Just when we thought that promoters realized the marketplace for festivals was saturated as fuck, another one was announced today. The Rothbury Festival will take place July 3-6 at the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan. We were ready to bash the promoters (AEG and Madison House), but we’re kinda taken with the lineup and the lodging options they’ve offered up.

The headliners that appeal to us are Phil Lesh and Friends, Widespread Panic, Snoop Dogg and Primus. We can’t wait to see Snoop D-O-double G finally get his groove on at a hippie jam festival. John Mayer and Dave Matthews are also playing, so there should be plenty of women at this event. Other noteworthy acts scheduled to play Rothbury are Gomez, Zappa Plays Zappa and Modest Mouse. The former members of Phish have been noticeably absent from the festival lineups announced thus far in 2008, until now. Both Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman will be heading to Michigan. Gordon presumably with his solo band, and Fishman as a special guest of Yonder Mountain. We missed those guys!

As we mentioned earlier the promoters of Rothbury have offered a number of interesting lodging options. You can choose from log cabins, log homes, RV packages or the intriguing bunkhouse “party room” option. We’re not big on the camping aspect of festies anymore; so the ability to take a shower, charge our cellphones and be able to escape the wook factor makes us want to head to the shores of Lake Michigan. Early-bird tickets go on sale February 27th via the festie’s official website. Read on for the full lineup, and information about how the promoters plan to draw attention to climate change and clean energy alternatives…

ROTHBURY’s current list of confirmed artists is as follows:
Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, 311, Phil Lesh and Friends, Primus, Thievery Corporation, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Gov’t Mule, Slightly Stoopid, STS9, Colbie Caillat, The Black Keys, Yonder Mountain String Band with Jon Fishman, Gogol Bordello, Citizen Cope, Keller Williams and The WMD’S, The Disco Biscuits, Medeski Martin & Wood, Ray LaMontagne, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival, Drive-By Truckers, Of Montreal, The Dresden Dolls, Gomez, Brett Dennen, Taj Mahal, Mike Gordon, Zappa Plays Zappa, Crystal Method DJ Set, JJ Grey & MOFRO, The Greyboy Allstars, The Secret Machines, Beth Orton, Jakob Dylan and the Green Mountain Rebels, A 3, Bettye Lavette, Lotus, Yard Dogs Road Show, State Radio, The Beautiful Girls, Sage Francis, Tea Leaf Green, Emmitt Nershi Band, EOTO, Panjea with Michael Kang, Railroad Earth, Bassnectar, Pnuma Trio, Diplo, Flosstradamus, The Juan MacLean, The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, Dead Confederate, DJ Rekha, Motion PotionDJ Rootz, SOJOURN, Busdriver

On July 4th weekend 2008, ROTHBURY emerges as a new American celebration. For this next generation of the rock and roll music festival, ROTHBURY sets forth as a huge party with a purpose. Hosted at the one-of-a-kind Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan, the unique festival site offers trails, forests, fields, lakes and beach fronts, and even on-site lodging, bars and eateries. The four day, environmentally sustainable music and camping festival promises to be an inspiring cultural assembly; one where music fans, artists and progressive thinkers gather to celebrate much more than music.

It is ROTHBURY’s goal to harness the unique energy of the live music community into a durable social movement toward an important cause: Climate Change and Clean Energy Alternatives. In addition to a diverse and stellar lineup of over 70 bands on 8 stages, ROTHBURY will host a Think Tank and Energy Fair, and features unprecedented audience participation opportunities.

Music is the soul of ROTHBURY, which today makes its initial artist line-up announcement. Confirmed musical acts include Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, 311, Phil Lesh and Friends, Modest Mouse, Primus, Snoop Dogg, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Thievery Corporation, STS9 and many others. A complete list of confirmed artists follows, and many others will be announced in the coming months.

The ROTHBURY Think Tank is an event within the event, offering various buzz sessions and roundtables between leading scientists, scholars, writers, progressive political and corporate leaders, youth leaders, and entertainers. Confirmed as ROTHBURY Think Tank Curator is Dr. Stephen H. Schneider, with participants Dr. Eban Goodstein, L. Hunter Lovins, Winona LaDuke, and many, many others to be announced. The Think Tank will address the topic of Climate Change and Clean Energy Solutions, geared toward conversations related to corporations, government/policy makers, and the individual. Think Tank events will share ideas about how to lessen our ecological and carbon footprint. Interactive participation, both face-to-face and through the use of multi-media technology, enable the ROTHBURY community to engage with the Think Tank at multiple levels.

ROTHBURY’s Energy Fair, where attendees engage hands-on with cutting edge, sustainable technology and products, offers a flurry of scheduled and surprise activities, plus food/drink, vending, performances/presentations on the Workshop Stage, contests and interactive opportunities, and so much more.

ROTHBURY itself is committed to producing a near zero-waste concert. The first to tackle a green program of this magnitude at an around-the-clock (camping) concert in the USA, ROTHBURY has an on-staff Greening Chief, and has implemented multiple initiatives toward this effort, including replacing disposables with 100% compostables, recycling and composting, choosing clean energy, carbon-offsetting, and Green Ticket options.

ROTHBURY’s Solar Schools Program powered by Black Rock Solar will outfit a local school with a free solar panel system. ROTHBURY is committed to donating an absolute minimum of $50,000 worth of solar panels. This year’s Solar Schools Program recipient: Shelby High School in Shelby, MI. Visit www.rothburyfestival.com for more information on ROTHBURY’s School Solar Program and other sustainability initiatives.