The Savannah Bluegrass Festival is back at Victory North in 2026. Courtyard doors open at 2pm with music starting outside at 3pm. Interior doors open at 8pm.
BAND BIOS
Larry Keel Experience
Larry Keel is an award-winning innovative flat picking guitarist and singer/songwriter hailing from Appalachia and currently residing in historic Lexington, VA. Raised in a musical family steeped in the mountain culture of the region, Keel began from an early age to forge a distinctive sound, taking bluegrass and classic country music and infusing those styles with a rock edge and elements of improvisational jazz.
With the acoustic guitar Keel has brought the flatpicking form to its highest level of sophistication and sonic power, delivered by his muscular yet refined style of playing. As a songwriter with a catalog of nearly 100 original compositions, Keel integrates raw honesty and charming grit to create songs filled with reality, imagination, imagery and mood. He has appeared on over 20 albums, 12 of which he produced, and has written songs that have been recorded and performed by distinguished artists including Grammy-award winners Del McCoury and The Infamous Stringdusters.
He has performed at some of the greatest venues including Tokyo Disney, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall NYC, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, LOCKN, High Sierra Music, Bonnaroo, Del Fest, Hulaween, and countless more. He has inspired and merged creative forces with some of the greatest artists in modern roots music such as Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass, Keller Williams, Tony Rice and Sam Bush, to name a few. Keel has been revered by critics at Relix, JamBase, Bluegrass Today, No Depression, AXS, and Rolling Stone, who dubbed him “one of the finest flat pickers around” and described his unparalleled live performance “taking songs up a notch with psychedelic hillbilly shredding.” C-ville Weekly claims “Keel is doing for bluegrass what Hendrix did for rock, what Miles did for jazz- exploring the uncharted possibilities, defying the limitations of a deeply established musical form.”
Swampooth
Drawing from a vast depth of internal talent, Swamptooth plants one foot firmly in the traditions of bluegrass, keeping a uniquely Southern string sound close to their hearts while bravely progressing the genre beyond its boundaries.
Infectious melodies, technical prowess and powerful songwriting merge from the hands of master musicians with decades of songwriting behind them and a modern sound guiding their future.
Coupling a high-energy, relentless bluegrass sound with the steadfastness of professional, experienced troubadours, Swamptooth embodies an indelible appeal that can ignite the passion of nearly any audience who happens across their path.
Songs from the Road
Songs From The Road Band is an award winning Asheville, North Carolina based bluegrass band featuring Mark Schimick (mandolin), Charles Humphrey III (bass), Sam Wharton (guitar), James Schlender (fiddle), and Gabe Epstein (banjo). Their most recent single ‘Outside Of Omaha’ went to number one on the Bluegrass Today Grassicana chart. They have 6 studios albums available at all musical outlets.
Holler Choir
Led by the lyrical craftsmanship of singer, guitarist, and songwriter Clint Roberts, the distinctly Appalachian, old-time sound of Asheville’s Holler Choir combines haunting harmonies, stirring string compositions, and heart-wrenching ballads, yet hardly conforms to a stereotypical genre. Call it a confluence of old-time, Americana, and bluegrass, but, by its own exceptional design, the sound and atmosphere of Holler Choir are singular. Robert’s wordcraft and explosive vocal range is met with the dulcet clawhammer banjo plucking of long-time collaborator Helena Rose and the sturdy timekeeping of upright bassist Norbert McGettigan. With a rotating cast of gifted musicians featured on Holler Choir’s recordings and electrifying live performances, it’s no wonder they are the band to watch in 2023.
The band’s inception began when recording Robert’s 2022 solo release, entitled “Mountain Air”. That fortuitous collaboration of gifted roots musicians at Asheville’s Crossroads Studios proved to be the genesis of an unmistakable new sound built on that shared experience. Produced by Grammy award-winning multi-instrumentalist, Michael Ashworth, of The Steep Canyon Rangers, the five-song EP lit the fuse and Holler Choir was well on its way to delight audiences throughout the southeast and beyond.
For their debut full-length record, “Songs Before They Write Themselves,” Holler Choir again teamed up with producer Michael Ashworth. Set for release in summer of 2023, the album was tracked in the historic Echo Mountain Studio’s church room and boasts the engineering prowess of Jason Richmond (Avett Brothers, Rising Appalachia), and was mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Kim Rosen.
According to Roberts “Holler Choir” could be a double entendre. A choir that hollers, or a choir from the hollers of western North Carolina. What their sound and vision exude leaves the meaning up to you.
The Well Drinkers
The Well Drinkers are a progressive, original bluegrass band based out of Western North Carolina, whose range extends to festivals and venues across the United States, Canada, and the UK. The Well Drinkers have shared the stage with the likes of Molly Tuttle, Ketch Secore (Old Crow Medicine Show), Town Mountain, Songs from the Road Band, Chatham County Line, Balsam Range, and many more. They are a consistent force in the Western North Carolina bluegrass scene.
Since the band’s creation in 2019, the group has striven to combine the traditional roots of their Appalachian region with progressive instrumentation, songwriting, and subject matter. The group doesn’t shy away from the opportunity to bring experimental jams, jazz, Cajun, classical, and reggae into their live performances
The Grass is Dead
It is well known that roots music is passed down from generation to generation. From grandparents to parents and from parents to their children. The inevitable collision between the traditional past and the enormous catalogue of modern music, both spiritual and psychedelic, is the fertile plain that sprouted the roots of The Grass Is Dead. Initially formed as an acoustic offshoot of one of the country’s most beloved GD tribute bands, Crazy Fingers, The Grass Is Dead has evolved over the past ten years into a juggernaut of sound and a festival favorite up and down the east coast, to Colorado and back. Their live performances bring into view a traditional sensibility of bluegrass, swing, and folk music launched directly onto a psychedelic paintbrush of modern influences, most importantly, the music of the Grateful Dead. Captivating audiences with their unique interpretations and thoughtful arrangements of songs by the GD, Jerry Garcia, and many others, as well as their extensive file of traditional roots music at their command, The Grass Is Dead are very much alive and well, rocking out and and picking their way across this great country.
Reed River String Band
Like the river flowing through their hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, Reedy River String Band carves a lively channel through progressive newgrass, just downstream from the headwaters of traditional bluegrass. On the heels of their second European tour, the band flew home to a run of US shows and festivals, returning to the Earl Scruggs Music Festival and debuting at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in support of their new full-length release, Woodland Drifters.
The new release boasts 14 songs: 13 originals and a surprising take on Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” All three members—Sterling Waite (multi-instrumentalist), Rush Morgan (guitar), and Mark Dye (upright bass)—contribute as songwriters and lead singers. Acoustic masters, like IBMA-winner Scott Vestal (banjo), Zach Carter (banjo), and Adam Bachman (dobro), lend their talents to expand the core trio’s sonic palette and directional stylings. These guest musicians further elevate Woodland Drifters into a spirited, genre-blending release spotlighting the foot-stomping, good-time festival vibes Reedy River String Band is known for.
The band is planning a third European tour in June 2026 and a run of shows in Colorado in October. Reedy River String Band is looking forward to continued studio and live collaborations—so stay tuned!
