Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Last updated

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass logo.png
Hardly Strictly Crowd.jpg
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2015
Genre Bluegrass music
DatesFirst weekend of October (currently)
Location(s) Golden Gate Park
(San Francisco, California, U.S.)
Coordinates 37°46′11″N122°29′02″W / 37.7698°N 122.483848°W / 37.7698; -122.483848
Years active2001–present
Founders Warren Hellman
Attendance750,000+ (over 3 days)
Website hardlystrictlybluegrass.com

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB), originally Strictly Bluegrass, is an annual free and non-commercial music festival held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco venture capitalist Warren Hellman, the festival has been held every year since the first event in 2001.

Contents

From its outset, the festival has been subsidized by Hellman. Various corporations have offered to sponsor the event over the years, but Hellman always turned them down, saying in an interview, "I want to keep it entirely free and noncommercial". [1] After his 2011 death, Hellman's heirs and his foundation have continued to fully fund and oversee the festival. [2] [3] For some performers, the unique fact that the event is unsponsored is very important to character. In an interview with Hellman, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show said that part of what keeps the event focused on the music and the community is Warren's decision to ensure it is not "consumption driven" and the audience is not "bombarded with signage". [4]

Originally Hellman intended only to invite bluegrass musicians. But soon artists from other genres were invited to the event, and in 2004 the word "Hardly" was added to reflect its expanded scope. [5] The festival draws very large crowds, nearly equal in number to the entire population of San Francisco. In 2011, the festival drew an estimated 750,000 people over the course of the three-day event. [6] [7]

History

Hellman first mentioned his dream of holding a festival for bluegrass music in the park to Jonathan Nelson in 2001. Nelson had worked for Bill Graham Presents, and introduced Hellman to booking agent and executive producer Dawn Holliday, and production manager Sheri Sternberg at a lunch. Holliday and Sternberg agreed to help and would continue to produce the festival, respectively, each year thereafter. [8]

From the start, Hellman most wanted Hazel Dickens to perform at the festival but Dickens, who was known for political songs about workers' strikes, was wary of performing because of Hellman's wealth and background. She later agreed, and went on to perform at the festival every year from 2001 until her death in April 2011. [8] The 2011 festival was dedicated to the memory of Dickens.

The festival name and scope was changed when, at the very first festival in 2001, Emmylou Harris played with her not-strictly-bluegrass band. Hellman was a fan of her bluegrass sound under the band name Nash Ramblers, but at the time she was touring as Spyboy. She played the festival as Spyboy, which had a New Orleans style rhythm section. [9] Hellman did not complain, and "Hardly" was eventually added to the name of the festival in 2004. [5] Before her set in 2009, Emmylou Harris was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music by the president of the college. In response to the Coronavirus disease 2019, the 2020 show switched from in-person to digital, streaming a series of prerecorded performances over the Internet. [10] Additionally, HSB worked with Artist Relief to administer $1 million in relief aid to musicians. [10] Annual in-person festivals in Hellman Hollow resumed after the pandemic.

Performing artists

Some frequent performers over the years, each with five or more appearances, have been:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Miller</span> American singer-songwriter

Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller is married to and has recorded with singer-songwriter Julie Miller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmylou Harris</span> American singer, songwriter, and musician

Emmylou Harris is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is recognized for having a consistent artistic direction. Harris is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana genre in the 1990s. Her music united both country and rock audiences in live performance settings. Her characteristic voice, musical style and songwriting have been acclaimed by critics and fellow recording artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Carter</span> Musical artist

Sara Elizabeth Carter was an American country music musician, singer, and songwriter. Remembered mostly for her deep, distinctive, mature singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s. In her earliest recordings her voice was pitched very high.

HSB may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Gate Park</span> Public park in San Francisco, California, United States

Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond and Sunset districts of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the second-largest park in the city, containing 1,017 acres (412 ha), and the third-most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 24 million visitors annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Bush</span> American mandolinist

Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Crow Medicine Show</span> Americana string band based in Tennessee

Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, Remedy, released in 2014, won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The group's music has been called old-time, folk, and alternative country. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs.

David Charles Olney was an American folk singer-songwriter. Olney recorded more than twenty albums over his five-decade career. His songs have been covered by numerous artists, including Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, Linda Ronstadt and Steve Earle.

The Dry Branch Fire Squad is an American traditional-style bluegrass band from Virginia, which is fronted by Ron Thomason. The band is known for its showy performances and for Thomason's humorous interludes. The Dry Branch Fire Squad is the host band of Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, formerly called the Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival. The band also hosts the High Mountain Hay Fever festival in Colorado as a fundraiser for a local medical clinic.

Brady L Blade Jr is an American rock, pop and country drummer, record producer and composer, who currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Townes Earle</span> American musician (1982–2020)

Justin Townes Earle was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut EP, Yuma (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year in 2009 and for Song of the Year in 2011 for "Harlem River Blues". His father is alternative country artist Steve Earle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Hellman</span> American businessman and philanthropist

F. Warren Hellman was an American billionaire investment banker and private equity investor, the co-founder of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. Hellman also co-founded Hellman, Ferri Investment Associates, today known as Matrix Partners. He started and funded the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Hellman died on December 18, 2011, of complications from his treatment for leukemia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Waybacks</span> American band

The Waybacks are an American four-piece band based in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Their style has been alternately described as Americana, Progressive bluegrass, rock-n-roll, folk, and acoustic mayhem. They described themselves as a "power trio with a fiddler" in an interview with NPR.

<i>The Bay Citizen</i>

The Bay Citizen was a non-profit news organization covering the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded as the Bay Area News Project in January 2010 with money provided by Warren Hellman's Hellman Family Foundation. On May 26, 2010 the organization launched the website, baycitizen.org. In June 2010 The Bay Citizen began producing content for the newly added biweekly two-page Bay Area Report published in The New York Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polo Fields</span>

The Polo Fields is a large multi-purpose stadium and sporting field in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Despite its name, polo is rarely played on the Polo Fields. The facility has a multitude of uses. There are six regulation soccer pitches on the grass field, surrounded by a .67-mile cycle track. Wooden bleachers flank the north and south sides of the cycle track surrounding the field. Surrounding the grass field, cycle track, and bleachers is a 0.75-mile (1,210 m) dirt track used for running and horse riding.

Daryl Johnson is an American bass player, singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Johnson is well known for playing with The Neville Brothers and Bob Dylan, and for producing Daniel Lanois' solo albums.

Timothy Goodman is an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and producer who has recorded for RCA, Columbia Records and Warner Brothers and performed on numerous sessions for other recording artists.

Isaias William Hellman was an American banker who served as president of the Union Trust Company and, briefly, of Wells Fargo Bank shortly before his death.

References

  1. ↑ "Strictly Awesome". East Bay Express.com. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ Sharpe, Josh (July 24, 2024). "Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Unveils First Of 2024 Lineup". BroadwayWorld . Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Holcomb, Courtney (November 4, 2016). "A History Of San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival". Culture Trip . Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  4. ↑ "A Bay-Area Billionaire's Annual Gift of Music (Transcript)". NPR. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Hardly Strictly Bluegrass". Official Website. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  6. ↑ Peter Lattman (December 19, 2011). "Warren Hellman, 77, Investor Who Loved Bluegrass, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  7. ↑ Harrington, Jim (October 2, 2011). "Review: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass honors a legend". mercurynews.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Big Twang Theory". The Bay Citizen. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ John McChesney (October 6, 2006). "A Bay-Area Billionaire's Annual Gift of Music". NPR. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Hardly Strictly Bluegrass announces full lineup—and $1 million artist relief". 48 hills. September 25, 2020. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.