That. Was. Fantastic. WMOT’s experienced and passionate (and woman run) team pulled it all together, lined up great music, got a little lucky with the weather, and our people turned out for a truly exceptional Roots On The Rivers. All afternoon and evening on Saturday, the grounds of Two Rivers Mansion rang with authentic music that touched some core genres in the Americana universe - modern folk, rock and roll, bluegrass, newgrass, and the blues. Our members and fans turned out in record numbers. And the artists generously embraced our Roots Radio community with very nice words live on the air for WMOT between their scorchin’ songs.
Photographer Kristen Drum was on the scene for us again, and here are some highlights of our day.
Our Program Director and ebullient emcee Jessie Scott is always on the cutting edge of the music, and she proved it again by signing up Noeline Hofmann to open the day. The native of Alberta, Canada was inspired by Colter Wall and Corb Lund, and now at only 21 years old the La Honda Records artist has a clear style and direction. Her mature melodies felt like the best of 1990s country music.
When we spoke with Aaron Lee Tasjan in advance of his set at ROTR, he talked about bringing a band that could nimbly negotiate the many styles of the albums he’s released over the past ten years. We hear material from In The Blazes of 2015, the iconic Silver Tears of 2016, and his latest, Stellar Evolution. That band tore it up, including some fierce twin guitar soloing by Tasjan and Laur Joamets. Sublime singer Kristina Train was an exciting walk on surprise.
The mood shifted again as Liz Longley took the stage to ease us into the late afternoon with songs of motherhood and perspective from her newest record New Life. Her voice is a serene dream, set off with exquisite backing from a small but effective band.
Speaking of great support, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes brought along the stellar pickers she’s been working with over the past year or two as a regular anchor of bluegrass at Dee’s Lounge on Monday nights - Frank Evans on banjo, Frank Rische on guitar, and Reed Stutz on mandolin. They blended finesse and fire in a set of songs largely from her Grammy nominated debut album I Built A World.
If nothing else, the past month will tell you that we at WMOT can keep a secret. It was a genuine surprise to most when Jessie told the crowd our “surprise guest” would be Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, the 26-year-old blues prodigy from Clarksdale, MS. As if his passionate, articulate soloing on stage wasn’t enough, he walked his baby blue Fender Telecaster Deluxe into the crowd and played for us up close.
Capping off a lovely day and night, Sam Bush brought his legendary band to the ROTR stage to play some of his most immortal material - “Riding The Bluegrass Train,” “Circles Around Me” and “Radio John,” his tribute to the great John Hartford who used to live above the very river that flowed nearby. Underneath the night sky with our silvery satellite cruising overhead, he sang “Howlin At The Moon” and we all felt it.
