Sweet Pea Festival grants access to full weekend of live music & entertainment
Leftover-Salmon at Sweet Pea
Live music enthusiasts are in for a truly fantastic weekend of stage entertainment with the 2019 return of the Sweet Pea Festival to Lindley Park, Friday through Sunday, August 2nd–4th. Here’s a look at the diverse performance slate.
Coloradoan jam band Leftover Salmon is set to headline this year’s stage festivities. Their most recent album, Something Higher, has been universally hailed as one of their finest collections. With a fresh lineup anchored by founding members Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman, the veteran group continues to shape the Jamgrass landscape where bands schooled in the traditional rules of bluegrass can push songs in new, psychedelic directions. Leftover Salmon is constantly changing, evolving, and inspiring. A live show effortlessly glides from a bluegrass number born on the front porch, to the down-and-dirty Cajun swamps with a stop on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, to the hallowed halls of the Ryman in Nashville, before firing one up in the mountains of Colorado.
Also performing is acclaimed soul collective Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds. Big-voiced leader Arleigh Kincheloe has made an astonishing leap forward with the band’s latest LP, Gold. The album sees Sister Sparrow taking the classic brass-fueled Dirty Birds sound and turning it into something altogether new: a soul-blasted contemporary pop sound both timeless yet utterly now. Songs like the evocative “Ghost” and ebullient title track highlight Sister Sparrow’s strikingly strong vocals while also showcasing her growing muscle as an individualistic, communicative songwriter. For nearly a decade, the group has been hailed for their explosive brand of modern soul, equally celebrated for their studio releases and electrifying live performances.
Portland-based experimental folk/rock project Blitzen Trapper are also set for a Sweet Pea appearance. Over the course of nearly two decades and numerous albums, the group has crafted one of the more compelling and varied catalogs in contemporary rock n’ roll. Big ideas and universal emotions are wrung from the seemingly plainspoken details of small-screen and often highly personal stories, set to music that reaches way, way back to old-timey folk and bluegrass, travels through everything from country, psychedelia and soul to prog, garage and metal, indulges gloriously in the classic rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s, and makes occasional side trips into hip-hop, skewed pop and noisey freakouts. Blitzen Trapper’s latest album, Wild and Reckless, is available now.
Enjoy additional performances by Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Scott Pemberton Band, Jon Stickley Trio, Goodnight, Texas, The Powell Brothers, The Dead Yellers, and The Dusty Pockets, among others. Stay tuned for further details.
Sweet Pea is a three-day festival of the arts held the first weekend in August. The Festival kicks off late Friday afternoon in Lindley Park with a performance by Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. Saturday ramps up with a children’s run and parade that lead the community to the park where the festivities continue through Sunday evening. Weekend entertainment comes in many forms – music of all genres, performances by local theatre and dance troupes, workshops, family friendly entertainment and activities, a flower show, a beer and wine garden featuring Montana microbrews, and over 100 arts and crafts vendors to stroll through and purchase unique gifts for yourself, family, and friends.
There’s plenty more to discover! For further festival information and to purchase wristbands for the 2019 Sweet Pea Festival, visit www.sweetpeafestival.org. •
