“I remember wearing a denim jumpsuit one year,” says Grace Potter about her early years at High Sierra Music Festival. “It wasn’t practical because it was so hot, but it looked awesome, which is the only reason one should ever choose to wear a jumpsuit at High Sierra.”
July 5-8 | Quincy
Having recently made a powerful music video with NASA about female pioneers called, “Look What We’ve Become,” Potter thinks she might’ve found a way to bring this bold fashion statement of yore back to the famously warm music gathering in Quincy.
“The insulated air-conditioned jumpsuits are going to be all the rage in 2020, but we’ll get into it some other time,” she jokes.
“It’s such a community and atmosphere entrenched in the mountains where there is a sense of feeling at home.”– Grace Potter
Potter has performed at High Sierra twice, in both 2005 and 2006. The first time was as an up-and-coming artist out of Burlington, Vt., who played in the beer tent stage. By the following year, she and her old band, The Nocturnals, had graduated to the main stage and did not disappoint.
“I have a beautiful history with High Sierra,” says Potter. “Even though I’ve only played it twice before, it feels like I’ve lived up there the whole time. It’s such a community and atmosphere entrenched in the mountains where there is a sense of feeling at home. I had some really formative rock ‘n’ roll experiences there where it felt like the night went on and on.”
On one fond occasion in particular she jammed with My Morning Jacket until the early hours of the morning, listening to the George Harrison album, “All Things Must Pass” for what seemed like a never-ending moment in time.
“We had been friends with them over the years of touring,” says the fiery vocalist. “They were warm and welcoming guys with a lovely energy. We shared life experiences and musical tastes. But by the time we got to High Sierra, it was our first time to really dig in and have fun. We had a random conversation that spiraled down into whiskey drinking and waxing poetic about music. It’s a really cool memory that I’ll never forget.”
Potter reminisced about walking through the campsite with random concertgoers who felt like long-lost family members.
“It was always completely natural,” she says. “Wandering into the campsite sends a good message that you’re down to hang. My festival upbringing is hanging out on Shakedown Street and meeting folks and that’s never gone away.” (Shakedown Street is a lively row of vendors outside of Grateful Dead, Phish or other hippie tribe concerts where fans sell and trade foods, merchandise and other goods.)
Potter grew up an adventurous New England teenager, who wasn’t afraid to take risks and be herself in the mid-1990s musical community.
“The most memorable time was probably the Ben & Jerry’s fest in Vermont,” she says. “Every year, Sugarbush [Resort] would host a summer festival in my backyard. Everybody came through. I remember one year it was Hootie and the Blowfish and The Spin Doctors with Susan Tedeschi. I was just seeing all these people doing it and that was their job. I thought to myself, ‘Now that’s the coolest job you can ever do.’ ”
Now an established musician in her own right, Potter still enjoys the inimitable energy of the festival scene, in particular the friendly rivalries that tend to generate between bands.
“Honestly, it isn’t as free love and happy-go-lucky as you might think,” she says. “When you see a band blow you away right before you hit the stage, you know you are going to put your best show forward. What I love best is going on my stage and pushing the envelope ever more. I think it invites an atmosphere of healthy competition and creates a collective momentum where everyone wants to the ones to hold up the circus tent. You get 45 minutes on stage and you get off, but we all have a common goal making everyone feel great.”
As far a veteran festival advice, Potter says to wear your water to keep hydrated, don’t forget lip balm and always remember to enjoy the music.
“Now everyone knows there are sitters and there are standers,” she says. “I feel strongly that everybody would enjoy the fest however they want to as long as they do it safely. If you are sitting and the people in front of you get up to dance, you can’t complain or bum out. The best solution to that is to get up and start dancing yourself.”
| highsierramusic.com
