A “Where’s Waldo” sea of heads bobbed for Keller Williams, the one man jam band whose quirky lyrics sometimes reminds me of Prine. Watch them bob here. I learned to film a video clip with one hand while drinking a beer in the other while watching The Midatlantics play. They really worked hard for their […]
It’s year 14 and the theme is Fire on the Mountain. One of the first things I noticed on my walk through the main field was this giant wooden phoenix. It’s scheduled to be set on fire after headliner Grace Potter plays Saturday night and after festival-goers write what they want to let go of […]
-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 16, 2015 Every Saturday night through the months of April and May regional bands competed at the Phoenix, a new music venue in Roanoke owned by Floydfest founders Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson. The fan-voted Battle of the Bands was designed to foster the regional […]
– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on April 30, 2015 with the title From Party to Festival. A new generation of festival promoters, musicians and musical-minded friends are bringing homegrown music from the backyards, living rooms and front porches of Floyd County to the open countryside for a three day music festival […]
– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on August 7, 2014 Floydfest’s first fashion show, Style Revolution, was a showcase of organic fashion and handcrafted designs provided by artisans from the festival’s Vendor Village. The dramatic presentation – held under the Global Village’s futuristic-styled tent Friday and Saturday night – was themed around […]
It pays to be nosy at Floydfest. Being nosy is how I met eleven-year old Jasper from West Virginia. He was pulling a wagon full of collected recyclables along the Global Village road. He had collected the stuff from surrounding campsites and was delivering them to the compost/recycling station. At the station he received festival […]
Michael Franti is beautiful inside and out. I like the way he jumps when he performs and how he gets the crowd jumping too. I like his fun lovingness and his life philosophies, one of which is to hug someone everyday, kiss someone everyday, miss someone everyday and give some love to someone that needs […]
I arrived at Floydfest 13 during the downpour on Thursday. After trudging around a bit in a raincoat and umbrella, I took cover under the Speakseasy tent to hear Michael Franti. No one suffered. Franti, along with virtuoso guitarist J Bowman, lifted spirits and filled hearts with stories of playing in Iraq for the children and soldiers. […]
– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 17, 2014. Floydfest founder and producer Kris Hodges has been a musician most his life, playing gigs in Roanoke and beyond since the age of 14. Hodges, who is primarily a drummer (and is pictured below with his son), eventually got tired of the […]
This was the third year of Floydfest’s Teen Scene at the Imagine Tent and the first year that guest artist Josh Copus presented daily collage journaling workshops for teens throughout the four day festival. Teens were provided with blank journals, magazines and art supplies. There was a color printer for printing out self-portraits, taken with […]
~ The following appeared in the August 1st issue of The Floyd Press At the close of Floydfest on Sunday, festival MC announced from the main stage that the festival would be extended, with music acts performing at various stages until 11:00 p.m. and food booths staying open past the traditional 6 p.m. closing. Under […]
At some point on Saturday Floydfest began to feel like a floating island separating those who were onsite from those who (like me) wanted to be but couldn’t get back because of the heavy, steady rain. And I’m sure some of the wet people onsite were wishing they were in the comfort of their own […]
