PREVIEW | Bear Creek Music & Art Festival | 11.13 – 16.2014 | Suwannee Music Park | Live Oak, Florida

Bear Creek Music & Art Festival :: Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park :: Live Oak, Florida :: 11.13 – 16.2014

Photo Credit: SeeBliss Photography

Words By: Alex Bayer

 
Only about 4 weeks remain until what might be the funkiest music festival of the season; Bear Creek Music and Art Festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. The festival season continues in Live Oak, Florida in mid November for a funk-filled weekend of music and great vibes. These spirited grounds are perfect for a festival at almost any time of the year. Cypress and Oak trees provide plenty of shade over 600+ campsites; just walk around and you’ll find a great spot to tent up for the fun. Besides music, there are hiking trails, canoeing and golf cart rentals to keep you mobile. Even a Disc Golf course is on site! Bear Creek is a great reason for any northerners to swing through the south and get some heat to continue their summer fun into the Fall.
 
So about the music…Suwannee in north Florida is about to get funkified! A unique part of Bear Creek 2014 is that many of the bands get to take the stage for 2 sets. Headliner Umphrey’s McGee always brings their A-Game to each set with their talent, masterful jams and incredible unison within musical changes. If you are familiar with Lettuce then you already know they are one of the funkiest groups out there. Along with the 2 groups just mentioned some of the other bands playing two sets include; The New Mastersounds, Dumpstaphunk, Zach Deputy, The Nth Power, See-I and Tauk, among others. One would hope we’ll see a couple a collaborations between these bands…maybe even a chance for a “super jam”? One nice late surprise is the addition of New York hip-hip artist, Talib Kweli. Getting back to the main theme of the festival…all things funk…be sure to check out Turquaz, Break Science, Earphunk, The Main Squeeze, Orgone, The Heard, The Floozies and last, but certainly not least Soulive. With all those mentioned and still more those attending Bear Creek 2014 are in for one hell of a weekend.
 

 
Personally I am really excited to see some new music too, in fact that is one thing that can make festivals so great…discovering new music. The Funky Knuckles, Benyoro, Yojimbo, Catfish Alliance, S.P.O.R.E., Green Sunshine, Copious Jones and Freddy’s Finest should all be a lot of fun and will be firsts for me. Getting back to this idea of the ‘Super Jam’, I hoping to see some of the ‘artists at large’ come together and get funky. George Porter Jr., Bernard Purdie, Grant Green Jr., Pee Wee Ellis, Roosevelt Collier, and Khris Royal would without a doubt melt some faces. Also be on the lookout for youngsters Carly Meyers on the trombone and Brandon Niedrauer on the guitar. These kids are really talented and are no more than 15 years young!
 
Suwannee is great because there will be music and people from all over the country. It may not be centrally located in the states but now that summer is over, people still want to get their festival fix. Young and old, veterans and newbies will all be getting their groove on around Spirit of the Suwannee’s amphitheater stage which has such a magical feel to it and is one of my personal favorite outdoor stages to see live music on. Pretty much every instrument will be present at this festival. The number of horns, brass and string instruments is amazing; those in attendance be sure to see plenty of old school and new school funk. Grab your tickets now as prices will go up soon. Bear Creek starts on Thursday, November 13 and will end Sunday, November 16th. Full weekend prices at the gate are $245 so act fast. Music starts Thursday night and will end early evening Sunday, but you can stick around longer or come a little early since Suwannee campgrounds are open year-round. Can’t wait to see y’all there!!

Kung Fu | Bear Creek Music & Art Festival 2013

BEAR CREEK MUSIC & ART FESTIVAL 2014 LINE-UP:
Umphrey’s McGee x 2
Chris Robinson’s Soulive Revue
Lettuce x 2
Dumpstaphunk x 2
Soulive
New Mastersounds x 2
Budos Band x 2
Break Science
Talib Kweli
The Floozies
St. Paul & the Broken Bones
Zach Deputy x 2
Nicholas Payton Trio x 2
Orgone x 2
Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier Band
Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds
Turkuaz
The Nth Power x 2
The Main Squeeze x 2
Monophonics
Alan Evans’ Playonbrother
Mingo Fishtrap
See I x 2
Kreative Pandemonium
Benyoro
Locos Por Juana
Aleica Chakour Band x 2
The Heard
The Fritz
Curtis Harding
Tauk
The Broadcast
Yojimbo
Funky Knuckles
Come Back Alice
Catfish Alliance
Freddy’s Finest
Copious Jones
S.P.O.R.E.
Captain Green
Green Sunshine
Dirk Quinn Band
Herd Of Watts

Artists at Large:
Bernard Purdie
Pee Wee Ellis
George Porter Jr.
Oteil Burbridge
Skerik
Nicholas Payton
Jennifer Hartswick
Grant Green Jr.
Roosevelt Collier
Khris Royal
Carly Meyers
Farnell Newton
Eric Vogel
Brandon Niederauer

Click here to purchase your tickets!