Wakarusa

Just like last year, our friends over at Wakarusa have pulled out the big guns with their second round of artist announcements. Adding a true headliner in Widespread Panic, and big draws in prog-jamsters Umphrey's McGee, garage blues rockers The Black Keys and sacred steel master and his group Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Wakarusa has stepped it up in a big way since their initial artist announcement. Also included in the newest group of bands are some of BOT's favorites including State Radio, Todd Snider, Future Rock, That 1 Guy, Great American Taxi and Spoonfed Tribe. As always, Toast, Bacon and the rest of the BOT crew will be joining me in Ozark, AR for the 2010 edition of Wakarusa, and with these incredibly strong additions, I can guarantee you we'll be partying our asses off.

Check out the full list of additions to the Wakarusa line-up after the jump!

Another year has come and gone, and with that brings the beginning of festival season. I freaking love festival season! Many people are starting to make their spring, summer and fall plans, and because of that, festivals are now starting to announce their initial line-ups. Usually one of the first to announce their list of bands, Wakarusa has revealed to first group of names that will be taking over the festivals six stages throughout the weekend of June 3rd to the 6th. Included in the initial line-up are a slew of electronic, jam, bluegrass and roots bands who will be playing till all hours of the morning at Mulberry Mountain, the festivals second year at the Ozark, AR mountaintop venue. Topping the list are two electronic-based instrumental groups Sound Tribe Sector 9 and The Disco Biscuits, bands that are very similar in stature and genre, with both having a pretty die-hard following. Also making their way to Wakarusa for the 2010 event are reggae rockers Slightly Stoopid, Australian roots group John Butler Trio, harmonica master John Popper and 90's alt rockers Blues Traveler and the first appearance of Zappa Plays Zappa after the torrential downpours canceled their set at Waka in 2007.

Check out the initial line-up after the jump!

The final full day of the 2009 Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival finished strong with several of the weekend's largest acts gracing the stages and tents. The main event was a two-plus hour headlining set from 90's alt-rock gods, The Black Crowes, that found a majority of the festival attendees rocking along to their classic hits. They were by no means the only band playing, though, with all four stages constantly rotating sets.

Read about Saturday at the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

Thursday of Wakarusa served as a nice opening day to our festival season, but it was Friday's acts that I was most excited for. I'd never seen several of the bands playing, so I found myself pretty excited for the entire day ahead of me.

Read all about Friday, June 5th at the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

A new venue brought a familiar cast of characters to the 7th annual Wakarusa Music & Camping festival for a four day celebration of music and nature. The incredibly scenic Mulberry Mountain played host to The Black Crowes, Gov't Mule, Yonder Mountain String Band, G. Love & Special Sauce and about 70 other jam, roots, dance and bluegrass acts over the first weekend of June. We were there to take in all of the action, and were more than happy to be back in Ozark, AR for another outstanding weekend of music.

Read all about Thursday, June 4th at the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

The final official day found only the smaller stages running, while a majority of the festival goers made their exit. Several bands played, but we decided to explore the magnificent grounds of Mulberry Mountain, including the gorgeous waterfall that was the talk of the weekend. We made it back to camp in time to catch Gomez, before shipping off to Little Rock for the best shower and bed ever.

View Sunday's photos from the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

The final full day of music at the 2009 Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival featured a heaping dose of music around every corner. We took in a smattering of different sets from New Monsoon, Old School Freight Train, JJ Grey & Mofro, Galactic, Lucero, G. Love & Special Sauce, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and The Black Crowes which we have plenty of photo evidence to prove.

View Saturday's photos from the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

As we continue our coverage from the 2009 edition of the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival, we now offer you a glimpse at Friday's events through both Toast and my eyes. We caught sets from a host of great bands, including Sly & Robbie, Joe Purdy, Langhorne Slim, Matisyahu, Les Claypool, New Monsoon, Yonder Mountain String Band, STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9), EOTO and Galactic.

View Friday's photos from the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival 2009 is now just a memory, leaving behind plenty of good vibes at the new location on Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, AR. Take a look at our photo gallery from Thursday, June 4th, featuring pictures taken by both Toast and myself. We will have a full review posted in the coming days, but for now check out the festival through our eyes.

View Thursday's photos from the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival after the jump

Summer festival season is already in full swing with the indie-centric Sasquatch! Music Festival and the jam-tastic Summercamp Festival and Mountain Jam now history. Our official start to festival season begins Wednesday, when we head towards Ozark, Arkansas for the newly re-located Wakarusa Music Festival. It will be our third year attending Wakarusa, and second time catching a festival at the beautiful mountain-top campgrounds (you might remember our coverage from the Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival in September), so we are extremely excited about the melding of one of America's best roots music festivals with one of its most gorgeous natural venues.

We have a ton of videos and band previews from the entire weekend after the jump.