The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival 2005

10/02/2005 06:36AM

North Carolina, USA - The fifth Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival, set for Oct. 6-9 in Silk Hope, North Carolina, is bursting with North Carolina talent. Featuring Bynum girl turned Nashville darling Tift Merritt, Concord's inimitable Avett Brothers, Chapel Hill's Two Dollar Pistols, Siler City’s Brothers & Others, Durham’s Gospel Jubilators, Asheville's Kellin Watson, and the dance-all-night sounds of Boone's Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band, Shakori Hills is carving out a place for itself in the state's festival landscape.

But, as festival organizer Jordan Puryear will tell you, GrassRoots is about more than the music that locals already come to love. That's why festival-goers will be treated to the sounds of Niger's Mamar Kassey, on tour in the United States to bring attention to his country's famine; Nawal, the first woman from the Comoros Islands to perform for international audiences; Famoro Dioubate, a renowned Balafon player from Guinea, as well as Mali native, Mamadou Diabate, now living in Durham, North Carolina.

“We want people to be surprised by what they find at GrassRoots,” says Puryear, who spends several months of the year at the 75-acre Chatham County farm where the festival is held. “We try to put together a lineup that will bring people to the festival, and once they're here, we want them to discover something they weren't expecting. People who have been coming to Shakori for a while know they can count on good music. They know we're going to show them something new, and that's part of why they keep coming.”

Canadian sensation The Duhks will help kick off the festival on Thursday night, and country star John Anderson, who lured a slew of fans to the rainy first GrassRoots Festival in 2003, will be back for a Saturday night show on the Meadow Stage. Festival favorites Donna the Buffalo and Keith Frank will do their part to keep people dancing late into the night, and Tift Merritt will help close out the weekend with a Sunday evening show.

Several other nationally-known festival acts -- Railroad Earth, Bio Ritmo, Jim Lauderdale, Luminescent Orchestrii, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, December Wind and West End Mambo -- will join even more regional talent during the weekend, including Bluegrass Experience, Randy Whitt and the Grits, Regatta 69, Shannon O'Connor, The Amateurs Reggae Band and Menage. Look for familiar faces from the festival's sister event, the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival in upstate New York, too.

More than Music The GrassRoots Festival is a family friendly place – no need to leave the kids at home. Young ones can dance their hearts out, doze on a blanket, or be entertained by the many activities scheduled in the kid's area. From Saturday's show-stopping Happiness Parade to storytelling to music-making, kid-oriented fun is scheduled throughout the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Children ages 12 and under get in free, and youth ages 13-15 can enjoy the whole weekend for just $35.

Grown-ups can enjoy lots of diversions from the music too, with workshops, nature walks, movement classes, food, art and crafts scattered around the festival grounds.

For those who don't want to miss a minute of the festival, Shakori Hills provides free on-site tent camping for weekend ticket holders, and a tractor shuttle to get campers to and from their cars. Plenty of vehicle camping is available on the festival grounds too, for $40 per vehicle.

Tickets are $65 for the weekend in advance, and $75 at the gate. Day tickets are also available at the gate: $15 for Thursday, $25 for Friday, $30 for Saturday and $20 for Sunday. Call 919-542-8142, or visit www.shakorihills.org.

World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20050930193609364