NorthAmericana Festival Digs Its Roots Into Harvard Square This Weekend (9/16-17)

For a number of years roots and Americana lovers and musicians looked forward to September for a massive bash celebrating the ever growing mass of talent in Boston in a conduit called “The New England Americana Festival”. Last year the festival was put aside onto a shelf and the absence was certainly evident to a number of folks, including a couple of the previous committee members who have decided to pick the torch back up and rebrand a new event under the clever moniker “NorthAmericana“.

PC: I’m thrilled that we’ll bring this festival to Harvard Square. Over the years the square has been so identified with our area’s music history especially with the folk revivals of the 60s and 90s, that it makes perfect sense. The setting is beautiful as well and the Harvard Square Business Association has been so helpful in making this happen that it really makes you feel welcomed into the space.

PC: I think what was so special of the NEAF was that we could put together a huge line up of 60+ bands in a lot of different venues that it had a real SXSW-type vibe. Unfortunately with the changing economics of the square many of those smaller venues are no longer open, so we decided that an outdoor street festival was the best way to bring people together. With the smaller number of bands we really felt it was important to cover a wide range of “Americana” music with everything from blues to bluegrass to roots rock and country as well as mixing up-and-coming artists like Lula Wiles and Julie Rhodes with vets like Peter Parcek and Tony Savarino.

 

PC: We’ll open the festival with a Friday night kick off concert at Club Passim, again featuring a veteran performer and a younger up-and-comer, specifically Chuck McDermott (who was recently inducted into the MA Country Music Hall of Fame) and Jay Psaros. On Saturday, the festival will take place on Brattle Street with an outdoor stage featuring 10 acts from 12-9pm, which is free and all ages. We’ll have a beer garden on site for those 21+ and of course plenty of music and merch for sale from all of our bands.

 

 

I think this is a great time for roots music, especially in our area. If you travel around the country you hear people talk a lot about our scene and bands like Della Mae, Lake Street Dive, Margaret Glaspy, etc. are making a huge splash and definitely repping their Boston roots, which I think is a great thing for other bands and performers following in their wake. I’m excited for this event to put acts on the same stage that maybe wouldn’t normally bill together because sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle in a way that is hard to replicate in any other setting.