Over the past several months, Green Bench has earned quite the rep for presenting quality bands alongside its much-swigged selection of craft beers. Mark Etherington (frontman of RedFeather and the artist otherwise known as Mountain Holler) and sometime collaborator Roger Thomas Lanfranchi (the singer-songwriter behind OPHELIA) are at least partially responsible with their twice-monthly, co-curated Florida Folk Scene showcases at the Edge District brewery. An abundance of superb local and Florida folk artists have joined the FFS ranks, and the showcases that feature three of these artists each edition (No. 32 took place April 2) have been met with so much enthusiasm that Etherington, Lanfranchi and Green Bench manager Colin Lyman began discussions about putting on a festival.
This Saturday marks the launch of the inaugural Florida Folk Scene Fest. “Hopefully it won’t be our last one,” Etherington remarked, though he sounded rather confident in the 18 singer-songwriters and groups that will be performing over 11 hours on the fest’s three stages. “We hand-picked artists that played the most, the active members, and had received the best type of response,” Etherington explained.
Amid the straightforward acoustic guitar-driven fare are players that don’t adhere to a strictly ‘folk’ sound, but instead, incorporate rootsy elements into their music. Among the must-sees joining heavy hitters RedFeather, Fowler’s Bluff, OPHELIA and Jun純 are new-grassy mandolin-guitar duo Chant the Trees, made up of finely-harmonizing Clearwater-based brothers Kade and Ryan Ballogg; Ten Acres, the technically-inclined folk-math-punk project of set and setting former John Allen Kreft; rambling and rolling roots rock trio Bird Tribe, from Sarasota; and emotive folk songstress Renee Giaccone. “Kimi Tortuga is a young girl but she’s played a lot of the showcases, she’s one to check out, too,” Etherington recommended.
Afternoon sets play out on stages located in the brew garden and within the brewery itself. The fest’s last four acts conclude the evening on the main stage in the brewery courtyard. Admission is free, and families and doggies are welcome. Sat., April 11, noon-11 p.m., Green Bench Brewing Co., 1133 Baum Ave. N., St. Petersburg.
FULL LINEUP & SCHEDULE:
FFS Brew Garden Stage: The Mobile Homeless (noon), Sun King Delta ∆ (12:40 p.m.), Emily Turnage (1:20 p.m.), Kimi Tortuga (2 p.m.), Ten Acres (2:40 p.m.), Morgan Soltes (3:20 p.m.), Lesa Silvermore (4 p.m., The Bird Tribe (4:40 p.m.), Philip Charos (5:20 p.m.), Brad Myers (6 p.m.).
Brewery Stage: Renee Giaccone (2 p.m.), Jordan Esker (3 p.m.), HAVE SPIRIT (4 p.m.), Chant the Trees (5 p.m.), Kristopher James (6 p.m.).
Main Stage: Jun純 (7 p.m.), OPHELIA (8 p.m.), Fowler’s Bluff (9 p.m.), RedFeather (10 p.m.)