Aaron Freeman, better known by his stage name Gene Ween, is an American singer, guitarist and a founding member of the experimental alternative rock group Ween. Freeman, along with childhood friend Mickey Melchiondo, started the group in the mid-1980s. Ween would expand to five members and perform together until May 2012 when Freeman abruptly quit the band due to his want to move forward with a solo career, as well as his desire to remain sober. Over the next few years, Freeman would briefly abandon the Gene Ween name and lead a new five-piece band called Freeman. Shortly after reviving the Gene Ween name for a series of Billy Joel tribute performances, Ween reunited in February 2016 for three concerts in Broomfield, Colorado. The band has continued to perform and tour since.
Umphrey's McGee, sometimes stylized as UM, is an American jam band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and folk. They have toured regularly and released several albums. Since year 2002, they were the headlining act and organizers of Summer Camp Music Festival, which was held annually in Three Sister’s Park in Chillicothe, Illinois.
Dave Dreiwitz is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the bassist for the bands Ween and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
Vegoose was an annual Halloween music and arts festival that took place in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unlike the Bonnaroo Music Festival — put on by the same organizers, Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment — Vegoose does not offer on-site camping. In addition to music, the festival features a score of activities, including celebrity impersonators, a wedding chapel, costume contests, a massive pumpkin display, and more.
The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands typically referred to as jam bands and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, after taking a one year break.
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He has toured, performed and recorded with a number of other bands, including Cass McCombs, A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the Trey Anastasio/ Mike Gordon duo, the Gene Ween Band, and Furthur. He also plays with the Shpongle Live Band. In 2013 he formed a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
Marco Benevento is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording engineer of Fred Short, a recording studio in Upstate New York, and a member of the rock groups Benevento/Russo Duo and Joe Russo's Almost Dead, both of which feature his regular musical collaborator Joe Russo.
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival was a four-day music festival held annually in early June from 2004 to 2015 at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. Named for the Wakarusa River, the festival was first held at Clinton State Park immediately outside of Lawrence, Kansas. It moved to its new location, just outside Fort Smith and Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2009. The festival is known for an eclectic mix of music and has featured artists like Grammy award winners the Black Keys, The Flaming Lips, Wilco, and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Activities other than music included disc golf, yoga, hiking, and swimming in the Mulberry River.
Chris Harford is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter.
The Summer Camp Music Festival is a multi-day music festival created by Jay Goldberg Events & Entertainment and held annually on Memorial Day Weekend at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. The event typically attracts around 20,000 visitors, of which between 8,000 and 10,000 arrive before gates open. In 2014, it was listed as one of the top 40 music festivals in Rolling Stone and in 2015 on Rolling Stone's 50 Must-See Music Festivals.
The 2006 festival ran from June 15–18. The headliners for the 2006 festival included Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Beck, and Phil Lesh and Friends. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band was featured in their own tent for three days and nights. 80,000 tickets, sold out. Radiohead's Ed O'Brien has described the band's headlining set as one of their best performances.
The Benevento/Russo Duo is an American alternative jazz/rock band from New York City, featuring Marco Benevento on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on drums.
The 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was held on June 10–13, 2010. The line-up was announced Tuesday, February 9, although the original line-up release date was scheduled for February 2. It was broadcast live on YouTube. Pre-sale tickets went on sale November 27, 2009.
The North Coast Music Festival is held annually in Chicago on Labor Day weekend. Initially featuring a diverse mix of electronic, hip hop, folk, jam band, and rock acts, and a wide variety of performance and installation artists, North Coast evolved to host primarily features EDM acts. Up through 2018, the festival was held at Union Park. In 2019, it was held at Huntington Bank Pavilion in Northerly Island. In 2020, the festival did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival has been held at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois since 2021.
Lockn' Festival, first known as Interlocken Music Festival, was an annual four-day music festival held at Oak Ridge Farm near Arrington in Nelson County, Virginia. The festival focused primarily on jam bands and other music improvisation acts. Its inaugural event took place September 5–8, 2013, drew nearly 25,000 fans and featured notable groups such as Furthur, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic featuring John Fogerty, The String Cheese Incident featuring Zac Brown, and The Black Crowes.
The Peach Music Festival is a music festival started by the Allman Brothers Band and Live Nation Entertainment that has been held annually since 2012 at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Montage Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton, Pennsylvania. One exception was in 2020.
Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to drummer Joe Russo, the band also includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and Tom Hamilton of Brothers Past, Ghost Light, and American Babies on guitar and vocals.
Cloud 9 Adventures is a provider of reservations, travel services, marketing, consulting, and brand management for destination music events. The company specializes in planning, promoting, and executing multi-day music events on fully chartered luxury cruise ships and at all-inclusive resorts. Cloud 9 Adventures services range from consulting on new events, working with preferred vendors, facilitating international logistics and being a fully licensed travel service provider to handle all event sales and reservations. The Cloud 9 Adventures ethos is modeled around luxury concert vacations.
Suwannee Hulaween is an annual music and camping festival held over Halloween weekend at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida.
Spafford is a U.S.-based jam band that blends multiple genres of music including rock, funk, jazz, reggae, ska, and electro-pop. Its members include Brian Moss (guitar/vocals), Jordan Fairless (bass/vocals), Nick Tkachyk (drums/percussion/vocals), and Cory Schechtman (keys/sax). The group self-releases its recordings, including studio albums, improvisational sessions, and soundboard releases of their live shows.
