in a decidedly un-punk musical style. And, after all, that makes Doe much more punk rock!
The entire thing sounds superior to us, particularly if Doe decides to do a people model of “Nausea” at Hardly Strictly.
Particulars: 12:25 p.m.; Swan Stage
Gaby Moreno: We had the prospect to see the Guatemalan singer-songwriter open for Nickel Creek earlier this yr and might attest that she is an absolute a pleasure to behold on the reside stage, mixing jazz, pop, blues, people and Latin in methods which are fairly charming.
Even when you don’t know the title, you in all probability know a minimum of a few of her music, on condition that Moreno is liable for the Emmy-nominated theme track to the long-lasting NBC TV present “Parks and Recreation.” She additionally co-wrote and carried out the track “Por Que Te Vas” for DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Final Want.”
Particulars: 12:55 p.m.; Banjo Stage
Valerie June: The Tennessee expertise has earned reward from quite a few critics in addition to reportedly from one explicit listener who is aware of a little bit one thing about high quality songwriting — the one and solely Bob Dylan.
It’s simple to grasp why Dylan and a number of scribes are cheering June on: Simply take heed to the singer-songwriter mix pop, people, gospel, soul, blues, nation and different sounds on her newest album, “The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers,” which is her third launch for Fantasy Data.
Particulars: 2:05 p.m.; Swan Stage
