Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival 2012 Lineup

Posted by Pete S. on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 · Leave a Comment

TRUMANSBURG, NY – The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance has announced their 2012 lineup. The festival is entering it’s 22nd year of supporting arts, education & the fight against AIDS. This unique world music festival in upstate NY continues to be a staple in world, Americana, reggae, & roots music.

This years lineup features American country music and Grammy Award Winning singer George Jones, GrassRoots hosts Donna the Buffalo, The Campbell Brothers, & Preston Frank & his Zydeco Family Band.

We’re excited to Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans who won a Grammy in 2012 for best Regional Roots Album. Other world music bands featured at this years festival include Khaira Arby, SMOD, Locos Por Juana, and Revelation and Mizik.

For reggae fans the lineup never fails to impress with John Brown’s Body, Jamaican legends the Meditations (who played backup for Bob Marley on songs such as Punky Reggae Party), and Thousands of One.

We’re also looking forward to local favorite Kevin Kinsella of 10. Ft. Ganja Plant fame. We’ve been told by reliable sources that Kevin Kinsella will be sitting in with John Brown’s body this year with JBB front man Elliot Martin providing vocals on songs written by Kevin Kinsella. Since leaving the band in 2008 Kevin has only made a few appearances with the former band he founded.

This year we’ll also be checking out Johnny Dowd who’s style is experimental country with noisy breaks that create a unique sound unlike anything you’ve ever heard.

One of things we like about this festival besides it’s diverse music lineup, and location nestled in the finger lakes region of upstate NY is their open cooler policy. This is one of the few festivals in the country where you can bring your own food, beverages, and coolers not only into the camp grounds but into the concert fields as well.

The festival also features the best vendors we’ve ever seen at a festival. One of the requirements for being a vendor at GrassRoots Fest is that everything must be hand made so as you can image the quality and craftsmanship you find is one of a kind.

The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival is one of America’s longest running festivals. It was first started in 1991 by Donna The Buffalo. The festival attracts up to 20,000 visitors each year and prides it self on having a diverse lineup including bluegrass, Cajun, zydeco, African, reggae, country, Americana, Native American music, old-time music, Irish music, jam band, rock and roll, hip hop, & Conjunto.

In 2010 USA Today listed the festival as one of the top 10 festivals for outdoor music. Since it’s inception the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival has spawned 3 other festivals, Spring & Fall Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival in North Carolina, and the Virginia Keys GrassRoots Festival at Virginia Key beach in Miami Florida.

Not familiar with all the artists at this year’s GrassRoots? Click on links below to stream songs from each artist.

Spotify your thing? Check the Spotify playlist for the 2012 Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival !