The music of Sweetwater

    The 3rd annual Sweetwater Festival brought some of the best musicians from the Southeast in a lineup that offered something for everyone. Here’s what you missed:
    Gospel group Touch and  local rock band JFC kicked off mainstage music early Saturday afternoon, preparing downtown Milledgeville for the headlining acts to come. Atlanta  native Tinsley Ellis  took the stage, demonstrating  the kind of musical prowess that only several decades of devotion to the blues can provide. Ellis’ effortless fusion of edgy, distinctly Southern rock, blues-based melodic  riffs  and jam band-like improvisation combined with his soulful vocals to convey a sound that is at once traditional and innovatve.
    As daylight faded from the downtown skyline, Corey Harris and the 5×5 Band took the stage to deliver an incredible blend of blues, reggae, funk and jazz inspired by Harris’ own world travels to explore the very roots of the genres.  The 37-year-old Harris has developed his style after 25 years of musical experimentation and left the crowd feeling that they had made a musical  discovery.

“We just kinda kept on writing songs, trying to be original and it just kind of developed over time.”
        -Corey Harris

    Savannah natives Perpetual Groove took the stage next, immersing Hancock Street in it’s own blend of  jazz and psychedelic rock with pulsing electronic melodies. “PGroove” transitioned seamlessly from one epic jam to another, conveying an incredible depth of emotion and energizing an already-excited crowd with an amazing display of musicianship.
    PGroove  remained on the stage to combine musical forces with  longtime Milledgeville favorites Moonshine Still to form “Moongroove,” a merger resulting in intense melodic exploration. Extended jams were highlighted  by combined guitar riffs from PGroove’s Brock Butler  and Moonshine’s David Shore.

    “We’ve made this lasting realtionship with (PGroove) over the years…we’ve both matured as bands, but when you put the two together there’s still that brotherhood, that Georgia contingency.”
        -Scott Baston, Moonshine Still

Moonshine Still finally took full control of the stage and delivered arguably one of their best Milledgeville performances to date. Rhythmically anchored by drummer John Joiner and bassist Ray Petren,  percussionist Bill Jaret, keyboard player Trippe Wright and guitarist David Shore were left to improvise a melodic platform for  Scott Baston’s vocals.
    As the music echoed through the downtown streets and light beams from an array of stage lights reflected off of stately edifice of Milledgeville City Hall, the strongest  musical lineup in Sweetwater’s short history gave a stellar performance that will be difficult for next year’s acts to follow. A humble suggestion: two days of music. 

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 10 2006. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry