Arlo, Taj, and Pete lead a sing-a-long at the 2009 Revival last year. Photo: Dino Perrucci, via Facebook.Summertime, and the living is, well, not all that easy. When Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival sets up camp on the river banks on Saturday, expect to hear hours of verbal hand-wringing about the BP debacle. It promises to remain the weekend’s dominant topic. Don’t let that completely harsh your buzz, though: this year’s fest gathers together an insanely eclectic lineup that welds the old to the new, the pinko to the blues, the Zydeco to the voudou – plus a mighty swell arts-n-crafts bonanza. It just might be enough to take your mind off all that Texas Tea ruining our kids’ future.
The lineup has enough old-school porch-rockers to keep the NPR set happy, but there's plenty of youngish whippersnappers here, too. God willing, fest-founder Pete Seeger and his equally ancient banjo will be on stage kicking it like it's 1939. Get it while you can.
Most interesting of the bunch might be Mike Doughty, best known for leading the Brooklyn band Soul Coughing. Over the course of three mid-90s albums, Doughty threw his stream-of-consciousness wordplay against his band’s sample-happy backdrop; the results still sound startling today. He’s softened quite a bit since then. (Teaming up with Dave Matthews tends to have that effect.) But don’t get the idea that Doughty’s lost his edge: Turns out he’s also a major Hello Kitty aficionado.
Steve Earle probably won’t have much to say about Japanese kitsch, but he won’t be holding his tongue. Fifteen years ago, the hard-bitten folkie was in the slammer after his relationship with drugs and guns got the best of him. Since his release, he’s become increasingly strident and angry, which means: Don’t miss him.
Big beautiful Toshi Reagon won’t be dropping F-bombs Earle-style, but that won’t make her set any less incendiary. If you remember her mother's all-female African-American a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, you know Reagon isn’t about to put up with any foolishness – especially if it’s from suits who dump oil in the ocean.
Other acts you should absolutely check out include Rhett Miller, formerly of the Old 97s (his latest collaborations paired him up with members of Crowded House and The Apples in Stereo), and the always amiable Steve Forbert. You’d have to work extra hard to have a bad time at a Subdudes show – they’re from a Colorado cowtown but sure sound like they’ve enjoyed a po' boy or 50. Jonatha Brooke exemplifies the talented troubador who found major-label laurels in the mid-90s, only to receive a most unceremonious curb-kicking. She rebounded resplendently, as you’ll hear.
The ever-dependable Shawn Colvin is never going to put on a bad show, so try to mosey over. Your so-called hackey-sack brigade will love them some Keller Williams, who’s performing a solo acoustic show (and eschewing his usual one-man loop extravaganza). Dan Bern always tosses a smattering of comedy atop his strumming; Buckwheat Zydeco is still squeezing hell out of that accordion; and quintessential one-hit wonder Joan Osbourne will no doubt present a set in which the very last song will be a little ditty about God utilizing mass transit. Count on it.
The world dance stage brings together performers from Haiti, Quebec, Eastern Europe, Colombia, and West Africa, while New York acts include the Felice Brothers, Dog On Fleas, Bobaloo Basey, Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
And just remember, when you’re yawning at the 74th lecture about the dangers of “Drill, baby, drill,” just gaze out at the sea of Subarus in the parking lot and have yourself a chuckle – or a good cry.
For more info about the festival, see its listing in the Watershed Post's events calendar.
Jeff Stratton is an inveterate music writer with roots in Chicago, Colorado, Florida and Honduras, capable of whipping out a three-minute pop song in only four minutes. Plus, he can change a mean diaper.
