The Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Competition returned to Franklin, Tenn. Saturday for 2 reside and loud days of southern-rooted sounds: from rock to people, nation, blues and past.
Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste and Lake Avenue Dive had been among the many highlights on the primary day of the family-friendly boutique fest, however there was much more to find throughout almost 12 hours of continuous reside music. These had been our favourite units from a sunny Saturday on Harlinsdale Farm.
Dawes
L.A. folk-rockers Dawes had been among the many final bands to really take the stage at Pilgrimage’s 2018 version – that yr, heavy thunderstorms compelled the fest to evacuate simply hours after it started, and the grounds by no means reopened that yr.
With nothing however sunshine on the horizon Saturday, frontman Taylor Goldsmith and firm kicked out the jams – so, so many jams – throughout a sonically huge set that included a number of cuts from their newest, the prog-leaning “Misadventures of Doomscroller.”
That included the nine-minute epic “Somebody Else’s Café / Doomscroller Tries To Loosen up” in addition to finally hopeful “Comes In Waves” (“For those who be ok with the longer term,” Goldsmith croons, “Then child so do I.”)
Dawes actually lifted spirits, nonetheless, with their signature, “When My Time Comes.” When Goldsmith requested the gang to sing the ultimate refrain on their very own, with out the band’s accompaniment, there was hardly a dip in quantity.
“It doesn’t get cooler than this,” Goldsmith stated. “A pageant like this, a lineup like this? I really feel so honored.”
Celisse
She’s backed up the likes of Mariah Carey, Lizzo and Jon Batiste, however Celisse Henderson was the star of her personal present — and the afternoon — throughout her mid-day set on the Midnight Solar Stage.
We’re betting the guitarist/vocalist shall be many attendees’ favourite discovery of the weekend – between the scorching solos she unleashed in her unique, soul-belting numbers in addition to covers starting from Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” to Invoice Withers’ “Use Me.”
“Pilgrimage, you’re getting each single ounce of what I’ve received as we speak,” she stated because the rising crowd hollered in approval. It secure to say Henderson’s set melted quite a lot of faces – together with her personal, as she shared that she wanted to wipe away the eyelashes she’d placed on for the stage.
The Black Opry Revue
Saturday introduced one of the vital high-profile Nashville-area appearances but for Black Opry, a motion of artists, trade figures and followers within the nation/people/blues realm.
The Black Opry Revue introduced a half-dozen of those skills to the Gold Report Highway stage, together with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ruby Amanfu, who closed the set alongside Lori Rayne and Layna, singing her “Gotta Let Go.”
These are native artists that you must undoubtedly embrace, get to know, (and) get to like,” Amanfu stated. “And we’re so glad to be right here with you.”
Adia Victoria
As she and her band helped break in Pilgrimage’s greatest stage, Adia Victoria informed her viewers she hoped she wasn’t bumming them out an excessive amount of. That’s exceptionally thoughtful of a blues artist.
“Y’all introduced a southern witch out of the swamps of South Carolina,” she stated, “Enjoying within the solar.”
Victoria, actually, has now known as Nashville house for greater than a decade, and the brilliant environment of Harlinsdale Farm suited her model of unvarnished blues.
On stage and off, Victoria makes her dedication to the artform clear, however in her songs, she costs headfirst into the longer term. She closed her set with “South Gotta Change” – which she defined was a music of defiance to those that inform her if she doesn’t love the south, she ought to depart it.
“’Trigger I like you, I will not depart you,” she sang. “Will not allow you to slip away/ Come what might/We’re gonna discover a method.”
