There will be a number of Revivals to make you Comatose at the 2nd Annual WinterWonderGrass Festival from April 1 to 3 at Squaw Valley. Dustbowl Revival, Elephant Revival and Brothers Comatose are a few of the fantastic bands performing this year.
The Brothers Comatose
WinterWonderGrass founders Scotty Stoughton and Jennifer Brazill created a winter event that rocks the outdoor mountain life.
“Squaw has been a great partner. The turnout for the first year was great. The event started in Colorado in the back parking lot of a brewery and the turnout was over the top,” says Brazill. The festival has grown exponentially since its inception.
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“We aim to bring a party. We love to make music
with as many people as possible.” – Ben Morrison, The Brothers Comatose
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Sexy & sassy with Dustbowl Revival
Dustbowl Revival’s upbeat music is sexy, sassy and unquestionably playful.
“We have lots of talented folks in the band. It’s a collaborative effort. I write the spine of the song, the string players add the harmonic elements, the horn players accent the songs and Liz and I work on harmony,” explains Zach Lupetin, guitarist, vocalist and a songwriter for the band.
Dustbowl Revival
The group draws from each member’s love of music, whether it’s bluegrass, gospel, New Orleans funk, swing or Lupetin’s love of Cuban and Latin music, this band brings their melting pot of music to the stage with an intensity that is hard to ignore.
“This is not a passive experience. The band and audience play together. We’re an eight-piece band with a horn section that gets people to wake up. It’s a raging party,” says Lupetin. “Music is the light that shines on people in their darkest time. Musicians tell and story and bring joy to people that need it.”
Expect some high energy fun from the bands latest release, “With A Lampshade On.”
Elephant Revival deeply soulful
Making their second appearance at WinterWonderGrass is Elephant Revival. With the release of their new album, “Petals,” fiddle player Bridget Law explains that the band is a tribe; a tight group that support each other in their growth. Bluegrass, beautiful vocals and meaningful lyrics with a dash of gypsy and Celtic sounds gives this band a sound that touches one in a deeply soulful place.
Law explains that a friend of hers described Elephant Revival’s sounds this way, “Your music is nothing I’ve heard before yet something I’ve been listening to my whole life.”
Law adds, “It’s like taking things from the air and bringing them into being.”
Law’s list of musicians that inspire her is vast – Stuart Duncan, Bela Fleck, band member Bonnie Paine, who taught herself how to play the cello, and folk singer Sara Lee Guthrie, the daughter of folk icon Arlo Guthrie, are a few folks she named.
Law is a big fan of Railroad Earth, who will also be headlining the event. “I love how their instruments communicate to each other,” she says.
Rowdy roots from The Brothers Comatose
The Brothers Comatose show up on the heels of their new album release “City Painted Gold.” Playing the main stage and late show on Friday the band describes their sound as rowdy roots with a rock ‘n’ roll style of music that draws from bluegrass and folk genres with a dash of bluesy aspects.
“As humans we want to label everything. We categorize things in our brains and yet don’t want to be labeled,” says Ben Morrison, vocalist, guitarist and one of the songwriters for the band.
For Comatose, the writing process is a collaborative effort. “Someone brings the skeleton of the song to the band and then we put the skin and meat on the bones,” he says.
The song “Brothers” is an apparent ode to what it’s been like to grow up with brother and band member Alex Morrison, who plays the banjo. “She’s a Hurricane” and “Tops of Trees” are some of Morrison’s favorite tunes off their new release.
Inspired by life, Morrison draws his lyrics from everywhere, “It may be from listening to other bands, walking along overhearing a conversation or lying in bed,” he says. Morrison has learned some lessons from being on the road for 100 to 150 days. He explains, “You can’t party every night. You need to learn how to sustain yourself. We are in it for the long haul.”
The five band members, tour manager and sound guy travel around the country in a van. They love being on the road and all that comes with that.
“We get to see places we wouldn’t normally see, odd towns, places in the middle of no where and some of the more weirder towns; it’s all a cool experience,” says Morrison.
“We aim to bring a party. We love to make music with as many people as possible,” he says of their upcoming Tahoe show. The Brothers Comatose is a band that loves not only to include other musicians on stage but audience members, as well.
“We like a little danger and a little fun and we like to get the audience pumped and a fire burning under us,” says Morrison.
In addition to an amazing lineup of talented artists, late-night shows and a big jam performance at the top of the Emigrant lift, the festival will host a Tram to Table farm dinner at High Camp, and features 16 local breweries featuring craft beers from California and Nevada. The three-day WinterWonderGrass Festival has strong focus on sustainability and is a family event.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit winterwondergrasstahoe.com.
