High Sierra Music Festival
Quincy, California
July 4 – 7, 2024
Photos by Paul Piazza
“Well, here we are in the mountains and we are going to play a mountainous set for you,” said Les Claypool of Primus near the beginning of his band’s Friday night set at the 32nd annual High Sierra Music Festival that took place in Quincy, California recently. “However that may be defined in Primus lingo,” he continued, “it’s gonna be a mountaineous set…I added an extra syllable to that because it’s High Sierra, and they expect a little extra.”
And Claypool wasn’t just exaggerating about that ‘little extra.’ The High Sierra Music Festival is a nonstop annual gathering that brings together a uniquely diverse collection of musical artists and a large camp out community of music lovers, many of whom have made this festival an annual pilgrimage with family and friends for decades. And each year everyone departs from the four day extravaganza with a new collection of musical epiphanies from that ‘little something extra’ bands give at this unique and amazing festival. This year was no exception.
The 2024 event took place in a year when the festival community collectively mourned the loss of Roy Carter, one of the founders of the festival in 1991. Carter’s pioneering work helped alter the music festival landscape forever. With High Sierra, Carter merged audiences by booking Americana, jazz, reggae, bluegrass, rock, folk, and other sounds to create diverse new communities that expanded beyond tightly bound cultural divides, forever changing the spirit and format of live entertainment across the country. It’s a lasting legacy.
The eclectic spirit that Carter infused into the festival was more evident than ever in this year’s lineup which featured an array of headliners that included Remain in Light (Talking Heads set featuring former members Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew with members of the band Cool Cool Cool), Primus, Greensky Bluegrass, and Ziggy Marley. Also on the bill were such stalwarts as the American icons Marty Stuart and the Superlatives, the talented Lovell sisters of Larkin Poe, along with amazing acts like The California Honeydrops, Bombino, Ghost Note, Say She She, Orgone, ALO, and the Allman Betts Band.
Throughout each day, festival goers could seek out the bands they would want to see at a variety of stages. And aside from the aforementioned bands, there were a variety of newcomers on the rise like the groovy East Coast band Melt, the charming and technically jaw-dropping bluegrass of AJ Lee & Blue Summit, the earthy soul gumbo of Anna Moss (with two groups) and the engaging young jam stalwarts Dogs in a Pile. There were also unique opportunities to witness highly accomplished musicians like Grammy winner blues guitarist/vocalist Jackie Venson and jazz drum wizard Scott Amendola with SticklerPhonics. There was always something for everyone, everywhere. Almost nonstop.
The early July heat wave seemed to slow people during the daytime, but by sundown it would be cool enough to roam pretty breezily around the venue of the Plumas County Fairgrounds and far into the night. If one wandered into the various camps, there were themed parties and often music in many of the camps.
During the California Honeydrops set on the Grandstand stage, the band’s frontman Lech Wierzynski mentioned that the group had been embraced by the High Sierra community early on after playing a set at the infamous “Bitchin’ Kitchen” camp jam about a decade ago, a situation that features tasty food and a serving of an up and coming band. This memorable set helped launch their journey that not only took them to the bigger stages at this festival, but eventually helped evolve them into an act has toured the nation with the likes of Bonnie Raitt. This year, after their first set, this hard-working bunch played a fiery set at the more intimate Vaudeville stage. And a short time after that, they carried that energy into the wee hours, as they marched out in second line to celebrate the birthday of one of the band members that turned into a moving late night celebration.
Elsewhere, one could find musicians collaborating onstage in Artist Playshops in the Music Hall. These sessions explored both the work of distinctive artists and genres. Guitarist Chris Jacobs collaborated with the Honeydrops in the excellent Funkify Your Life: A Celebration of the Music of the Meters. There was Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz exploring the songbook of 1974 with a fun variety of songs and guests. Lebo, who was billed as an Artist at Large for the festival, played in a total of 21 different sets over the course of the festival. On Sunday, one of the festival’s most highly anticipated sets is always Guitarmaggedon. This is a collection of some of the festival’s best guitarists who jam on a big theme with a beautiful excess of guitars. And since this was the 20th anniversary of this collaboration, it was called Carmaggedon, and featured the music of the Cars.
Naturally, there were some quieter options at the festival. The festival’s Troubadour Session, took place late in the evening in the small Mineral Building and featured three or four acoustic performers who would swap songs and stories. There was a different configuration each night and the Sunday night finale featured Bo Carper (New Monsoon), Walter Strauss (Fula Brothers), Ezra Lipp (ALO), and Kyle Ledson of Broken Compass Bluegrass. “Troubadour Sessions was a treat,” said Ledson, who is preparing to travel to France with Broken Compass Compass Bluegrass to play a pair of festivals. “ It’s very cool getting an opportunity to play music to such a quiet and captive audience where you can hear a pin drop. Especially at the end of raging festival like High Sierra.”
Music was happening all over in the camps. Naturally, Bitchin’ Kitchen hosted some cool sets including one by Blu Egyptian and another by Handmade Moments. Elsewhere, Camp Happiness had a fun afternoon set by Eddie Roberts & the Lucky Strokes.
Of course, for many in attendance, new discoveries and musical epiphanies are what it’s all about. One of many memorable new discoveries at this year’s festival was Cimafunk (aka Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodriguez), a Cuban group that blends funk and hip hop with Cuban and Afro Caribbean music. This high energy fusion blasted people into the dance stratosphere and Cimafunk, who lays down some serious James Brown footwork, exhorted the crowd to join in and created a tidal wave of energy in the crowd that had everyone moving and vibrating vigorously inside and outside of the big Vaudeville tent.
One could go on and on about many more groups and experiences from the entire weekend and in the end, it turns out that everyone has a unique experience. But perhaps the lasting imprint of the 32nd High Sierra Music Festival is that Roy Carter must have been smiling down on his life’s work at this one. Whether at moments like the great Adrian Belew blowing minds with his virtuoso guitar playing on “Crosseyed and Painless,” American musical treasures Marty Stuart and Kenny Vaughan trading licks in their sharp suits in the heat, or Bombino taking us to an ethereal African desert groove plain, it was all truly heavenly. And most certainly more than a little extra.
