Millpond brings back old favorites, new performers,
Local favorite Idle Hands Stringband returns
The Inyo Council for the Arts, organizers of the Millpond Music Festival, continues to release the lineup of performers that will take the stage at this year’s event.
The 2021 Millpound Music Festival is planned for Sept. 17 through Sept. 19 at the
Inyo County Millpond Recreation Area.
The three-day event includes eclectic musical acts as well as children’s activities, arts and crafts booths and food vendors.
Here are a few highlights:
The Idle Hands Stringband: The Idle Hands Stringband has been performing their own unique brand of traditional American music ever since their formation about 20 years ago.
The band has entertained audiences throughout the Eastern Sierra, from Ridgecrest to Reno, performing at such venues as the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City, the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining, the ICA Theater in Bishop, as well as past appearances at the Millpond
Music Festival.
Having played in interesting and far-flung locations across the Eastern Sierra, from the top of Mammoth Mountain to the salt flats of Keeler, the Idle Hands have earned themselves the nickname “The All-terrain String Band.” They specialize in American string band music from the mid 1800’s to the present, including old time, bluegrass, folk and progressive folk.
Lindsay Lou: Lindsay Lou has been making soulful, poignant music for the last decade. An undeniable powerhouse, Lou’s remarkable gifts as a singer, songwriter, musician and performer demand the listener’s attention. Her singing floats over the masterful playing and deep groove of her band with both a fierce intensity and a tender intimacy.
Born the daughter of a coal miner and the granddaughter of a Rainbow Gathering healer, Lou grew up with room in her heart for both blue collar grit and mystical mind expansion. She describes her family as a group of close knit creatives, their lives influenced heavily by her maternal grandmother’s radical ideals and zest for life. Surrounded by the Great Lakes and her musical family, she naturally rooted herself in the Michigan music community.
Raised with this sense of community, Lou recalls always being surrounded by music. So when the time came for her to join a band, for Lou, it felt like finding a home away from home. Her career, like her life, has been full of great moments of kismet. Growing up, Lou built her repertoire by practicing her vocals, and she picked up the guitar so she could play with her Uncle Stuckey. The skills she honed during the days of learning to sing and play with her family led to a wide variety of musical opportunities, singing in choir in high school, attending an elite summer program at Interlochen on scholarship, and winning awards for her talents.
It wasn’t before long that Lou began to tour with a band of her own, The Flatbellys, and later The Sweet Water Warblers.
Lou’s voice – and its unique ability to create an expansive, almost physically tangible soundscape – carries each of her songs forward. A trailblazer in the music community, Lou continues to push boundaries with a sincerity and grace that will disarm even the grumpiest of them.
Ozomatli: Ozomatli’s music is as multifaceted as its members and influences. Meeting as young political activists and musicians, the original band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 to play a notorious urban-latino-and-beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA
R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican ragga and Indian raga – all while following a key mantra: it will take you around the world by taking you around Los Angeles.
Their music has been recognized and celebrated widely – having won four Grammy Awards and serving as official U.S. cultural ambassadors, playing to audiences around the world. In the city of LA, April 23 is designated Ozomatli Day in recognition of their immense contribution to the cultural life of their city. Millpond Music Festival organizers say they are so excited to have them as the event’s closing act Saturday night.
IF YOU WANT TO GO
The Millpond Music Festival is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Sept. 17-19, at the Millpond County Park. Tickets and more information are available at Inyo Council for the Arts: 760-8738014, www.inyo.org/millpond, 150 Willow St. in Bishop.