By Matt Bretz
The legendary Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida has long been a home for beloved festivals and events. Suwannee is a perfect mix of history, nature and community all brought together by the pure soul of music. Year after year the tradition of bringing people together in shared experiences has made the park into a sought-after destination for art lovers of all kinds. This year, in just about a week, a new festival is launching at Suwannee.
March 6th-8th will see the rise of Suwannee Amp Jams with the amazing Gov’t Mule playing two nights in a row. According to the schedule they are blocked off for at least 3 hours each night, but if we know Warren Haynes like we think we do than that’s enough to hold our attention and get us to the show. But there’s more!
As usual the festival is set up for 3 days of camping on the grounds. There are hotels nearby, but you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you miss out on the scene in the campgrounds. Above the inherent partying the campgrounds are where you meet your fans become neighbors, and neighbors become friends. Either way you do it—you will still have a stellar weekend. Let’s talk about the line-up!
We already mentioned Warren and GM, but there is so much more going on. Thursday is going to kick off the whole thing around 5pm with Shak Nasti, Diggin Dirt, the killer Eddie Robert and the Lucky Strokes and finishing off the first night is super jammers Eggy. Eggy has been pumping their festival presence this season and we are so happy to have them with us in Florida this weekend.
Friday the stage revs up around noon with the Legendary JC’s followed by a second set for Diggin Dirt and Eggy both. After that Lettuce takes the show for their first set of the weekend before giving way to Gov’t Mule. If all that hasn’t done it for you yet don’t worry—the last band for the night is the mighty Dumpstaphunk—another of the massive festival bands contributing Amp’s first run.
Saturday, we get to wake up with Electric Kif, another shot of Eddie Roberts, a late afternoon set with The Headhunters (love those guys!), Daze Between Band, another three hours in heaven with Gov’t Mule and then finishing off the whole damn thing is Lettuce with their second and final performance of the festival. Throughout the weekend make sure to keep an eye for what’s adding up to be an impressive list of guest artists as well—John Scofield, George Porter Jr., Eric Krasno, Jennifer Hartswick and many more.
If you love festival culture, great vibes, down people and amazing music do yourself a favor and get out to The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida for what will undoubtedly be the first of many Suwannee Amp Jams to come! For more info checkout AmpJam.com