A Tradition Not To Be Missed: High Sierra Music Festival 2017 – Review & Photos

Words by: Scott Bernstein

Images by: Sterling Munksgard (Except Where Noted)

High Sierra Music Festival :: 06.28 – 07.02.17
Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds :: Quincy, CA

View Sterling’s gallery after Scotty’s review.

For 10 summers in my youth I left my suburban home to attend sleepaway camp in the mountains of Eastern Pennsylvania. Even though it has been over 20 years since I last attended, there’s a part of me that yearns for summer camp each time late June comes around. This year, after hearing about the event for decades, I finally made my way to the High Sierra Music Festival for the first time and I just couldn’t help but be reminded about my summer camp experiences. From gathering with like-minded individuals, to participating in activities such as kickball, to the hot days and cold nights, High Sierra was like a summer camp for adults with the added bonus of wonderful musical experiences around every corner.

The four-day festival takes place at Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy, California. This year’s installment was the 27th annual High Sierra and there are many who attend year-in and year-out. One of the questions I’ve been asked most since returning from the festival is whether it lives up to the hype. My answer is a resounding “yes” and I can’t wait to go back.

There’s a reason so many festivalgoers return to High Sierra year after year, as I was blown away by the love and detail the organizers put into every aspect of the event. A community has formed around High Sierra with attendees creating their own camps and despite the high number of longtime attendees, I was welcomed with open arms and never felt like an outsider regardless of my High Sierra newbie status. Campgrounds surround many of the event’s stages and those with space near the performance areas were happy to bring me in to watch sets from the shade of their camps.

One of the biggest surprises to me was just how much infrastructure there was at the Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds feature plenty of real bathrooms and showers, a handful of air-conditioned indoor venues and are close enough to town that you can hit the supermarket if you forgot something at home you really need. I guess I thought it was in the middle of nowhere and an extremely remote venue, but that was not the case. High Sierra offers a nice mix of getting away from the real world with just enough creature comforts.

HSMF organizers presented an eclectic mix of acts across their stages throughout the weekend. While there’s no doubt the festival leans towards those that jam, there was plenty of soul, world, R&B, funk, folk, Americana, string and rock to be seen as well as the occasional more electronic-leaning band. Though I really enjoyed sets from headliners the Trey Anastasio Band, Ween, STS9 and Gov’t Mule, I saw so many bands I had never seen before who really impressed me and left me wanting more.

There are four official stages at High Sierra. Grandstand is the main one and reminded me of main stages at many other festivals I’ve attended with one major exception, it’s surrounded by huge trees which provide a gorgeous backdrop. Big Meadow is a much smaller outdoor stage with tents setup around the perimeter. A scrim provides much needed shade from the sun. Then, there’s the Vaudeville Stage which is within a tent, which makes it a great option during the heat of the day. In addition, the air-conditioned High Sierra Music Hall is an indoor venue that hosts the festival’s famed Playshops and reminded me of a high school gym. Late night, High Sierra also puts on separately-ticketed concerts in the Funk’n Jamhouse as well as the Music Hall. Plus, the event’s Troubadour Sessions are held in the tiny Mineral Building.

Both the Troubadour Sessions and the Playshops are two of High Sierra’s trademark performance series. I was enthralled by the hour I spent in the Mineral Building on Saturday night for the Troubadour Session. Andy Dunnigan (The Lil’ Smokies), Johnny “Mojo” Flores (Achilles Wheel), Paul Kamm (Achilles Wheel) and Kat Myers (Kat Myers & The Buzzards) took turns telling fascinating stories about their songs and then performing them. Attendees were very respectful of the setting, waiting until the end of a song to enter or leave the tiny Mineral Building.

I had the pleasure of catching five Playshops, but still wish I would’ve seen more. High Sierra has so much going on, it’s impossible to see all, or even half, of the performances. One of the first Playshops was “A Stanton Moore Drum Academy Master Class” in which the Galactic drummer discussed the progression of drum beats from the 1600s through modern times and would give examples throughout his presentation. He took questions from the audience and told those who had additional queries to send an email his way. Next up was Billy Strings, an MVP of this year’s festival, presenting a tribute to the late Doc Watson. Strings explained how he grew up on Doc’s music and his respect for Watson’s songs made the Playshop a winner.

Con Brio were seemingly everywhere on Thursday and Friday at High Sierra, but for my money their standout performance took place within the Music Hall as they honored Sharon Jones. Vocalist Ziek McCarter and Co. as well as Erica Falls did a fine job of learning five Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings songs and had many of those in the Music Hall shaking their booties throughout. They ended with an original, which was a little weird considering they had two other full sets, but I’ll take any Con Brio I can get. I last saw them on Jam Cruise ’16 and they continue to improve and I can’t wait to see where they take their music over the next few years.

JamBase presented a Playshop on Saturday titled “The 40th Anniversary Of Terrapin Station.” ALO guitarist Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz put together a stellar ensemble to play each and every song from the Grateful Dead’s 1977 album including the full “Terrapin Station Suite.” Keyboardist Jordan Feinstein, bassist Murph, drummer Ezra Lipp and guitarist Stu Allen teamed with Lebo to absolutely nail the material all set long. Guest vocalists Paige Clem and Lesley Grant also shined.

My favorite of the bands I saw for the first time at High Sierra was New Orleans’ Tank & The Bangas. There is a lot of hype surrounding the group since they won NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest early this year, but they deserve it all. Frontwoman Tarriona “Tank” Ball not only had a great singing voice, she also is a ridiculously talented rapper who would freestyle at various points of the set. Vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph is the soul/funk act’s secret weapon as she would pick up on where Tank was going and provide the perfect accompaniment. Both of Tank & The Bangas sets were fantastic and diverse from each other, but it was the group’s Playshop that nearly had me in tears. Tank talked about how the band got together, what the members bring to their sound and told stories behind some of their songs.

Four other acts I saw for the first time stuck out in particular. Carolyn Wonderland is a blues-rocking guitarist in the tradition of Bonnie Raitt who also happens to be a talented songwriter. Her set was the perfect pick-me-up for Sunday morning. Gene Evaro Jr.’s music was oozing with soul and had a powerful stage presence. He took a few solos that had my jaw on the floor and his backing band was extremely tight. Then there’s The Lil’ Smokies, a Montana-based string band I’ve been waiting years to see. It was worth the wait as the guys are phenomenal songwriters with otherworldly instrumental skills. Their original “California” was one of the best songs I heard all weekend and they added a particularly cool spin to covers of Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger” and “Always Something There To Remind Me” by Naked Eyes. Afrolicious also impressed with their party vibe that was perfect for the late afternoon time frame at Vaudeville, where I was hiding from the sun.

High Sierra also provided me the opportunity to catch a few bands I had recently seen that continue to get better each time out. Houston’s The Suffers are led by frontwoman Kam Franklin who was in fine form at The Fairgrounds. The eight-piece showed off some new material they’ve developed over the past six months which brings a more modern sound to their ’70s soul stylings. Franklin did tell the same stories I saw her tell in January and I implore the band to start vamping behind her if she’s going to continue to use so much precious set time talking. Portland, Oregon’s Fruition impressed throughout both of their sets with catchy Americana songs. I especially liked the original “Let’s Take It Too Far” and their covers of Bob Dylan’s “Queen Jane Approximately” and “I’ve Got A Feeling” by The Beatles. Speaking of covers, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles added a wild twist to Prince’s “1999” at their well-attended late night Vaudeville set. Henry is a master at the keys and displayed a keen sense of knowing his audience. Cory held that crowd in the palm of his hand throughout.

Thursday was the first day of music and a truncated one, but there was still plenty to enjoy. While White Denim’s sound may be different since they changed lineups from their two-guitar heyday, frontman James Petralli sure knows how to craft hard-hitting rock songs. I’ll never get sick of “Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)” and though I’ve seen the band a few times before, there was a bunch of “new to me” material that will have me listening to their albums in the days ahead. Jamtronica pioneers STS9 headlined the Grandstand on Thursday and I love the current sound of the band. Bassist Alana Rocklin anchors the group’s instrumental music incredibly well. “Ramone and Emiglio” and “Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist” were particular standouts. Tribe lost me for a few years there, but won me over again at High Sierra.

One of the hardest decisions for me came toward the end of Friday night. New Hope rockers Ween were closing out the main Grandstand, while The Nth Power were presenting their guest-filled Earth, Wind & Fire tribute at Big Meadow. I decided to hit the first half of Ween followed by the second half of Earth, Wind & Power. Ween surprised by digging much deeper into their repertoire than I would’ve expected for a festival set. Sure, there were plenty of beloved staples such as “Touch My Tooter,” “Piss Up A Rope” and “With My Own Bare Hands,” but the five-piece also treated die-hards to the live debut of “Pink Eye (On My Leg)” off The Mollusk, the recently revived “Seconds” and just the second “Right To The Ways And The Rules Of The World” in the past 15 years. Guitarists Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo seemed happy, were freely bantering and enjoying their time on stage. The state of Ween is great more than 18 months after the quintet first reunited. I had a hard time leaving, but I’m glad I caught some of The Nth Power’s otherworldly Earth, Wind & Fire tribute.

The Nth Power was joined by a horn section of TAB’s Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman along with DMB’s Rashawn Ross and High Sierra Artist-At-Large Skerik. Keyboardist Rob Marscher and percussionist Marcie Chapa also filled out the sound as The Nth Power & Co. rolled through one spot-on Earth, Wind & Fire cover after another. Drummer Nikki Glaspie is one of the best in the business and guitarist Nick Cassarino crushed any solo that came his way.

Half of Phish performed at High Sierra as bassist Mike Gordon showed off his five-piece on Friday night, while guitarist Trey Anastasio led the Trey Anastasio Band through two sets on Saturday. Mike’s quintet is really coming into its own as fairly recent additions John Kimock and Robert Walter have such a strong chemistry with Gordon, percussionist Craig Myers and guitarist Scott Murawski. The five-piece debuted four new tunes and one song was better than the next. “Whirlwind” and “Up & Down” were particular standouts with catchy lyrics and space to improvise. Other highlights were the “Say Something” opener which featured a jam that went places and the five-piece’s high-energy cover of “Cities” by Talking Heads. Head here for a full recap of Trey Anastasio’s High Sierra debut.

Sunday’s main stage action came to a close with a set from Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule. Though Mule just released a new album, they opened with four old fan-favorites: “Mule,” “Rocking Horse,” “Thorazine Shuffle” and “Banks Of The Deep End.” Haynes then led his quartet through four of the best songs from the new LP: “Sarah Surrender,” “Stone Cold Rage,” “Revolution Come Revolution Go” and “Traveling Tune.” The set concluded with five Allman Brothers Band tunes, namely “Come & Go Blues,” “Kind Of Bird,” “Soulshine,” “Dreams” and “Whipping Post.” Both “Dreams” and “Whipping Post” featured High Sierra veteran Eric McFadden trading licks with Haynes to the delight of the crowd.

Nothing reminded me more of my summer camp experience than kickball. The time was 6 a.m. on the final day of the High Sierra Music Festival and I was watching with over 100 others as two teams of approximately a dozen festivalgoers faced off in a game of kickball. For over 20 years I’ve been hearing about just how great High Sierra is and many of those who told me to go mentioned I couldn’t miss kickball. Just like nearly every aspect of my first trip to the Northern California event, the kickball game lived up to the hype. As the sun began to rise over Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy, California; a mix of revelers and those taking it seriously presented a debaucherous game that brought me back to the days of my youth.

As fantastic as the music was all weekend, it was the community formed around High Sierra that filled my heart throughout the four-day festival. It made me proud to see how giving and respectful nearly every attendee I ran into was all weekend long. High Sierra is a festival all music lovers from this scene should experience once and if you’re like me, when your first High Sierra ends you’ll be counting down the days to the next one. Much love and respect to all of the musicians, staffers and attendees who make HSMF so special each year.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”569″ gal_title=”20170701 High Sierra Munksgard”]