GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS and Higher Ground are pleased to announce the full lineup for the second annual Grand Point North Festival. In addition to the Avett Brothers, who were announced previously, Dr. Dog, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Galactic, Sam Roberts Band, and Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers have been added to the main stage bill along with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.. Grand Point North Music Festival will take place at Burlington’s idyllic Waterfront Park on Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15th.
"We are thrilled about this year’s lineup,” says Potter. “All the main stage bands have history with Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, and each band on the second stage, Heloise & The Savoir Faire, Waylon Speed, Gregory Douglass, Ryan Power, Brenda, Bow Thayer, and Tooth Ache, represents the local gold and our commitment to showcasing the incredible talent across the state of Vermont.”
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals are gearing up for the June 12 release of THE LION THE BEAST THE BEAT, the band’s fourth studio album for Hollywood Records. They’ll celebrate the album’s release with a June 12th performance of new lead single “Never Go Back” on Good Morning America. The band recently shot a video for the song, which they co-wrote with Dan Auerbach and co-produced by Auerbach and Jim Scott. The clip was directed by Issac Rentz (Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, Lissie).
Grace and the band have also been handpicked for the new season of VH1 Storytellers. The band will share revealing and poignant stories about their music. GPN’s Storytellers episode premieres June 15. Beginning June 2, they’ll kick off a summer stadium tour with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw following with their own headlining tour this fall.
THE AVETT BROTHERS:
Over the years, the Avett Brothers built up a sizable following based on their rowdy, infectious stage shows. In concert, the high-flying ensemble tears through tunes with unbridled energy, popping banjo and guitar strings right and left while inciting stomping sing-alongs among audiences that appear to know every word. At times they would seemingly create their own subgenre onstage – “punkgrass,” for lack of a better word. This much is for certain: the Avett Brothers are a grassroots phenomenon, built from the ground up.
DR. DOG:
Despite their loyal hometown following, Dr. Dog could have very well remained a Philadelphia phenomenon had lead singer McMicken’s then-girlfriend not slipped a collection of their home recordings to Jim James of My Morning Jacket, who subsequently took the band on their first tour and prepared the way for waves of positive press, earning them opening slots for Wilco and the Raconteurs as well as numerous stints on late night television.
CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS:
The Carolina Chocolate Drops have proved that the old-time, fiddle and banjo-based music they’d so scrupulously researched and passionately performed could be a living, breathing, ever-evolving sound. Starting with material culled from the Piedmont region of the Carolinas, they sought to freshly interpret this work, not merely recreate it, highlighting the central role African-Americans played in shaping our nation’s popular music from its beginnings more than a century ago.
GALACTIC:
Galactic is a collaborative band with a unique format. It’s a stable quintet that plays together with high musicianship. They’ve been together so long they’re telepathic. But though the band hasn’t had a lead singer for years, neither is it purely an instrumental group. Galactic is part of a diverse community of musicians; they create something that’s a little like a revue, a virtual show featuring different vocalists and instrumental soloists each taking their turn on stage in the Galactic sound universe.
SAM ROBERTS BAND:
Sam Roberts may call Montreal home, but his music occupies a less definable space: the place between studious intellect and gut reaction; between psychedelic transcendence and the cold, hard truth; between fist-pumping, hockey-lovin’ hellraising and melancholic vulnerability.
NICKI BLUHM & THE GRAMBLERS:
Upon hearing the unique and refreshing sound of Nicki Bluhm, it becomes immediately clear why she is in the midst of a breakout year. Nicki has filled a void in music with her brand of vintage-tinged rocking country soul — music that’s like an enchanting friend you’ve known for a short while but feels like you’ve known forever.
Heloise & The Savoir Faire:
One part theatrical pop, one part post-punk revival, New York’s electro-rock outfit Heloise & the Savior Faire are fronted by charismatic peroxide-blonde singer Heloise Williams, formerly of ViperHouse. Gaining celebrity attention on the strength of their outrageous, neo-disco, spandex-and-glitter performances, the band has recently signed to Elijah Wood’s record label and counts Blondie’s Debbie Harry among their loyal fans.
Waylon Speed:
Ask Waylon Speed what it seeks from its stained-blue-collar, straight-up-from-the-underground rock, and the answer is simple: make people happy. The evidence is at their aim-to-please shows, where audience connection is a priority.
Gregory Douglass:
Douglass’ evocative, alternative sound "channels everyone from Stevie Wonder to Fiona Apple in a way that’s terrifyingly mature for someone so young" according to Instinct Magazine. With seven critically acclaimed, independent CDs under his belt, the 28-year old Vermont native has shared the stage with artists like They Might Be Giants, Third Eye Blind, The Weepies, Jason Mraz, Regina Spektor and Margaret Cho.
Ryan Power:
Born in New Hampshire but currently residing in Burlington, Ryan Power makes stunningly outré pop music imbued with strange funk and damaged soul. His songs are strange and personal, but they’re also universal, steeped in existentialism and groove.
Bob Wagner:
Burlington’s music scene has been indelibly marked by the ubiquitous, talented Bob Wagner who has lent his virtuoso guitar performances to such projects as Josh Panda Band, Honky Tonk Tuesday, and 2011’s Hug Your Farmer benefit for Pete’s Greens. Bob will be leading an all-star local band especially for this event.
Brenda:
Brenda’s sound incorporates clean and concise elements of 1950’s rock n roll, with esoteric and breezy turns that suggest a wide range of influences from John Fahey to Built to Spill. They have played with/ supports such acts as Wilco, Grizzly Bear, Cave Singers, Avi Buffalo, Dr. Dog, Bear In Heaven, Titus Andronicus, Lost Boy?, Deer Tick, Crinkles, Dinowalrus and The Flaming Lips..
Bow Thayer:
Bow Thayer’s music comes from a place that is rooted in the densely forested mountains of central Vermont. The result is a combination of no-nonsense traditionalism and forward-looking individualism that reflects the mythical stories of the people and rugged landscape of that state.
Tooth Ache:
Tooth Ache is Alexandria Hall, a Burlington synthstress phenom with an intimate handle on beat production and pop sensibilities. She has taken her sound to new heights; crisper and heavier than anything she has ventured into before, but still rooted in the spaced-out and emotional fits that have been moving crowds for years.
Time: Friday gates 4pm, Saturday gates 3pm
Date: Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15, 2012
Location: Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT
Ages: All ages. Children 12 and under are free.
Tickets: $65 regular 2-day pass, $45 single day tickets (+ applicable fees)
Tickets on sale now!
Purchase: Online: www.highergroundmusic.com
Charge by phone: 888-512-7469
In person: Higher Ground Box Office, 1214 Williston Rd., S. Burlington
