San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Hardly Strictly must-sees
14 acts not to be missed in lineup can be seen with careful planning
ALISON KRAUSS
The lifelong bluegrass musician, who achieved mainstream fame with her contributions to the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack and partnership with Robert Plant on “Raising Sand,” is touring in support of 2017’s covers album, “Windy City.”
5:45 p.m. Friday. Banjo Stage.
BOOKER T. JONES STAX REVUE
The influential songwriter and organist, who was long ago inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as leader of Booker T. & the MG’s, revives the sound of Memphis’ Stax Records, where in addition to scoring the instrumental hit “Green Onions” he also
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass:
Noon-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. SaturdaySunday, Oct. 6-7. Free. Hellman Hollow, Marx and Lindley meadows in Golden Gate Park, S.F. www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com
made classic soul records with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and many more.
3:50 p.m. Sunday. Banjo Stage.
DEL MCCOURY BAND
Del McCoury, a veteran of Bill Monroe’s mid-1960s bluegrass group, is one of the mainstays of the Hardly Strictly stage. The family band, which includes Del’s sons Rob on banjo and Ronnie on mandolin, is showcasing traditional numbers alongside songs from its most recent release, “Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass.”
3 p.m. Sunday. Swan Stage.
GRAHAM NASH
The 76-year-old double Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is best known for the music he made with his partners in celestial harmony, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and sometimes Neil Young. In concert, he revisits the work he made with that group, as well as his British Invasion band the Hollies and solo, including songs from his most recent release, 2016’s “This Path Tonight.”
5 p.m. Saturday. Swan Stage.
HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF
Raised in the culturally vibrant Bronx and now living in New Orleans, after
stints in San Francisco and Nashville, songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra brings her eclectic influences to Hurray for the Riff Raff ’s 2017 album, “The Navigator” — a concept album that addresses socioeconomic issues such as gentrification and cultural and sexual identity through the conceit of time travel.
11:45 a.m. Saturday. Swan Stage.
I’M WITH HER
Well before Hillary Clinton adopted the phrase for her 2016 presidential campaign, the trio of folk musicians Sara Watkins (a founding member of bluegrass outfit Nickel Creek), Aoife O’Donovan (lead singer of Crooked Still) and Sarah Jarosz (a Grammy-winning solo artist) came together on a whim at the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The group released its debut album, “See You Around,” earlier this year.
12:35 p.m. Saturday. Towers of Gold Stage.
JEFF TWEEDY
Making a return appearance to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, having performed in 2014 with his son Spencer, the Wilco frontman is playing an acoustic solo set that finds him revisiting songs he previously recorded with the band, as well as side projects like Loose Fur and Golden Smog.
5:45 p.m. Saturday. Rooster Stage.
LOS LOBOS
The Los Angeles outfit has turned out its distinct brand of bilingual roots rock since 1973, and even a spell of mainstream fame — the 1987 cover of “La Bamba,” from the Ritchie Valens biopic of the same name — hasn’t deterred the band’s mission. With its core lineup still intact, it brings an impressive breadth of material, touching on everything from 1984’s “How Will the Wolf Survive?” to 2010’s “Tin Can Trust” (nominated for best Americana album at the Grammys), to the festival.
4 p.m. Saturday. Towers of Gold Stage.
MAVIS STAPLES
The 79-year-old soul great got her start in the family gospel group the Staple Singers, sang on the 1972 soul classic “I’ll Take You There,” and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She continues her impressive comeback, working on a pair of albums with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, appearing at festivals like Lollapalooza and BottleRock Napa Valley, and wowing crowds of all ages everywhere she goes.
4:15 p.m. Friday. Banjo Stage.
MOLLY TUTTLE
The 25-year-old award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been performing onstage for more than half her life. In 2017, the veteran of Cafe Du Nord’s Monday Night Hoot parties not only became the first woman to be nominated for guitar player of the year from the International Bluegrass Association, she also won. Tuttle is touring in support of her solo debut EP, “Rise.”
2:30 p.m. Saturday. Rooster Stage.
NANCY AND THE LAMBCHOPS
The family band is led by philanthropist Nancy Hellman Bechtle, whose late brother, Warren Hellman, founded and funded Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Bechtle, 80, released her first-ever original song, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff,” in 2017, just two years after breaking out with her own act from the Hellman Family Band.
1:25 p.m. Sunday. Bandwagon Stage.
ROBYN HITCHCOCK
The singer-songwriter has spent the past four decades pumping out his own skewed brand of English psychedelic rock; from his early days as a member of the Soft Boys to his wildly eclectic solo years. In thrall of the Beatles and Syd Barrett, Hitchcock has played with musicians such as Gillian Welch, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Ministry’s Bill Rieflin. On this tour, which he’s dubbed an “electrospective,” he revisits work from throughout his 40-year career alongside material from his 2017 self-titled album.
3:40 p.m. Sunday. Porch Stage.
ROKY ERICKSON
The leader of the 1960s psychedelic band the 13th Floor Elevators, whose life was derailed after he was arrested in Texas in 1969 for possession of a small amount of marijuana and pleaded insanity rather than face a stiff jail sentence, returns after years of therapy. He brings along urgent rock songs such as “I Walked With a Zombie” and “Two Headed Dog” that came after his incarceration.
5:40 p.m. Sunday. Rooster Stage.
VETIVER
With his sun-streaked melodies and gently strummed folk guitars, Andy Cabic has turned his band Vetiver into the go-to balm for these heady times — having risen from Devendra Banhart’s touring partners to the leading purveyors of West Coast pop. Many of the songs on the group’s latest album, “Complete Strangers,” were written on daily walks through Golden Gate Park.
11 a.m. Sunday. Rooster Stage.