NorCal Love: Kate Wolf Music Festival – Review & Photos

Images & Words by: Sterling Munksgard

Kate Wolf Music Festival :: 6.23-26.16 :: Black Oak Ranch :: Laytonville, CA

Check out a full gallery after Sterling’s review.

The 21st annual Kate Wolf Music Festival was held June 23 – 26 at the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California. This family friendly camping music festival is three hours north of San Francisco and is something that I look forward to every year. Black Oak Ranch is a picturesque location with old growth oak trees and the Tenmile Creek, which runs along the festival grounds. KWMF featured four stages of music, an international food court, a kids area and a laid back vibe that will make you wish it never ended.

Despite Mavis Staples and Harry Belafonte’s unfortunate absence from the lineup, this years festival didn’t skip a beat. Filling in for Belafonte were Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Little Anthony and the Imperials. The doo-wop group, led by the 75-year-old Jerome Anthony “Little Anthony” Gourdine, took the Kate Wolf crowd back to the 1950’s with their doo-wop harmony and hits like “Tears on My Pillow” off their 1958 album We Are the Imperials featuring Little Anthony. Gourdine told jokes, shared stories of the road and told of how songs came to be. They rounded out their set with a collection of songs from their 20 years of studio albums. Other notable songs included “Goin’ out of My Head” and “Hurt So Bad” off their 1964 album Goin’ Out Of My Head.

Closing out Saturday night at the main stage was Seattle’s own The Head and the Heart. Earlier in the year the band announced that they would be touring without vocalist Josiah Johnson, stating that he was “battling addiction and focusing on his recovery.” Despite Johnson’s absence the group kept the center of the stage open, leaving plenty of room to dance and stomp while performing as they made their first Kate Wolf Festival performance a lively one. After a handful of electric songs off their self-titled 2011 release, and 2013’s Let’s Be Still, the indie folk-rock band admitted to the crowd that they didn’t know what to expect from the festival. Lead singer Jonathan Russell said that they would perform based on the festival’s overall vibe. Taking that to heart, they transitioned to a few acoustic songs. The group serenaded the mainly seated crowd who were huddled under blankets in their low back chairs. Russell and his mates also performed their new single, “All We Ever Knew,” off their yet-to-be-released album Signs of Light. The song includes the band’s trademark foot stomp and crowd pleasing “la la la la la la” call and response. “All We Ever Knew” also has prominent violin work from founding band member Charity Rose Thielen. If the single is any indication of the rest of the album, then fans of the group are in for a treat when the album is released this fall.

Saturday night closed out with a midnight set by Whiskey, Brothers! The Poor Man’s Comatose – a collaboration between the Brothers Comatose and Poor Man’s Whiskey. The weekend also featured Kate Wolf Festival crowd pleasing return act The Wood Brothers. The folksy blues trio performed twice during the weekend. Oliver Wood led his brother Chris and multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix through fan favorites off their 2013 album The Muse, as well as their 2006 album, Ways Not to Lose. The band dug into their newest album Paradise as they performed “Never and Always.” The song perfectly displays the trio’s strengths of vocal harmony, Chris’ jazzy bass slapping and Oliver’s vocal pitch and guitar work. The group’s performances were definitely a highlight for many over the weekend. Other weekend highlights were sets from Elephant Revival and Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers as well as K.D. Lang and Neko Case with Laura Veirs. Friday the festival hosted Trampled by Turtles, Calexico and Dave & Phil Alvin, among many others.

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