Soulive Launches the Royal Family Affair

Get Down with the HH's at a 3-Day Get Down on August 12-14 at Stratton Mountain, Vermont

Featuring Soulive, Chromeo, Big Gigantic, Lettuce, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Karl Denson and many more...

In celebration of its 13th year as a band, the preeminent soul funk trio Soulive has announced the inaugural Royal Family Affair -- a three-day music festival from August 12-14 set in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont. In the last decade, Soulive has toured the globe playing with some of the world's most celebrated musicians from The Rolling Stones to Dave Matthews, from Stevie Wonder to Joshua Redman. Now, as has become customary with their acclaimed Bowlive and Royal Family Ball blowouts, Soulive brings all of their diverse friends together for a weekend long event.

Joining Soulive at the Royal Family Affair are future funk luminaries Chromeo, electronic powerhouse Big Gigantic, fellow Royal Family Records label-mates Lettuce, Break Science, Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers and Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 and modern day funk legends Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and Karl Denson. Additional highlights include a special one-time only performance by a power trio consisting of organist John Medeski, saxophonist Skerik and drummer Adam Deitch, as well as sets by Zach Deputy, Paper Diamond, John Brown's Body, The Pimps of Joytime, The London Soulsand Jennifer Hartswick. Additional guests will be announced shortly.

Along with performances taking place on two stages and a late-night venue, the Royal Family Affair will offer a series of intimate clinics and musical workshops with the many luminaries performing at the festival. These up close and personal meetings with the artists will take place in large indoor studios set up with musical gear. They’ll provide a fascinating window into the creative process for musicians and fans alike. Confirmed events include a guitar seminar with Eric Krasno, a percussion clinic with Alan Evans and Adam Deitch, a horn clinic with The Shady Horns and a composition/songwriting workshop with Neal Evans.

The Royal Family Affair will take place at the Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Bondville, VT. One of the best-known skiing locations in the Northeast, Stratton is easily accessible from NYC, Boston, Western Massachusetts, Albany and Burlington. The event will take place at the base of the mountain with picturesque views and a lively village featuring restaurants, bars and retail stores. Festival attendees are encouraged to stay at any of the extremely affordable lodging properties right on site. All lodging is within walking distance of the stages and rates start as low as $39 per person per night.

Beyond the great music, Stratton Mountain offers a huge variety of activities for outdoor enthusiasts. Play tennis, go hiking or kayaking, or ride the gondola to the summit - you'll enjoy views only the highest peak in Vermont's Green Mountain range can provide. In the village, Long Trail and Wolavers will offer free daily tastings of a wide variety of fine local micro-brews, and the wide variety of local restaurants will offer affordable, fresh and tasty local cuisine.

Single day ($29.50 - $34.50) and 3-day ($89.50) festival passes are on sale now through the Royal Family Affair website (www.royalfamilyaffair.com). For those looking for a VIP experience, two tiers of VIP packages are available, offering benefits ranging from exclusive viewing areas, complementary beverages, a meet & greet with the performers and backstage access. VIP packages start at $199.

So who is in????

Phish Utica DVD

Yesterday 100 lucky Vermonters and me had the privilege of being some of the first people to experience the Phish Utica DVD. Merrill of Merrill's Roxy Theaters in downtown Burlington, VT generously handed over his theater to Phish and the WaterWheel Foundation for the night. 100% of the proceeds benefited music department of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Burlington. I heard we raised over $1500 for the cause. Go us!

The original show took place on October 20, 2010 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, NY and it was the show to be at and of course one of the only shows I missed on that tour. The show at the sold out auditorium which is the size of a high school's basketball gym has been buzzed about ever since it happened. Way to go Phish Inc for picking a show where not that many fans got to experience and now they do!

I would suggest gathering all the money you have left after you buy all your tickets to go see the band and purchase this DVD immediately! The crew did a great job shooting the band from all angles and they even added a new camera that was set up right near the fabulous Chris Kuroda in order to capture the amazing Phish light show. One of my favorite parts of the DVD is Trey's smile. He obviously knows how awesome the band was sounding and you could tell that he was excited about it. He gives us tons of giggles, smiles and oh yeah faces throughout the entire show. It made me happy to watch and I felt proud of those four men from Vermont.

If you don't like the song Guyute then you might not like this show. Fans refer to this show as "Guyutica" since they played and teased this song many many times. I personally never thought it got old and got excited every time I heard Trey play that famous lick.

The DVD is available for purchase at Phish.com

The Infamous Stringdusters at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT

A man and a woman went on a date to Higher Ground in Burlington, VT to see the Infamous Stringdusters. They were blown away!! Check out their reactions.

The Woman (Taraleigh Weathers)

I am not the biggest fan of U2. My husband thought it would be funny to trick me into liking U2 when the Infamous Stringdusters did a cover from the band. He asked me if I liked the song which I said I did. When I found out it was U2 I said, "Well if U2 played the song like this then I would like it." That is how awesome the Infamous Stringdusters are! They took a song by an extremely famous and well respected band and I liked their version much better.

I seriously love this band now and want to see them every possible time I can. They had me at hello. One thing that I especially loved besides the fact that they are all extremely talented musicians and cute boys was their performance quality. They went from playing in one big long line of awesomeness to playing to each other in a circle just like they were around a campfire and we were along for the ride. I loved how they were constantly changing positions on the stage. I bet if all the band members had paint on their feet, the entire stage would be completely covered. They interacted with the audience and I felt personally responsible for how awesome the show was because they made me feel as though I was part of the band. I'm not special. They created this feeling for everyone in the crowd.

My advice to you.... GO OUT AND SEE THIS BAND!!!!

The Man (Dan Weathers)

On a cold and rainy night on an evening in Burlington, VT, bluegrass fans were warm and dry dancing their tails off to the Infamous Stringdusters. This high energy band really gets the crowd moving. While this band plays very traditional with an upright bass, dobro, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and guitar they also have a wide range of influences beyond bluegrass and country covering bands like U2 and the Police. Right off the bat you could tell these were all top notch musicians. Every note was concise and the singing came through clear. I really enjoyed watching the musicians interact. You could tell they loved what they were doing and they enjoyed watching each other as they ripped through searing solos throughout the night. As a fan you will either have fun dancing to the grooves or just sit back and marvel at the way this band tears through high paced songs never missing a beat. For me, I can't wait to see more of what these guys can do.

Check out their website for tourdates!

CLICK HERE