Virginia is for Lovers

Oh.

My. 

Floydfest. 

I can probably classify this weekend up there with the Dave Matthews concert weekend I went to last year...and it can be described in one word; life changing (shoot, I guess that's two. Can I hyphenate that?)

There was incredible music,

there was dancing

there was yoga in front of the main stage,

there was camping,

there was good beer,

there was yiradaki (digeridoo) making

there was hiking through the Blue Ridge Mountains

...aaaand, there was an engagement! Yep, Brandon asked me to marry him while we were there!!

This was the tenth anniversary of Floydfest and they really made it a wonderful event. The only band that I actually knew was Railroad Earth, but we saw a ton of other artists and absolutely had a blast exploring new music. Railroad Earth had been playing Floydfest for nine out of the last ten years, which I think is just amazing

At the beer tent(s) you bought a stainless steel cup and beer tickets and you could just use your cup over and over. The woman at the ticket counter said it cut down on a ridiculous amount of trash. I loved how environmentally friendly the whole festival was. They even had water fill-up stations that you could bring you water bottle too, none of the vendors actually sold bottled water.

One of the coolest things (in my opinion) about Floydfest, was their "Under the Radar" series. There were probably 25 different artists that were new to Floydfest, you could vote for your favorite and the group who won won a main stage performance next year, some recording sessions, money for a new microphone and all kinds of great stuff. Those performances were some of my favorite ones, especially Bryan Elijah Smith and the Wild Hearts, the Boatmen, and Big Something. For the record, I voted for Bryan Elijah Smith...we won all of their albums in a dance contest during their set.

If you're looking for some all-encompassing awesomess in a music festival, then Floydfest is it. It's definitely an event that we are going to continue going to.

Love. Floydfest.

Beccafest

Tomorrow, I'll be getting up before the ass crack of dawn to head down to Floyd, VA for Floydfest. The trip promises to open my eyes to some new music, and I absolutely cannot wait for the opportunity! Why? Because...

I LOVE MUSIC!

Since I'm about to become enlightened to all that Floydfest has to offer, I wanted to share some of my favorite music with you and {hopefully} give you a chance to learn about a few new songs and new artists. I'm calling the musical entree I'm about to serve up, Beccafest.


The Beccafest line-up includes (but is not limited to):

Railroad Earth

These guys are a new discovery for me and I'm completely in love (and I get to see them at Floydfest!) If you put Railroad Earth into Pandora, you'll probably get a whole lot of bluegrass music, but they are so much more than that. They've got some really sweet instrumental songs too. The video (above) is one of my favorites.

Xavier Rudd

 

If you don't already know him, you definitely need to check him out. I've seen him live and his is probably one of the most talented musicians I've ever seen, in terms of how many instruments he can play at once. Some of his solo songs can sound like a full band, it absolutely blows my mind. His lyrics are always incredible too. 

John Butler Trio

I'm gonna thank Pandora for introducing me to the world of John Butler! The video above is the song "Ocean". It's so amazing what one guy can do with a 12-string and a stomp box.

Hey Marseilles

I wanted to find a video of the song "Calabasas" for you (one of my faves) but there are no videos of them playing the song live, and if you're taking the time to watch these videos, I don't want you to have to look at a stupid slide-show that someone put together and put on YouTube. Live performances are the bee knees.

Zac Brown Band

I'm pretty sure for most of you, Zac Brown needs no introduction. "Who Knows" is one of my favorite ZBB songs because it's got this incredible long jam at the end. The violinist is so talented!

Michael Franti

This is one of my favorite Michael Franti songs, but his Pandora station is often one that I put on when I'm practicing yoga. He is an artist and an activist and I truly admire all the things that he's doing to better the world. He's got one or two popular songs, but his lesser known songs are always worth checking out. 

Ronald Jenkees

Definitely outside of the sound of the rest of these artists. One of my former colleagues introduced me to Ronald Jenkees and he has been on my playlists from spinning music to relaxing in savasana music. 

Rodrigo Y Gabriella

This duo is incredible! She keeps the percussive beat on her guitar while he provides the melody. I love to listen to them when I'm in the mood for instrumental music that I can just get lost in. 

Those are just a few of the artists that I have more recently gotten to know and fall in love with. They are some of the s.o.m.e.w.h.a.t. lesser known artists that take shelter within the confines of my iPod. They share their electronic home with the more well-knowns like Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Jimmy Buffet, etc. who will also be playing at Beccafest!

 Who would you choose to headline Beccafest??

Peace+Love,