FULL Voice of the Wetlands Festival Lineup (Oct. 11-13)
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August 6, 2013Alone the headliners at the Voice of the Wetlands Festival are substantial, but it’s a series of on-stage chemistry projects – cross-genre, oft-unrehearsed fusions of talented musicians – that define event.
The admission-free festival is always capped by a two-hour set from the Louisiana supergroup Voice of the Wetlands Allstars, this year’s roster being festival frontman Tab Benoit, Anders Osborne, Cyril Neville, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Sansone, Waylon Thibodeaux, Corey Duplechin, Johnny Vidacovich and special guest Mickey Thomas, of Jefferson Starship.
The mixed-company thread binding the Allstars is evident in different forms on each of the festival’s three days.
Southern rock vocalist-extraordinaire Jimmy Hall, of Wet Willie, and Benoit perform with Louisiana Music Hall of Famers Louisiana’s LeRoux to close the festival’s second day. Also on Saturday, the rocking country group Christian Serpas and Ghost Town are joined by Gal Holiday, Bill Davis and Thibodeaux for a “honky tonk revue.”
And on the third day, BeauSoleil founder Michael Doucet joins Benoit and proclaimed “King of Cajun Music” Jo-El Sonnier for a Louisiana Music Summit, a mixture of Cajun fiddle, guitar and accordion. Pershing Wells and Vin Bruce are also scheduled for the summit.
“I think it’s put together in an artistic manner,” said Reuben Williams, the event’s producer.
The festival celebrates its 10th anniversary from Oct. 11-13, again staged around the pink 19th century home on Southdown Plantation grounds in Houma.
Voice of the Wetlands Festival has an altruistic mission and regional recognition. Benoit’s earnest pleas for coastal erosion attention and assistance every time he performs anywhere has beckoned tourists and performers from around the country to witness firsthand the culture coastal erosion threatens.
New to the festival this year is a second stage, named “The Red Dog Saloon.” Williams promises intimate, lower-decibel performances by booked artists, such as Hall, Doucet, Mike Zito and Devon Allman. Musicians will also be interviewed on stage.
“It’s more of a closer look (at the artists),” Williams said. “It’s not going to be sound pushing you away; it’s going to be bringing you in. It’s a little bit more dynamic … an up-close and personal look.”
New Orleans’ ascending Mia Borders, she of toe-tapping funk and soul, opens the festival with an hour-long set Friday evening. She’s followed by the Waylon Thibodeaux Band and the boundless, high-energy roots rock trio Dash Rip Rock – Ever see someone pick a guitar with a ladder? – from New Orleans.
Houma native and bluesman Josh Garrett is once again slated to fill the local slot during Friday Night Guitar Fights, one of the festival’s calling-card events and another chemistry project. Garrett will share the stage with Benoit, Osborne, Zito, Allman, Papa Mali and Bill Davis as the group complements each individual guitarist’s original songs in what becomes an unscripted and searing journey through music.
The Josh Garrett Band is subsequently scheduled to perform Saturday afternoon.
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, the Legendary Wild Magnolias and Royal Southern Brotherhood – Neville, Zito, Allman, Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott – are among other scheduled acts.
– editor@gumboguide.com
Anders Osborne performs from the Gentilly Stage at Jazz Fest this year. Osborne will play the Voice of the Wetlands Festival, partaking in Friday Night Guitar Fights and performing with the Louisiana supergroup Voice of the Wetlands Allstars.
