Written by Mark Earnest
It’s become the default setting for the bigger summer music festivals in the country — make the musical bills as diverse as possible. Acoustic acts are followed by electronica, followed by louder rock, followed by jazz.
One festival, though, has had that mixed-up modus operandi for its 21-year run. The High Sierra Music Festival once again pitches its tent on June 30 through July 3 in Quincy, Calif., with music ranging from soul to the avant-garde wing of indie rock and many points in between.
“It’s paramount for us to bring in as much of an eclectic range of artists, and have them be of the highest caliber that we can get,” said Rebecca Sparks, a co-producer of High Sierra who’s been with the organization since it began in 1991.
“That’s been our formula since the very, very beginning. We were one of the first festivals to really mix up the stew and try to bring different acts together.”
At the top of the bill this year, though, are three bands that are plenty diverse sound-wise, but fall under that broad umbrella of indie rock: My Morning Jacket, Neko Case and Ween (read more about them below in the entries under each day). Sparks said it was a set of fortunate circumstances to have these three top names lead the festival.
“We definitely wanted to go more in that direction this year,” she said of indie rock. “The stars just aligned and all three were available.”
My Morning Jacket was at the festival in 2006, Sparks said, while they’ve been trying to get Case and Ween for years. When asked to pick a risky booking for the festival, Sparks chose reggae artist Ernest Ranglin, who performs at 7:15 p.m. July 2 on the Big Meadow stage.
Full on: http://www.rgj.com/article/20110629/ENT/110629036/-No-heading-?odyssey=nav|head
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