Hoxeyville Music Festival

August 20 – 22, 2010

GloNo correspondents Jeff Sabatini and Mike Vasquez spent three days in Northern Michigan at the Hoxeyville Music Festival in late August. It was full of pleasant musical surprises. And a torrential rain storm Friday night. But our new REI Basecamp 4 tent kept us dry, and it was a great three days of music. Here are some highlights. Look for a full review of the festival from Jeff soon.

1. Paul Hoffman vs. Seth Bernard – “Cortez the Killer” (Hoxeyville stage, Saturday morning, Aug 21, 2010)

The set by these two guys was one of the highlights of the festival for me. First, they start off with a cover of “Cortez,” just the two of them. Great mandolin solo by Paul Hoffman, who plays with Greensky Bluegrass. Seth Bernard was new to me – another Michigander – and I was mightily impressed by his playing, his songcraft, and his stage presence.

Follow the jump for more live mp3s from Hoxeyville 2010. Check out the GloNo Hoxeyville 2010 photo vault, too.

2. Cornmeal – “River Gap” (Hoxeyville stage, Friday afternoon, Aug 20, 2010)

Cornmeal does prog-grass: prog rock meets bluegrass. This song is the most extreme of the prog-grass in their set, clocking in around 17 minutes. Seriously. The whole Zappa jazz rock jam in the middle was outstanding, particularly the sounds the violinist was getting out of her instrument: some Jean-Luc Ponty sheet from like 9 min in until they roll back into the bluegrass portion of the song at the end. Zappa-esque, no question. Just a jam. Hot, hot, hot.

3. Steve Kimock Crazy Engine – “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” (Hoxeyville stage, Friday afternoon, Aug 20, 2010)

When Kimock broke this out, I knew it was going to be a great night. And it was. Despite the torrential rain and my brief stay in a port-a-potty to avoid the start, and the worst, of the dowpour. But that was after Kimock. He had Melvin Seals playing with him, who does some amazing organ work in this song, plus a young hotshot on drums, and a rock steady bass player holding it all together.

4. The Ragbirds – “Good” (Cadillac stage, Saturday afternoon, Aug 21, 2010)

Remember enjoying them, but I was rushing between stages at the time and only got to hear some of their set. I did like this song, “Good,” quite a bit. Michigan band.

5. Greensky Bluegrass w/ Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart – “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” (Hoxeyville stage, Saturday evening, Aug 21, 2010)

The Rhythm Devils stepped out for this one, and the crowd got super animated. All the other artists that were playing were in the photo pit with us, and everyone was grinning from ear to ear to see these two playing together.

6. Keller Williams – “Birdsong” (Hoxeyville stage, Saturday evening, Aug 21, 2010)

Keller provides a nice rendition of “Birdsong” here, ably accompanied, as usual, by himself. I got pretty excited when he broke this one out. I’m pretty sure I’m one of those “whoops!” in the audio when he breaks into the signature riff. Good times.

7. Justin Townes Earle – “Harlem River Blues”. (Hoxeyville stage, Sunday evening, Aug 22, 2010)

Earle played with a fiddle player for about half his set. He did a good job of engaging with the crowd. This is the title track on his new album, being released on September 14.

8. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – “Gimme Some of That Funky Stuff” (Hoxeyville stage, Sunday evening, Aug 22, 2010)

“The answer to your question is I never get enough.” KDTU rocked the house, bringing something unlike any of the other bands to the stage: West Coast funk/jazz/rock. Very tight band, and Denson is a great band leader, bringing together a set of musical styles the world needs to see and hear blended together.

(Thanks to these bands for their liberal taping policies, the tapers for taping and sharing the recordings, and Live Music Archive for storing it all. All praise to the Internets and their tubes.)

All MP3s courtesy of the Live Music Archive. Donate.