Higher Than Ezra frontman and Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Pageant founder Kevin Griffin shares how this yr's occasion actually brings the enjoyable and celebrates the wealthy tradition of Americana music.
Kevin Griffin is “cool as a cucumber” when speaking with HollywoodLife. On the time, it was lower than three weeks away from the 2022 version of the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Pageant (happening tomorrow, Sept. 24 and 25, on the Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tennessee.) This yr’s version of the long-running competition featured Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, The Avett Brothers, Elle King, Jon Batiste, and a stacked lineup, however the Higher Than Ezra frontman – and competition co-founder – wasn’t sweating the small print. “Actually, it’s like summer time camp. Everyone begins coming in over the subsequent week, and when it winds down, and we’re doing the postmortem, taking issues down and cleansing up the park, it’s that ‘unhappy finish of camp’ type of vibe.”
“Me and my companions, W. Brandt Wooden and Michael Whelan, had been lucky to develop up going to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Pageant,” shares Griffin. “And what Jazz Fest is, it’s a celebration of the perfect music, meals, tradition, artisans, and retailers of the Gulf south — New Orleans has been spreading out — and man, you’ve acquired indie hipsters and scenesters with children and households – and there’s a giant basis, he Jazz & Heritage Basis, that helps music applications and completely different charitable organizations within the metropolis — all these issues. I grew up pondering, ‘Hey, all festivals are like this.’ It’s family-friendly. It’s cool.”
“And, and interesting musically and family-friendly will not be mutually unique. They'll exist collectively, and trigger I’ve seen, I grew up with it,” he provides. Such is the case with the Lil’ Pilgrims Household Stage And Mare Barn Theatre, one of many 5 phases on the Pilgrimage Music Pageant. Households can take within the sights and the sounds of the competition all through the day, and be again in time to see Jon Batiste and Brandi Carlile shut out Saturday on the Gold Report Street and Midnight Solar phases.
Pilgrimage gives its personal distinctive expertise. When Kevin relocated to Franklin, Tennessee, in 2013, he wished to carry that “Jazz Fest feeling” to his new dwelling. “Even in 2013, there was already Bonnaroo; there have been already a ton of festivals. However I used to be like, this higher-end, smaller competition expertise, there’s actually a lane for it. Perhaps you went to Bonnaroo, partied in your tent, and now you’ve acquired a household. Or, you’d like some good meals, however you continue to suppose, ‘Man, I nonetheless dig some cool music.’ It’s actually cool what we get to do right here within the metropolis. It simply clicks.”
Serving to this yr “click on” is a concentrate on Americana music. “For those who take a look at our previous lineups,” says Kevin, “it type of adjustments. We’ve had some years which have leaned Americana nation, like this yr. We’ve had some years which have leaned extra pop, like Justin Timberlake and Stroll The Moon. After which, extra rock like Foo Fighters and The Killers. And we simply type of really feel what we’re into that yr, and what feels like that yr.”
Generally, “the lineups simply fall collectively,” says Griffin. “Generally, it’s by chance, and typically, it’s by design. This yr, we locked in Chris Stapleton and Brandi, it type of set the tone. And we’ve at all times wished to get Jon Batiste – and we could also be one among his few public performances this yr. He’s not doing any festivals as a result of he’s coping with his spouse’s sick well being. So we’re very grateful to be having him. However, this can be a very particular land we’re going for this yr, and it looks like we’ve chosen proper.”
Nevertheless, what actually makes the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Pageant stand out among the many relaxation is the concentrate on the latter half of the title: the tradition. Griffin tells HollywoodLife that’s not just a few “lip service” or branding, however that the competition celebrates the influence the realm has had on trendy music. “We have now this big tent referred to as the American Music Triangle tent. And the ‘music triangle’ is the triangle that surrounds the Mississippi Delta. For those who do a triangle from New Orleans as much as Memphis over to Nashville and again all the way down to New Orleans, that area – from Louisiana to Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee – is arguably the place not solely American music (rock, blues jazz) has come from, however it’s infiltrated the entire world.”
“So we've got this tent the place municipalities from all within the triangle — Greenville Cleveland, Tupelo, Muscle tissue Shoals, New Orleans, Memphis — at even San Antonio with Tejano music, all of them have cubicles there. And we've got Mike Wolfe from American Pickers curating the room with all these antiques from his personal warehouse. While you go into this tent, it’s like stepping again in time. You've individuals talking about music genres on stage, after which you've an artist exhibiting that. We actually bolstered the cultural half this yr.”
“We have now the Black Opry, which has simply been this superb pressure and group for black artists within the Americana and nation house,” he says. “After which on Sunday, we've got a Southern gospel service simply to kick off the day. It’s a non-denominational simply celebration of gospel music.”
And so I feel this yr already, I’m simply enthusiastic about it. I do know I’ll look again with admiration for making the cultural a part of the competition this deep dive into music and tradition and historical past. To have the ability to carry that to individuals after which to get to see what’s in their very own yard and take delight in it? And fostering it to a brand new era is absolutely, actually cool. I dig that half, and I can not take accountability for it — it’s one among my companions, Brant Wooden, who spearheads the cultural half. And it’s actually cool.”
“We’ve been unabashed in our tipping a hat again to Jazz Fest in New Orleans,” concludes Griffin. “They do it so effectively — the cultural half, that DNA is about their competition. And, and we introduced that to center Tennessee in our personal distinctive means.”
Click on right here for extra details about the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Pageant.