Roots

No sooner did I post a catch-up item yesterday about recent Strawberry Spring bookings, the top of the lineup grew even brighter with the addition of surefire attraction Lyle Lovett, making the upcoming festival's musical lineup one of the most appealing in years.

The festival has yet to publish a set schedule for the May 27-30 event, so we can't say who will be closing the program each night in the tradtional headlner slots. But for now I am going with Lovett, Richard Thompson and country star Patty Loveless as our designated headliners, moving the Desert Rose Band to the ranks of notables with others such as Loudon Wainwright, Crooked Still, John Jorgenson, Dala and the three acts I wrote about yesterday—Sarah Jarosz, 18 South and Joy Kills Sorrow.

This one is shaping up as a Strawberry not to miss.

Here's something you can do to support the continuation of the most historic bluegrass festival venue in the land. Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Jamboree & Campground could be sold for development unless a non-profit foundation can raise the $3 million to buy the property.

One way to bring in a cool $250,000 is to get enough online voters to pick it over other worthy projects in the Pepsi Refresh Project. Go here to cast your vote to help the foundation.

No, it is not the Monroe family selling the land, but the owner who bought it from Bill Monroe in the early 1990s, former Bluegrass Boy Dwight Dillam, who has operated the festivals at the facility ever since. If successful, the foundation would take over the operation of the park and festivals.

Considering its self-admitted technology aversion, you might think that news today about Strawberry Music Festivals' new website was an April Fools joke. But no, it is definitely for real and it's definitely an upgrade. That's the splash page above.

The festival's welcome letter describes how the change came about:

The highly anticipated Lilith Tour 2010 rolled out dates for 14 stops in the U.S. and Canada, with more to be announced. The tour, which features a galaxy of female recording artists from every genre of popular music, kicks of June 27 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary AB, followed by dates in Edmonton, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Indianapolis, Toronto, Cleveland, Atlanta and West Palm Beach.

The tour added two new artists, teen sensation Selena Gomez and Mexican singer-songwriter Jenni Rivera, to the long list of artists attached to the tour. Two of the tour's top attractions, Sarah McLaughlin and Emmylou Harris, will appear together on Jimmy Kimmel Live March 25 to promote the show. Tickets go on sale at the tour website Saturday, March 27.

See the FP Lilith Tour page for the complete lineup and interactive artist pages.

The headline acts at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival are John Prine, Levon Helm's Ramble and Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers, but that isn't the top story of the festival lineup that was announced today.

According to festival co-producer Jay Sweet, the totality of the lineup and the interconnections among many of the artists is the thing to focus on. "Our goal is to create an environment where artists want to stick around for the whole weekend, enabling special collaborations and guest appearances," he said.

The perfect example of that were the two session-ending sets by Pete Seeger at last year's festival, in which dozens of festival artists joined Seeger on stage for group singalongs.

"What is special about Newport is the family reunion atmosphere, which crosses genres and generations," Sweet said. "In one way or another, just about every artist in the lineup has connections to other artists."

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Additions: Patty Loveless, The Horse Flies, Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Alison Brown Quartet, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

Comment: Patty Loveless joining the bill is notable for beefing up an already strong roster of traditional bluegrassers with true Appalachian roots. Though she has succeeded in mainstream country, her two Mountain Soul CDs have endeared her to the bluegrass community. With previously announced Doc Watson and Jesse McReynolds & Bobby Osborne, not to mention others with authentic roots like Sam Bush and Tony Rice, this is a notable lineup for old-time mountain music.

Visit FP's Rockygrass page and the festival website.

Telluride single day lineups, basically the festival schedule lacking only the stage times, was released. There's no one day that is discernably more or less appealing.  Our recommendation is that if you love progressive acoustic music, go for the duration and get there in time for the Thursday openers. Here is the breakout, with artists listed in reverse performance order:

Thursday, June 17: Tim O'Brien Band, Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Del McCoury Band, Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band, Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile, Keller & the Keels, Sarah Jarosz

Friday, June 18: Leftover Salmon, Lyle Lovett, Court Yard Hounds, Hot Rize, Peter Rowan, Cadillac Sky, John Cowan Band, Ben Sollee

Saturday, June 19: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Sam Bush Band, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain  & Edgar Meyer, Telluride Troubadour, Yonder Mountain String Band, Imelda May, Jerry Douglas, Omar Hakim & Viktor Krauss, The Hillbenders