New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Pink Moon Festival) This Mid Atlantic music festival features some of the best in funk, world, blues, rock, reggae, jam, and roots music. The third annual Pink Moon Festival begins on
Thursday September 15 and runs through Sunday
September 18. Performers include the jam electronica group Particle,
Grateful Dead and Muscle Shoals alumni Donna Jean Godchaux (along with Jeff Mattson of Dark Star Orchestra), roots jam band Josh Phillips Folk Festival, the deeply soulful and energetic Sol & Funk Root, the jazzy DJ Williams Projeckt, and many many more!!
The festival is located in beautiful, rural Rock Camp, West Virginia and is a celebration of life, love, family, and fun. Gates open at 12 p.m. on
Thursday September 15, 2011. Everyone is welcome to come set up camp and relax for a night of local and regional jams.
Friday there will be a fantastic, funky, down-home,
Grateful Dead family party! This special night will be star-studded with regional heroes The Kind, The Josh Phillips Folk Festival and headliner Donna Jean Godchaux (with Jeff Matson of Dark Star Orchestra).
Born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Donna Jean was a vocalist at both Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and Fame Studios, home of the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound, on records like
Elvis Presley "
Suspicious Minds", Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman", and Boz Scagg's eponymous first solo album. She moved to San Francisco and spent the 1970s as a vocalist in the
Grateful Dead as well as the Jerry Garcia Band. After life with the Dead, she and Keith created the
Heart of Gold Band with drummer Greg Anton and guitarist Steve Kimock. She now tours with her own bands across the US and beyond.
Saturday really explodes with a day packed with top quality regional talent and an evening full of magic, with the soulful singing and fierce guitar of Sol & Funk Root, jazz jam from Richmond's DJ Williams Projekt, and the wild stylings of DJ Rahbee. A special treat comes with our Saturday night headliner, the spectacular Los Angeles touring jam band Particle! Also featured will be local favorites The Materia Project, Triscale, Discordian Society and more!
Keep an eye out for Rock Camp characters Puff T. Magic-Dragon, Dr Molly, and Sid Glo who'll be Glodeo!-ing all weekend long. There will also be a black light mini golf course with 9-holes for psychedelic putt-putt pleasure! Vending Spots are still available in the brand new "Shangri-La Village".
Pink Moon Festival alumni include wonderful bands such as the Lee Boys, EOTO, Telepath, Boombox, Yo Mommas Big Fat Booty Band, Sol & Funk Root, The Kind, DJ Williams Projeckt, and more.
This annual festival takes place in the beautiful West Virginia mountains in a very intimate space with ancient oak trees. It's is a tribute to Pinky Testerman,, who passed away in 2006. In addition to music, there will be body painting for charity (all proceeds go to music and arts programs in Monroe County, WV's public schools), massage therapy, exotic crafts vendors and a black light mini-golf course. $1 from every ticket purchased will go to the Rex Foundation.
The Rex Foundation was established as a non-profit charitable organization by members of the
Grateful Dead and friends to further this tradition. The Rex Foundation enabled the
Grateful Dead to go beyond responding to multiple requests for contributions, and proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education. The first benefit concerts for the Rex Foundation were held in the spring of 1984 at the Marin Veteran's Memorial Auditorium. Since 1984 the Rex Foundation has granted $8.6 million to over 1,000 recipients.
Here are a few quotes about some of this years performers:
"Not your typical jam band (they have just as many disco and electronica influences as anything else), PARTICLE started in 2000 in Los Angeles"- Yahoo Music
"As the only woman officially billed with the Grateful Dead, DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX held her own on-stage with the rest of the boys. While not a founding member, nor was she with the band for too long, a female voice belting out "Dancin' in the Streets," or any Dead tune for that matter, was an oddity in itself after almost a decade of all-male singing. However, her history as a singer isn't relegated to jam band history. Her backing vocals can be found on all kinds of records before and after her stint with the Dead. "- All Music
"With a message that is positive, sincere, and honest, JOSH PHILLIPS FOLK FESTIVAL has been gaining a veritable army of fans that range from the youngest musical listeners, to seasoned long time traditional music fans. Josh Phillips brings the listener back to the very source of roots, folk, soul, r & b, rock and reggae." - Josh Phillips Myspace
"SOL's playing has been described as "musical glue," holding together many grooves and personalities. He has backed up legendary artists like Taj Mahal and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, opened for Robert Randolph, Wood Brothers, and has played with more obscure artists who have had unique perspectives and sounds. Though it all, he has learned many valuable lessons and is still able to hold on to the one thing that ties us all spiritually to one another — music." - Jeff Reid - The Beat Magazine
"For the uninitiated, the Virginia-based Williams is not a turntablist of any form but rather a guitarist comfortable in the funk, jazz and blues idioms. Their CD 'Eleven' showcases the group's many colors over, fittingly enough, eleven tracks. There is no question that 'Eleven' is a calling card for the band's live show but it's still a solid, pleasing effort in its own right." -Jambands.com
2011 Pink Moon Festival band listing:
Donna Jean Godchaux w/ Jeff Mattson, DJ Williams Projekt, Sol & Funk Root, PARTICLE, The Kind, Josh Phillips Folk Festival, Peoples Blues of Richmond, Triscale, the Materia Project, Vern's Pot O' Chilli, Discordian Society, DJ Rahbee, Galaxy Dynamite, Moonshine Logik, Urth, Funk Punch, Catatronic, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, RTFM, The Boatmen, Schak, Levi's Gene Pool, Groova Scape, Silo Effect, Marionette, Pants for Bears, Soul Stone Overdrive, Dirt Road Travelers, Sour Deemsters, and more!
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