Gardenia Roots and Boots Festival
Who knew
the Royal Oak Farmers market on a lovely Friday evening could be transformed
into a feeling of al fresco dining in Italy England
The crowd,
an eclectic one, some standing around with beers and conversation, some being
served by a real life cowboy selling band CDs and some on lawn chairs, their
only intent to get close to the stage to witness the music of the bluegrass
roots acts which followed.
The show
opened with the Grand Rapids group The Crane Wives, still on a high from
sharing a stage with “both dear friends and long time heroes” at the Ann Arbor
Folk Festival earlier this year.
The
band were formed after the two female members Emilee Petersmark and Kate
Pillsbury began gigging together as a folk act at a Chinese restaurant in Grand
Rapids. Enter drummer Dan Rickabus, Tom Gunnels a “superhuman” and guitarist
turned banjo player and bassist Ben Zito and The Crane Wives were born. Their eclectic sound fuses a number of
different genres including blues, folk and heavy metal. When I asked Dan Rickabus if it gives them an
edgier sound than most blue grass acts he said,
“I think my favorite thing about the sound we've been honing is
that it is very hard to define, and the way we achieve that is by not defining
it for ourselves. There are always very clear influences in songs, but we try
to bend the rules of genre by forgetting that they exist”.
Their 45 minute set had a relentless
energy that made a strong impression on the audience. It is clear that the band members like each
other and love what they are doing. Their
music is a strong collaboration between the 5 members and no one takes charge in
the creative process. The harmony vocals
which Rickabus said “kind of evolve naturally” are beautiful and very
complimentary to the songs that they have crafted.
After two self produced albums
including The Fool in the Wedding Gown, Rickabus said that,
“We're extremely proud of our first
two albums, but at the end of the process for "the Fool" we were
pretty burnt out. As a result, we decided to take as much time as we needed to
just jam, let the new music breathe and grow with as much space as it deserves.
So we don't quite have a plan for a third album release just yet, but I will
tell you that we have something crazy like 17 new songs, with more on the way,
and I'm comfortable saying that this new stuff is, in my opinion, our best
stuff”.
So with old and new songs The Crane
Wives are looking forward to being on the road this summer on tour in Colorado
“That's what we're most excited
about, getting some real mileage on our van and having some epic western
adventures!”
So after The Crane Wives energetic
start to the Festival, the bands that followed were; Catfish Mafia, a four
person ensemble who had a cozy clique at the front of the stage and at times
were reminiscent of the banjo sounds around the camp fire in the old West, The
Ragbirds and Keller and the Keels who completed the musical line up for the
night.
I can safely say Gardenia Roots
Festival was, for its audience a mix of fun people watching, lively authentic
bluegrass music and some interesting dance moves! A fun night out in Royal Oak
If you loved The Crane Wives and The Ragbirds you can see them again on
Friday May 3rd at The Loving Touch in Ferndale , MI
Jan Thompson | BritChic in the D