Old Settlers Music Festival 2015 Preview
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| Old Settlers Music Festival Crowd - 2014 |
By Sean Claes
This weekend is one of INsite's favorite festivals in the area, the Old Settler's Music Festival. Each year there has been some amazing acts come through the stages in Driftwood, Texas at the Salt Lick Pavillion and Camp Ben McCulloch. This year is no different.
The party begins April 16 and lasts through April 19. You can see the entire schedule via PDF here - link.
Thursday and Sunday are contained entirely at Camp Ben McCulloch (The Campground Stage). Friday and Saturday you can get your fill of music and Salt Lick BBQ at the Salt Lick Pavillion area which will boast two outdoor stages and a "workshop" stage indoors.
Big headliners this year include The Mavericks, Robert Earl Keen and Ray Wylie Hubbard and there's some great acts this year including Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis, Milkdrive and Sam Bush. For the purpose of this preview, I'm going to pick three bands of whom you may not have heard to spotlight, because I think you should check them out. They are Roxy Roca, Shinyribs and Israel Nash. Learn a little about them and check a video by them out below.
Hope to see you out there this weekend!
Roxy Roca
(Bluebonnet Stage - Friday 9:10p)
Roxy Roca has been playing around the Austin area for a few years now. When I caught them playing a small club a few years ago two things amazed me. 1. How could nine band members squeeze into that tight corner at Holy Mountain, and
2. How vocalist Taye Cannon could command the rooms attention like he was a Circuit Preacher and you had to hear the Good Word.
The music Roxy Roca plays will bring out the electric-guitar-and-horns and Cannon's raspy soul vocals will almost command a dance party to ensue... so Friday night after 9p outdoors at Old Settlers is a perfect place for them.
But don't take my word for it. check them out for yourself.
Here's the video for their first single from their February 2015 release Ain't Nothing Fancy - "Love Maker Deville."
(Bluebonnet Stage - Saturday 10:50p)
(Campground Stage - Sunday 4:00p)
Kevin Russell's musical journey has been a fascinating one to watch. For almost 20 years he was the frontman for the Gourds, a fantastic Shinyribs was a side project Russell began in 2007 while he was in the Gourds. With the Gourds on hiatus (Since October 2013) He's brought Shinyribs to the forefront. And it's glorious.
Shinyribs has an album, Okra Candy, that should drop this month (tentatively set for 4/21/15).... perhaps there will be a CD or two sold at the show.
Shinyribs has it's share of great original music, but much like many came to the Gourds from their great rendition of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" I came across a Shinyribs live version of "All About The Bass" that is totally worth a listen. BUT, becasue I want to focus on their original music... here's their "Song of Lime Juice & Despair" from the band's 2013 release Gulf Coast Museum.
Israel Nash
(South Star Stage - Saturday 12:10p)
Hailing from Dripping Springs, Texas (By way of Missouri and New York) Israel Nash has been touring in support of his August 2014 release Rain Plains. His style of Americana kind of a 1970s classic rock twinge with some fantastic guitarwork and Nash's Neil Young-esque voice.
It's worth getting to OSMF early on Saturday to catch this act, you'll likely see him playing much larger stages soon enough.
Here's a video of him doing "Mansions" back in February of this year:
