thePULSEBy Tim Branch
Come celebrate the 10th Annual StrangeCreek Campout at Camp KeeWanee in Greenfield, MA. Brought to you by the kind folks at Wormtown Trading, this year’s StrangeCreek will be better than ever with an outstanding musical line-up headlined by Max Creek, Strangefolk, and Donna the Buffalo. The weekend will also feature 80 musical acts inclduing: Ryan Montbleau Band, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Toubab Krewe, Kung Fu, Jimkata, Dopapod, Adam Ezra Group, Cabinet, The Alchemystics, Van Martin, Rhythm Inc, The McLovins, and many, many more! Additionally, several bands were just added through their victory at the StrangeCreek Battle of the Bands. Congratulations to Rebel Alliance, The Jauntee, and Relative Souls!
In addition to great music, StrangeCreek also features three nights of wooded camping, FireWormz fire spinning show, food and crafts vendors, community bonfire, cabin jams, roaming entertainers, and plenty of good times. Coolers and grills are welcome. This event sold out last year, and has become a staple of the festival calendar. Many folks view the StrangeCreek Campout as the start of festival season, when the Northeast’s music fans come and bask in the sunshine at Camp KeeWanee.
The StrangeCreek experience embodies a true sense of community and compassion in a beautiful, scenic setting.There is something for everyone at this festival, where culture and diversity are celebrated through music, nature, and the people that gather. StrangeCreek is very much a family-friendly festival. The Fest has a special Kid’s Cabin, featuring arts and crafts, face painting, and more. A big part of the StrangeCreek experience involves giving back. A portion of the festival’s proceeds goes back to Camp KeeWanee – a summer day camp for children. Camp KeeWanee provides a safe, nurturing environment for children where they develop self-esteem through exploring nature and the arts.
Other beneficiaries of StrangeCreek include the town of Greenfield, and Camp Quinebaug, a summer camp for children and young adults with special needs. Strangers Helping Strangers will once again host a food drive for the Franklin County Community Meals Program.
Purveyors of a genre and a way of life, Max Creek celebrated their fortieth anniversary last year. They made it through the seventies, and they’re still going. Max Creek is a living, breathing historical study in a hugely significant yet too-oft overlooked American subculture: the jam band. Glide Magazine writer Shane Handler got it right when he issued high praise for Max Creek saying “Bands like Phish, moe., Blues Traveler, the Disco Biscuits and others are the trees in Max Creek’s seeds of a thriving Northeast music scene that encourages live risk taking on stage and playing according to the feel of the present moment.”
At the heart of Strangefolk‘s songwriting is a seamless blend of narrative lyrical content and inventive melody. Rock, folk, blues, and bluegrass influences converge to create an instantly recognizable sound, which keeps Strangefolk’s listeners moving from start to finish. When punctuated with Strangefolk’s trademark three-part harmonies and soaring lead guitars, the band’s unique songwriting ability develops a natural avenue for the band to extend themselves in a live setting. The result is one of the more gratifying live music experiences around. Their live releases showcase the band’s depth, variety, and continued growth as songwriters and musicians.
Donna the Buffalo‘s feel-good, groove-oriented, danceable, and often socially conscious music all began over twenty years ago with roots in old time fiddle music that evolved into a soulful electric Americana mix infused with elements of cajun / zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country. Donna the Buffalo is known for touring the country remaining fiercely independent as one of the industry’s most diverse roots-music bands and has “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today” praises Encore.
Some music cannot be found on a map or within iTunes categories. Some music is so original it seems snatched from the great, invisible substrata that runs below all human activity, a sound aching to be born without a flag or fixed allegiance – free, questing, overflowing with immediate, tangible life. This is the music of Toubab Krewe, the vibrant Asheville, NC-based instrumental powerhouse that creates a sonic Pangaea that lustily swirls together rock, African traditions, jam sensibilities, international folk strains and more.
Fueled by their passion to explore beyond the edges of traditional musical boundaries and their diverse ethnic and musical backgrounds, the Alchemystics blend reggae, politically infused hip-hop, gritty soul, hard-driving rock, and pulsing Jamaican, Cuban and Trinidadian rhythms into an utterly unique and distinctively original new sound. The result is modern-day roots music with global appeal – an alchemy of ancient musical traditions; intricate, intelligent wordplay; elementally raw soul; irresistible hooks; deep, driving rhythms; and old-school vocal harmonies – fired by the Alchemystic’s unique blend of intensity, passion, and sheer artistic chemistry into a powerful, contemporary, and unmistakable sound.
With a definitive sound that combines elements of radio rock and funk, Rustic Overtones are one of the most powerful live bands that you will see, ever. Dave Gutter’s mind works in mysterious ways, and the resultant sound and fury set the Rustic Overtones apart. Having survived one of the most contentious record label battles in the history of recorded music, the band has risen from the music industry wasteland to recapture the energy and enthusiasm that heralded their arrival on the music scene over a decade ago. Now with this renewed fire, they are taking to the road from their Portland, ME homes and will not rest until everyone in the world understands the power of the Overtones, Rustic.
Carbon Leaf‘s brand of rootsy, Celtic-influenced rock originated in Richmond, VA. The band built up a considerable following and were soon releasing albums through their own label. In 2001, Carbon Leaf debuted a more mature sound with the album Echo Echo and won a Coca-Cola-sponsored unsigned band contest that landed them a performance on the American Music Awards.
Songs for Ryan Montbleau typically need to simmer. In his 10-year career this gifted singer and his limber band have built their catalog the old-fashioned way, by introducing new songs to their live set, then bending and shaping them over dozens of performances before committing a definitive version to the hard drive.
In the summer of 1969, John Dawson was looking to showcase his songs while Jerry Garcia was looking to practice his brand new pedal steel guitar. The two played in coffeehouses and small clubs initially, and the music they made became the nucleus for a band—the New Riders of the Purple Sage.
The Adam Ezra Group (AEG) is constantly proving that they are more than just a band, musically, personally, and socially. Selling records and tickets is important to AEG, but they are committed to changing the world with their songs and their actions along the way. Ezra has spent time living out of a van, farming in Canada, volunteering for the relief effort in Kosovo, and practicing environmental geography in South Africa. Whether as a kitchen hand or carpenter, teacher, athlete, or traveler, Ezra crams it all into the music, always challenging our perspective and often teetering somewhere between the ballsy rocker and sensitive poet. 
When it comes to the music of Cabinet, the essential bywords are soul, simplicity, and serious musicianship. In concert, the combination of these qualities invariably yields an experience that is so celebratory and moving that the very word Cabinet takes on a new, vivid meaning for anyone in the audience. An inclusive and engaging energy is the uniting through-line as Cabinet weaves bluegrass, country and folk influences to powerful effect. Tight dynamics punctuate gorgeous, soaring harmonies as down-to-earth rhythm and lyrics give way to dreamy jams that are the musical equivalent of the back road scenic route.
Van Gordon Martin is a dynamic virtuoso of the guitar. From slapping it like a bass to playing mind bending solos, he derives textures as diverse as his Chicago roots. From the island sounds of reggae to gritty soul, blues, and r&b, VGM covers all the bases. As a youth, he was a National Merritt scholar in jazz guitar before going on to study for a short time at Berklee Collage of Music in Boston. At age 19, he played his first show with legendary Parliament Funkadelic keybordist and musical director, Bernie Worrell. As former Lead Guitarist and song writer for Boston based band Spiritual Rez, Van has shared stages with the likes of George Clinton and PFunk, Toots and the Maytals, Steel Pulse, Barrington Levy, and Gregory Issacs.
Dopapod exists at the crossroads of full throttle intensity, deep pocket groove, intricate technicality, and limitless experimentation. With no regard towards limiting themselves to stylistic boundaries, the sound that emerges from the quartet both live and in the studio is as varied and diverse as the many influences that they adapt from. Their approach and commitment to complementing a distinct genre bending sound to top-notch musicianship has set them apart from many of their contemporaries and keeps music lovers eagerly returning to shows.
The Boston Globe exclaims “Lovewhip has a celebratory and upbeat feel that has kept crowds dancing everywhere they play!” Lovewhip combines the best of world and reggae dance rhythms with 80’s synth and electro beats, creating what The Boston Herald describes as an “irresistible party soundtrack!” Think B-52’s, Talking Heads, MIA, Blondie, and Gwen Stefani all rolled into one. Lovewhip’s busy touring schedule keeps them on the road for 150+ shows a year around the country where they have opened for such national acts as the B-52’s, the Scissor Sisters, the Tom Tom Club, and Third World.
Proud to be firmly installed in 2012’s new-funk movement, KUNG FU is quickly popularizing their unique sonic contribution, blurring the line between intense electro-fusion, and blistering dance arrangements. Making fusion music “cool” again, the band draws on influences such as early Headhunters and Weather Report, and merges those ideas with a contemporary EDM informed sensibility. Imagine 70’s funk-fusion meets a modern dance party!
May 25th – 28th at Camp KeeWanee
1 Health Camp Road, Greenfield, MA
All Ages | Tickets: $95 adv/$110 week – Ages 12 and under free
For more information, including a full list of performers, visit strangecreekcampout.com and www.facebook.com/WormtownTradingCo.
