BGS and the Philadelphia Folksong Society, who are presenters of the oldest continuously run music festival in North America, are proud to join together to virtually present Cabin Fever Fest on February 20 & 21. This fully digital, interactive musical experience will include multiple streaming stages, performances by international stars and local favorites, music workshops and lessons, and more. (See the full lineup below.)
Tickets to Cabin Fever Fest are available now, full weekend passes are available for just $45 for PFS Members and $50 for Not-Yet-Members. Your ticket gives you full access to the event from February 20 until February 28, to watch at your leisure and convenience.
To get excited for the launch of the festival this Saturday, we wanted to introduce our BGS audience to some of the amazing folks on the lineup. Hopefully you’ll find a few favorite artists and performers — new and old — to catch this weekend on Cabin Fever Fest, presented by BGS and the Philadelphia Folksong Society!
Avi Kaplan
We first turned our attention to former Pentatonix low-end Avi Kaplan when he released his first rootsy foray, I’ll Get By, last February. In our interview last year, he spoke about his time with the internationally-renowned a capella group, growing up on bluegrass, and how is journey back to folk took shape. We were excited to have Avi on Whiskey Sour Happy Hour episode 3 last spring and we’re so excited to have him on Cabin Fever Fest, as well!
By now a longtime friend of BGS as well as a stalwart of the Americana-blues scene, Keb’ Mo’ has been our Artist of the Month, has been on our podcasts, our live lineups, and our year-end and holiday playlists, and now will join us and our Philly Folksong Society friends for Cabin Fever Fest! Whether he’s sharing a stage with Taj Mahal or swapping licks with Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Keb’ Mo’ is an extraordinary picker and collaborator.
Bluegrass family band turned modern blues-rock shredders Larkin Poe are a constantfavoriteon the pages and social media channels of BGS — and we totally see why! They combine fiery, impassioned energy with bluegrass technique and virtuosity for a brand of southern rock and blues that appeals to all kinds of roots music fans. They’ve kept up a constant “touring” calendar despite COVID-19, and we’re so grateful to have them join our virtual festival.
A cosmic, mystical force on banjo, with her songwriting pen, or within the pages of her poetry notebook, Valerie June is another Whiskey Sour Happy Hour alumnus joining us on the Cabin Fever Fest lineup. Her upcoming Jack Splash-produced album, The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers, is generating quite a bit of buzz in folk circles — the single, “Call Me a Fool” features Stax legend Carla Thomas! — so of course we’re looking forward to her Cabin Fever performance!
What would a folk festival be without sibling harmonies!? The way The Secret Sisters — Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle — blend their songwriting styles, their production and arrangements, and their voices is so effortless — while laser-precise, deliberate, and painstaking.
Lockdown shows from Nashville’s self-professed banjo house (and basement) have kept all of us going through the past year or so — or at least, all of us at BGS and Philly Folksong Society! We’re tickled they’ll be bringing more of their humorous, engaging, double-banjo content to Cabin Fever Fest.
Perhaps the world’s foremost ukulele virtuoso, Jake Shimabukuro represents quite a few American roots music traditions often left to the wayside in folk circles. Shimabukuro has performed with many bluegrass, old-time, and Americana greats including Sierra Hull, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Alison Brown, Béla Fleck, and more. His prodigious approach to the ukulele — an instrument with skyrocketing popularity at the moment, especially among Gen Z — will surely wow new and old fans alike, no matter your entry point to roots music.
Speaking of Sierra Hull! One of our all-time favorite mandolin maestros, this thoughtful composer/songwriter will headline one day of our BGS stage. Every chance we get to work together, we take it! We can’t wait to see what new, astounding cover songs — like her Whiskey Sour Happy Hour rendition of “King of Anything” — fantastic musical acrobatics, and bluegrass nuggets she’ll pepper throughout her performance.
Our Philly Folk Fest friends turned us onto local favorites, Mwenso & the Shakes, and we’re awfully glad they did. Led by Michael Mwenso, the troupe of global artists present music that’s entrancing, entertaining, and as they put it, “A formidable timeline of jazz and blues expression through African and Afro American music.” Their debut album, Emergence [The Process of Coming Into Being], is available wherever you get music now. We can’t wait to hear from Mwenso & the Shakes!
Based in Santa Cruz, California these fixtures in the Northern California bluegrass scene are making a splash on a national scale, despite the pandemic throwing a wrench in their ascension. Blue Summit’s music is modern, crisp, and precise with a songwriting heart that feels fully realized and mature, despite their relative youth as a group. Lee’s vocals and originals spearhead the ensemble, reminding of Alison Krauss and her former bandmate Molly Tuttle, too. BGS has been waiting for the opportunity to get Blue Summit on a lineup and Cabin Fever Fest was the perfect opportunity!
Check out the full lineup and schedules for Cabin Fever Fest below and don’t forget to head to the CFF website for more information — discover workshops, get your Philly Folksong Society membership, find FAQs, and more!
Saturday, February 20, 2021
(all times EST)
CAMP STAGE presented by the Philadelphia Music Co-op
11:00AM Katherine Rondeau 11:30AM Jason Ager 12:00PM Hot Club of Philadelphia 12:30PM Rebecca Lang Fiorentino 1:00PM Ami Yares 1:30PM Bethlehem & Sad Patrick
CAMP STAGE presented by the Bluegrass Situation
2:30PM The Wandering Hearts 3:15PM AJ Lee & Blue Summit 4:30PM Jontavious Willis 5:45PM Jon Stickley Trio 7:00PM Sierra Hull
MARTIN STAGE / MAIN STAGE
3:30PM Emily Drinker 4:15PM OKAN 5:30PM James McMurtry 6:45PM Mwenso & the Shakes 8:00PM The Secret Sisters 9:15PM Keb’ Mo’ 10:15PM Avi Kaplan
Sunday, February 21, 2021
CAMP STAGE presented by the Philadelphia Music Co-op
11:00AM Ken Ulansey 11:30AM Huston West 12:00PM Rachel Eve 12:30PM Todd Fausnacht 1:00PM Ants On a Log Presents the World Premier of CURIOUS: The Movie 1:50PM Valentina Sounds
CAMP STAGE presented by Eisteddfod Amgen
2:30PM Tŷ Gwerin o bell featuring Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, Tant, VRi, Pedair
BGS has partnered with the Philadelphia Folksong Society, presenters of the oldest continuously run music festival in North America – the Philadelphia Folk Festival – on a special, winter digital music event, Cabin Fever Fest, to place February 20 & 21, 2021! Pandemic or not, this winter, everyone will have a cozy front row seat as PFS and BGS present this fully digital, interactive musical experience complete with multiple streaming stages and featuring performances by Avi Kaplan, Keb’ Mo’, Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Valerie June, Larkin Poe, The Secret Sisters, and many more. (See full lineup below.)
Tickets to Cabin Fever Fest are available now, including early bird pricing valid until end of day tomorrow, January 30. Details and tickets are available at folkfest.org. Early Bird weekend passes to Cabin Fever Fest are available for just $35 for PFS Members and $40 for Not-Yet-Members. Your ticket gives you full access to the event from February 20 until February 28, to watch at your leisure and convenience.
Building on what they’ve learned from their virtual festival forays last summer, PFS & BGS will once again bring a vibrant, online music festival experience directly to music enthusiasts’ homes to mark only six months left in the long wait until the 60th Annual Philadelphia Folk Festival in August of this year. Like the festival, Cabin Fever Fest will feature unforgettable original performances from national headliners, international stars, and local talent. Branching out from past Folk Festival programming, Cabin Fever Fest will also feature an emphasis on music workshops and performance that digitally bring us closer together during these difficult winter months of isolation.
Whether you’re a seasoned performer wanting to strengthen your skills, curious about an instrument or style, want your children to participate in a music lesson, or just want to sing along, ALL attendees will be able to watch these amazing workshops, while VIP attendees will be able to participate in all of the workshops they choose.
Cabin Fever Fest will include performances by: Avi Kaplan, Keb’ Mo’, Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Valerie June, Larkin Poe, The Secret Sisters, James McMurtry, Jake Shimabukuro, Sierra Hull, Mwenso & the Shakes, Gangstagrass, AJ Lee and Blue Summit, Jontavious Willis, Midnight Skyracer, Bella White, Wesli, OKAN, and more to be announced.
All ticket purchasers will be able to watch Cabin Fever Fest on demand until February 28, 2021. FAQ here.
Photo credit: Avi Kaplan by Bree Marie Fish; Keb’ Mo’ by Ryan Case.
As bluegrass fans know, Del McCoury is kind of a big deal — in fact, the Grand Ole Opry briefly renamed itself on Wednesday (February 13) in his honor when the “Grand Del Opry” event gathered good friends like Dierks Bentley, Sam Bush, Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Vince Gill, Jesse McReynolds, Old Crow Medicine Show, Marty Stuart, and the Travelin’ McCourys to celebrate the legendary musician’s 80th birthday. Happy birthday, Del!
The Travelin’ McCourys’ Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury and Alan Bartram with Del McCoury
Sally Williams, Grand Ole Opry; Del and Jean McCoury; Dan Rogers, Grand Ole Opry
Del McCoury Band with Dierks Bentley and special guest Vassar McCoury on “upright bass.”
Sam Bush and Del McCoury
The finale of the Grand Del Opry
Photo credit: Chris Hollo, The Grand Ole Opry
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