A lot of artists can stand on a stage and sing. The great ones reach into your brain and create inimitable memories. The great ones entertain.
“And when you really reach the people in the crowd and communicate with them, that’s when they get their money’s worth,” says Jimmy Hall, lead singer for Wet Willie, the iconic Southern rock super-group that will strive to create memories and entertain and give the crowd its money’s worth as headliners at the Sautee Jamboree.
The two-day music and arts festival returns for its sixth year at the Sautee Nacoochee Center, Sept. 23-24, with another diverse lineup of artists, a blend of familiar favorites and some making their Sautee debut.
“We always try to mix it up a little bit, present something that we know our audience loves as well as something they might not have seen around here before,” says festival co-producer Tommy Deadwyler. “There definitely is that pleasing sense of the old and new coming together at this year’s Jamboree.”
Returning for a sixth straight Jamboree is Jeff Mosier. The banjo-playing vocalist – the Rev. – who helped inaugurate the festival as the front-man of BluegroundUndergrass, has been touring the past couple of years with the Mosier Brothers Band, which includes his guitarist brother Johnny Mosier and their longtime collaborator, fiddler wizard David Blackmon. “It just doesn’t feel like a Sautee Jamboree without Jeff and Johnny and David,” Deadwyler says.
Davin McCoy and The Coming Attractions return for a second straight year. So does Michelle Malone, who closed last year’s festival with a riveting Saturday night performance. Other artists familiar to the Sautee crowd, from the Jamboree and other regional events, are Sol Driven Train, Lefty Williams and Carly Gibson.
Making their Jamboree debut:
• American Anodyne features Jamboree co-producer Chris Thacker on lead guitar, who is reunited with former Big City Sunrise drummer Kevin Rainwater. Erick Jones (lead singer) and Justin Minchew (bass) complete the jagged-edged country rock quartet.
• Insonnia, led by virtuoso guitarist Curtis Jones, brings a high-energy worldly fusion of flamenco, jazz, Brazilian and acoustic music to the outdoor stage. The trio includes keyboardist/vocalist Pete Orenstein and drummer Mark Letalien.
• Larkin Poe is centered around songwriting, multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, who melted hearts around the world while touring as two-thirds of the Lovell Sisters band. According to Elvis Costello, one of their collaborators, they’re “already gifted as instrumentalists and, having a head start on the rest of us with the unique power and beauty of sibling harmony in their vocal blend, their songwriting has leapt forward and now surprises and delights in equal measure.”
• Shovels & Rope are Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent who – armed with guitars, a drum kit harvested from trash, harmonicas, voices and songs – say they prefer to keep it simple while blowing audiences away with their folk rock, sloppy tonk harmonies.
• "Home Grown Revival is the real thing. Their guileless melodies and lyrics ring true with the voice of experience, ranging from haunting, ephemeral stories of the hardships and joys of mountain living to biting political commentary. Beautiful harmonies and badass picking - what more could you want?" John Keene.
• Wet Willie with lead singer Jimmy Hall on harmonica and sax. He has been called the best Southern rock singer by Widespread Panic’s John Bell, and “the best white R&B singer alive,” by guitarist Steve Cropper.
Wet Willie, with roots in Mobile, Ala., became one of Capricorn Records’ great success stories, a rock and soul/blues and roll family affair and one of the most respected Southern rock bands – along with the likes of the Allman Brothers – to emerge from the Macon music production machine. Hall’s brother Jack played bass and their sister Donna sang backup as one of “the Williettes.” The three siblings still play together in the band.
Though Wet Willie split in 1980, the band, with most of the original nucleus intact, reunites to tour periodically. And even though Jimmy Hall achieved soaring success as a solo artist and collaborator with a diverse array of musicians, from Jeff Beck to Hank Williams Jr. (he was nominated for a Grammy for his work with Beck), he’ll always be best known for co-writing and singing Wet Willie’s greatest hit, Keep on Smiling.
“Every time I play that song, I run into a new story from someone who was touched in some way by it,” says Hall. “You know, someone who says, ‘your song really pulled me through,’ or ‘that song really encouraged me when I needed it.’ People really relate to that song.”
Wet Willie will provide the exclamation point this year, taking the stage somewhere around 9 or 10 p.m. Saturday night.
Box office for the sixth annual Sautee Jamboree opens at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, and again at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24th. Tickets are $46 Sautee Nacoochee Community Association Member Tickets are $40.
Free camping is available on site, and campers may begin setting up noon. There is a limited amount of free parking around the venue, and multiple sites around the Sautee Center at $5 per car .
Plenty of water, soft drinks, beer, wine and food will be available in the venue.
For tickets and more information call the Center Box Office at 706-878-3300.
Thank you for your interest in the 6th Annual Sautee Jamboree. We would like to provide our patrons with information and as much detail as possible concerning the weekend. If you have any questions after going through the following list, please contact us by sending an email to tdeadwyler@snca.org or by calling SNCA, Monday thru Friday between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm at 706-878-3300. Remember, Sautee Jamboree is a family friendly environment and all patrons are asked to respect this.
Box office opens at 5:00 pm on Friday 9/23.
No early chairs or admittance.
Box office opens at 10:00 am on Saturday 9/24.
Camping available onsite.
Campers can begin set up at noon on Friday.
Camping is primitive. No showers or running water.
Portable toilets are available.
No campfires allowed.
Bring blankets and/or chairs for venue.
NO CANOPY TENTS.
Free Parking is limited. There will be multiple sites
around the center available for $5.00 per car.
Please consider sharing a ride.
NO coolers allowed inside the venue area.
Coolers allowed only at camp sites.
There will be plenty of food, water, soft drinks,
beer and
wine for sale inside the venue.
A non-smoking area has been designated in the
lawn area
between the sound board and the stage.
You may smoke
in the elevated area of the venue.
No matter where you
smoke while in the festival
or the campground, please
place your butts in
an appropriate trash receptacle!
Thanks for your cooperation.
Credit Cards accepted only at Box Office.
Bring Cash.
There is no ATM on site.
The closest ATM will
be in Helen,
which is 4 miles from venue.
NO DOGS in the venue or campsites. Guide dogs are the only exception.
If it is illegal outside,
it is illegal inside the
festival grounds.
... "Wet Willie, after The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd, was the hardest-rocking of the Southern bands to come to national attention in the early '70s. For seven years, from 1971 until 1978, they produced an enviable array of albums awash in good-time music, rollicking high-energy blues-rock, and white Southern soul. The band had a Top Ten hit with "Keep On Smilin'" and several other chart toppers, including “Weekend,” “Airport”
and “Dixie Rock,” and a lot of admirers. In contrast to The Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie was a band closer in spirit to Booker T. & the MG's,
much more steeped in sweaty, good-time R&B than the blues-rock of the label-mates The Allman Brothers Band or the country-rock of the Marshall
Tucker Band. ... Wet Willie, originally called Fox, was formed in Mobile, AL, in 1969, behind the powerful vocals and distinctive sax of Jimmy Hall, with Jimmy's brother Jack on bass and banjo, Ricky Hirsch on lead and slide guitars and mandolin (as well as writing a lot of the songs), Lewis Ross on drums, and John Anthony playing the keyboards. Mike Dukes also had a tenure with Wet Willie on Key Boards in the 70s. The band counted the Rolling Stones
and the Animals among their influences, but their sound was closer in spirit to early Otis Redding or Little Richard, which made the move to Macon, GA,
in early 1970 a natural one, the town being Richard Penniman's onetime home, as well as the headquarters of Capricorn Records, the company run by Redding's onetime manager, Phil Walden. Wet Willie auditioned for Capricorn that summer and were at work on their debut album by the fall of that
same year. ... Their first album was appropriately titled Wet Willie, while their second album titled Drippin’ Wet, a live recording, broke the band onto the charts. The group's third studio release, Keep On Smilin', finally gave them a hit with the title track, and yielded a handful of other popular tracks. The addition of the female backing group, the Williettes, only opened the group's sound out further with a gospel and soul sensibility. Dixie Rock and Wetter the Better followed in short order, with a hit single "Dixie Rock." The band issued one final album on Capricorn in 1977, which was followed by Wet Willie's Greatest Hits. ...
Around this time, the group went through a series of internal shifts and it next emerged in 1978 with new lineup and a new contract with Epic Records. Joining Jimmy and Jack Hall were three additional singers (in addition to keyboardist Mike Duke, guitarist Marshall Smith and drummer Theophilus K. Lively) contributed to the amazing vocals and harmonies. The band added a third guitarist, Larry Berwald. The result was the stellar Manorisms album, which showcased beautiful harmonies and a touch of pop with soul stylings that occasionally had the group crossing successfully close to Motown territory, only a lot hotter and sweatier. The band released one more album, Which One's Willie? in 1979. ... In the 1990s, Wet Willie re-formed around a core of siblings Jimmy Hall, Jack Hall and Donna Hall, together with keyboardist John Anthony, guitarist Ricky Hirsch, and other musician, including Smith, Duke, and Lively. The band has continued to tour since then, and is now headlining major festivals. The band is set to record their first live album since 1977, and their first release since 1979 on June 25 at the Cox Capitol Theatre in Macon, GA, which will be released on Hittin’ the Note Records in the Fall of 2011. ...In 1996, Wet Willie was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and, in March of 2001, the band was inducted into the Alabama Music
Hall of Fame.
...Sol Driven Train’s music weaves through genres like images in a Tom Robbins paragraph. The band’s sonic schizophrenia absorbs songwriting influences like Jon Prine and Paul Simon, and afro-caribbean rhythmic explorations, into honest songs of life, love, loss, and long johns. The 5-piece band, based in Charleston, SC, features rotating lead vocalists, and multi-instrumental talent spread across horns, strings, and percussion. The band members share a musical history dating back to childhood, and their music and live shows are filled with a spirit of positivity and joy, even while traversing subjects of suffering and death. ...Sol Driven Train is a band in motion. Perpetually piling on and off the bus, the momentum of their hard work and heart-felt music propels the group in front of growing crowds across the country. At shows, the band members bounce to the pulse of the music along with the crowd. Stylistically the band seamlessly mixes Allmanesque Southern rock, languid world-beat, swampy funk and downright catchy melodies as they swap lead singers and instruments. A punchy horn section adds an extra dimension of sweaty soul‚ (Atlanta Creative Loafing, 11/21/06). “Believe,” the band’s 8th independent release, is earning critical praise and quickly gaining the band many new fans through national radio airplay. ...Since the fall of 2005, “the train”¬†has been touring full-time, averaging 150 shows per year at festivals, theaters, and bars. In the spring of 2010, they celebrated their 1,000th live show and ten years together as a band. In those ten winding years they have shared stages and bills with a diverse array of artists including Micheal Franti, Richie Havens, Keller Williams, Arlo Guthrie, and Blues Traveler. Despite the pace, the band takes time on the road to enjoy outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting, surfing, rock climbing, and cloud gazing. The tour schedule has begun to resemble the nomadic wanderings of a raft guide, ski bum, and itinerant surfer racing between the mountains and the beach.
...Michelle Malone is an Internationally acclaimed Roots Rock and Blues singer, songwriter and slide guitarist.
Malone, who hails from Atlanta, has won numerous Creative Loafing and Atlanta Magazine Awards including Album of the Year, Best Female Vocalist(4x) and Best Acoustic Guitarist (2x). Her last 2 CD's (Sugar Foot and Debris) were on the Grammy ballot for best Contemporary Blues and Best Americana Albums. ... Her award-winning songs have appeared in motion pictures, television shows, and have been recorded by the Indigo Girls, Antigone Rising, and Vistoso Bosses.
She has shared the stage with everyone from Dave Matthews to ZZ Top, from Ellen Degeneres to John Mayer.
Michelle Malone's live show is not to be missed. ... She can make the biggest venue as cozy as a campfire and an intimate venue feel like the center of the universe.
Michelle is currently touring on her 10th CD, Debris, released on her own SBS Records label.
...For the past 5 years, soul singing, songwriting sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell of Larkin
Poe have been captivating audiences around the world with their insightful lyrics, magnetic
presence, and dazzling instrumental virtuosity. ... NoDepression.com says: “Larkin Poe brings together emotional expressiveness, beautiful
melodies, technical mastery, and tasteful restraint in a way that's tremendously compelling.” ... From the stage of the Grand Ole Opry to the hippy-fest Bonnaroo, these chameleon
performers continue to impress and mature, attracting attention from music lover and
celebrity alike. In the words of Elvis Costello they’re "already gifted as instrumentalists and,
having a head start on the rest of us with the unique power and beauty of sibling harmony in
their vocal blend, their songwriting has leapt forward and now surprises and delights in
equal measure."
...Twenty-five years ago, Jeff and Johnny Mosier started playing banjo and guitar for fun in church or wherever people needed or wanted to hear bluegrass. As time went on, they developed a repertoire based mostly on the request that they received at parties and picnics. Then in the mid-eighties , they began their connection with WRFG 89.3 in Atlanta as they created and produced "Born in a Barn" a weekly bluegrass radio show featuring a mix of new and old bluegrass recordings as well as live music, interviews and the ever popular "phone festival" - the segment of the program where people could call them and jam with them on the radio live. Jeff says, "Not everybody is lucky enough to play music with their family. Words can't describe how wonderful it is to play music with your on brother." With their tight harmonies and impromptu style of bluegrass, the magic begins with the very first note and always leaves you wanting more.
...Necessity is the mother of invention. Less is more. Make it work with
what you've got. 2 Guitars, a junkyard drum kit harvested from an
actual garbage heap and adorned with tambourines, flowers and
kitchen rags. A handful of harmonicas, voices, and above all..
songs. Shovels & Rope prefer to keep it simple. They have cleverly
managed to take 3 separate recording projects and combine them
into 1 cohesive, folk rock, sloppy tonk, harmonized, loose but tight,
streamlined audience killing machine.
Michael Trent (Texas/Colorado) has just released his second solo
album entitled "The Winner", and Cary Ann Hearst
(Mississippi/Tennessee) is about to release her second record "Lions & Lambs". Together hey have one duo release entitled "Shovels &
Rope" which came out in 2008 and are currently working on the
follow up "Shovels & Rope V.2" in their house, van, and backyard. At
the shows, expect to hear a little something from any or all of these
releases while the duo switch instruments and share lead vocal
duties. Also prepare to rethink your definition of a live rock band.
...“Sometimes I feel completely disingenuous, the one place I have never felt that way is in music.” – Davin McCoy. As an 8 year old, Davin McCoy would whistle “Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay” in his sleep. The well of creative passion was beginning to seep. Born in Albany, Georgia and raised in separate households, Davin’s inherit gift and calling for music would finally manifest at age 12, when he found the guitar. Shortly thereafter, Davin began writing his own songs—musical emotion and expression akin to Cat Stevens, Van Morrison and of course, Otis Redding. After a short stint at the University of Hawaii, Davin succumbed to his calling and began his life-long dedication to writing and performing; to observing and inspiring. At 21, Davin teamed up with Clay Cook (John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, Zack Brown, Marshall Tucker) to record his first full length musical effort 40 Days From Friday. Unyielding to fear and eager for experience, Davin quickly shipped off to London where he would take up a publishing deal and continue to write and perform. As the intensity and efficacy of his writing grew, the urge to live and feel and the apparent need to travel and encounter became clearer. Davin’s music would take him over oceans and across continents, from London to L.A., and to Florida via New York. Perhaps in the realization of his roots, Davin returned to Georgia, where parallel destinies converged and a long overdue meeting took place with music legend Davis Causey (Sea Level, Allman Bros.). Recording sessions with Causey led to the creation of So Good, So Cruel, Davin’s newest album and his most inspired work. Inspiring indeed, as Causey would need to hail the talents of masters and former Sea Level band mates Randall Bramblett and Chuck Leavell (Allman Bros, Rolling Stones, Sea Level) to play on the record along with a borrowed Widespread Panic horn section. Together with Casey Crogan on the drums, Davin and company made magic in the studio. Calling on every influence available, there was never an attempt to hide where the bodies in this collection of sure to be classic, timeless songs were buried. Ease back in your chair. Listen closely while Davin McCoy & The Coming Attractions, Casey O’Brien Crogan on drums and Brendan Sean McMackin on blues harp, make magic on stage.
...Lefty Williams is fast becoming a well-known guitarist touring the entire South and rapidly growing his tour range and fans everywhere he performs. Recently featured on CNN News (worldwide) then picked up on CBS, FOX, NBC, and ABC across much of the U.S. Lefty performed over 200 dates in 2010 with his own brand of Southern Rock,Funk and Blues. Guitar Player, Relix, Vintage Guitar, Jambase, Hittin the Note and others have given him astounding music reviews. Recent highlights included Flyod Fest (Va.) and Magnolia Fest. (Fl.) Riverbend (TN.) Both CD's were produced by John Keane, Athens Ga.(REM, Indigo Girls, and Widespread Panic fame) Teaming with Keane, who says "Lefty's sound is a compelling combination of honest, heartfelt lyrics and masterful rhythm and blues muscle," Even more incredible is he has a missing right hand. Opened for Little Feat, Gov’t Mule, Tim Reynolds (Dave Mathews), Lee Roy Parnell,Jimmy Herring, Webb Wilder, Tinsley Ellis, Jimbo Mathis and many others.
...Soaked in moonshine and forged from gold, American Anodyne is a band melded in the furnace of Appalachia. These truly southern gentlemen are creating a brand of Americana reminiscent of ‘70’s outlaw country while embracing the sentiments of modern times. American Anodyne’s music tells tales of small town life and portrays the hardship of living in the ‘new depression’. With songs depicting a lust for the open road, heartbreaks, and handguns their no-holds-bar style of portraying life in the south is honest and authentic. Their first EP is scheduled for release in the spring of 2011.
...With its roots based in World Music, Insonnia blends Flamenco, Brazilian, Jazz, and New Acoustic music into a melodic and rhythmic sound all its own. Led by versatile guitarist and vocalist Curtis Jones, the group also includes Pete Orenstein on Piano, Organ, and Vocals, and Mark Letalien on Drums. Joining together in the late Spring of 2010 for an impromptu show, these seasoned musicians, with diverse musical backgrounds, soon discovered a unique chemistry which led to the decision to form a musical project. As rehearsals began, the band’s members soon found that although they had indeed come from a varied background, they shared a similar goal: creating innovative, unique and accessible music. Insonnia strives to bring excitement and intensity to everyone of its performances, making no two shows the same. The Spring of 2011 will see the release of their latest album and many shows to follow. Be sure to catch the musical union that is Insonnia!
...HomeGrown Revival formed in the fall of 2010 in Dahlonega Georgia. As the leaves piled up so did the sound of four friends lifting each other to higher ground, and HGR came to be. ...The best parts of making music with The HomeGrown Revival are the deep-seated camaraderies we share as a band, and knowing that our best friends' songs are being heard. HGR is a four-piece acoustic group of songwriters that started with good friends just jamming tunes and helping each other. As our lives grew more complex, and our solidarity became more important in the face of great challenges, the songs just started rolling out. ...Sharing this music amplifies our small voices as individuals and gives venue to the stories of our lives. In a culture often dominated and dazzled by the vain images of corporate media, this type of sharing in commonality becomes paramount and HGR is all over it - with love, rage, and respect. In the spirit of freedom and brotherhood, we hope to share the revival with many friends.
... Carly Gibson took to her guitar at age 12 as naturally as other people take to breathing. Surrounded by a love of music and learning how to play in earnest, she began to write her own songs in her early teens. Performing professionally since she was 15, Carly has been primarily a solo artist, though she occasionally plays with the swing/jazz ensemble Play It With Moxie. She auditioned for and was accepted into the guitar (2009) and the singer/songwriter (2010) programs at the GRAMMY Foundation’s prestigious GRAMMY Camp in Los Angeles, designed to allow talented young artists the opportunity to work, learn and play with the music industry’s top professionals (Rickey Minor, Lamont Dozier, Colbie Caillat and Darrell Brown, to name a few), as well as to study the music business
from the inside. While in Los Angeles, Carly collaborated and performed with other aspiring young musicians. ... Carly’s music resonates with the flavors that reflect her own diverse musical tastes and influences. Rock, jazz, folk, blues, Americana, bluegrass and funk all find their place in her repertoire. She counts among her influences such songwriters as Paula Cole, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Tori Amos, as well as guitarists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young and Michael Hedges.
