The 15th anniversary festival boasts sets by Greensky Bluegrass, Billy Strings and Charles Bradley & The Extraordinaires, and features a supporting cast of national and regional acts. See the full lineup.
Back to the Forest: Hoxeyville fires up again this weekend with a star-studded lineup. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Headed to Hoxeyville this weekend? Get ready for some nonstop picking.
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Be it on the Mitten Stage, the Main Stage or in the woods throughout the night, this northern Michigan festival tucked away in the Manistee National Forest west of Cadillac will have music at every stop, twist and turn.
“That’s what Hoxeyville is about. We all rage to the bands all day but when the music stops on the stage that’s when it really starts. Get to the woods!” exclaimed Billy Strings, who last week was listed as one of “10 new country artists you need to know” by Rolling Stone magazine.
Billy Strings, aka William Apostol, an Ionia native and former Traverse City resident who now calls Nashville home, is making his fourth consecutive appearance at the festival, and first as a headliner when he wraps things up on the main stage Sunday night.
“I can’t believe I get to close down Hoxeyville this year,” he said. “I look forward to this festival every year and hopefully I’ll never miss one.”
There’s just one problem this year for the 25-year-old Apostol, who officially releases his new studio album, “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” on Sept. 22.
“I have gigs on Friday and Saturday so unfortunately I’ll miss my Greensky Bluegrass fix,” he said.
“It is a huge deal to see them anywhere, but Hoxeyville might be one of the best places to see the boys. That’s where I got to hang with them for the first time and play all night till the sun came up for three days in a row.
“Since then, they’ve become some of my best friends, like big brothers.”
A HOME FESTIVAL OF SORTS
Just because the acoustic guitarist is missing his Greensky fix doesn’t mean anyone else has too, though. The band, which heralds originally from Kalamazoo, has been a Hoxeyville mainstay since the festival’s second year in 2004, and will be headlining Friday and Saturday night.
He’s Back: Billy Strings plays Hoxeyville this weekend. (Photo/Joe Hirschmugl)
It’s been a busy year for Greensky Bluegrass, which released its sixth studio album, “Shouted, Written Down and Quoted” last fall, and on top of pretty much non-stop touring have been top-billing at bigger venues such as the Ford Amphitheater on Coney Island, the Chrysalis Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland and the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, which they’ll return to in September, with support from fellow Hoxeyville act Fruition.
“We are doing big and exciting stuff all over the place, but Hoxeyville, and the (Bell’s) Garden opener are also big and exciting for us,” said Paul Hoffman, the band’s mandolin player and one of Greensky’s two main lyricists and vocalists.
“We love playing Michigan. We’re from there and it’s cool to bring a lot of outside people in. I’ve been talking to a lot of people, fans from across the country, who are coming to Hoxeyville this year, so that’s pretty cool. They’re coming here to experience Michigan and see how cool it is.”
Loving Michigan: Greensky Bluegrass plays two nights.
(Photo/Anna Sink)
In addition to bringing their growing fan base in to a festival still attended by mostly Michiganders, another thing that makes Hoxey special for Hoffman is being able to not only share the stage with a lot of the national bands they have toured with in recent years, but to reconnect with so many of the artists that make up the Michigan music scene.
“I’m psyched to have our friends Fruition there, RayBax (Rayland Baxter), Sam Bush and you know, Charles Bradley is bad ass,” Hoffman said.
“But I’m just as excited to see all the usual suspects like Josh (Davis), May (Erlewine) and Luke (Winslow-King). This is the first place I ever saw Seth (Bernard) and May play, and it’s a lot of those same bands every year that we don’t get to see a lot when we’re out on the road. I’m pretty stoked, man.”
ALL ABOUT THAT MICHIGAN SCENE
Bernard, one of the only artists with more Hoxeyville pedigree than Greensky, has played every single Hoxey.
The founder of Michigan’s Earthwork Music Collective — which has produced such Hoxey acts as Joshua Davis, May Erlewine, Big Dudee Roo, The Appleseed Collective, Luke Winslow King, Stepladders and The Go Rounds — Bernard will be performing on the mitten stage Friday night as a solo act and again on Saturday with Public Access, before hitting the main stage Sunday with Airborne or Aquatic.
‘Good Vibes’: Seth Bernard is part of Hoxeyville’s supportive community. (Photo/Anna Sink)
“Folks from out of town will notice that a highly supportive community of musicians leads to tremendous musicianship and good vibes for everyone involved,” Bernard said, before tipping his hat to a couple area acts that he expects to impress. “The Go Rounds are on fire right now. The Crane Wives are on fire right now. Get ready.”
Other Michigan acts at this year’s festival include The Accidentals, who kick things off after appearing on Local Spins on WYCE (88.1 FM) at 11 a.m. Friday, and Biomassive, both of Traverse City, Grand Rapids’ Crane Wives, Eric Engblade Trio, and The Change, Port Huron’s Lake Effect and Whistle Stop Revue, Cadillac’s Frank Youngman All-Stars, Kalamazoo’s own Darcy Wilkin (Corn Fed Girls) and southwest Michigan jug band The Deep Fried Pickle Project.
Other noteworthy national acts include the Jon Stickley Trio, The Shook Twins and the Larry Keel Experience.
COVERAGE OF HOXEYVILLE 2016 WITH PHOTOS BY ANNA SINK AND JOE HIRSCHMUGL: Hoxeyville 2016 Revisited: Greensky Bluegrass’ electrifying sets, Sunday’s rootsy romps
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC
