one final Revival Fest preview

I had an interesting discussion last night with a couple of newish Savannah transplants who seemed a little puzzled by the fact that Revival Fest will be held tomorrow (Saturday, 9/20) at the Georgia State Railroad Museum. How do you have a festival with 14 bands at a museum?

Well the museum is a museum, but the site — which is right next to the site of a Revolutionary War battlefield, between MLK Boulevard and Boundary Street on the west side of downtown — consists of some huge old buildings and lots of open space. Revival Fest will take place at the western edge of the property, with one stage inside a massive building that was used for painting train cars and another stage outside near the entrance to that building.

It’s a spectacular setting, especially for the roots-influenced music of Revival Fest. (MusicFile Productions is running the show — the same parent company as Savannah Stopover.)

I’ve seen 10 of the 14 acts that will be playing Revival Fest tomorrow, including the three Savannah-based bands — Waits & Co., Velvet Caravan, and Sweet Thunder Strolling Band — and seven of the out-of-town acts: Family and Friends (Athens), Megan Jean & The KFB (Charleston), Packway Handle Band (Athens), T. Hardy Morris (Athens), Cedric Burnside Project (Holly Springs, Miss.), Roadkill Ghost Choir (Deland, Fl.), and Futurebirds (Athens).

Wow, what a list. I suspect many attendees will have seen far fewer of those bands than I have — and those folks are in for some wonderful surprises.

In recent days, I’ve been listening a lot to the bands in the Revival Fest lineup that are new to me — Blank Range (Nashville), Water Liars (Oxford, Miss.), Dirty Bourbon River Show (New Orleans), and David Wax Museum (Charlottesville) — and I’m excited to see all of them live too.

The pig roast, the special drinks, the other components of the festival are just icing on the proverbial cake when there’s so much good music on tap.

Click here for all of this blog’s Revival Fest coverage from last year and previews of this year. You can read more in Do Savannah here and here, and in Connect Savannah here.