2018 Artist Announcements Begin!

We will be announcing our 2018 lineup over the next few weeks.  We like to give you only a few at a time so you can take a moment to explore in the uniqueness and diversity of music you'll get at this year's festival.  As you enjoy this Memorial Day weekend you can also enjoy the anticipation of hanging out this fall in the beautiful Sierra mountains with the amazing folks below.  

(Click on the photos for more info on each artist.)

Ghost of Paul Revere

“We grew up listening to Radiohead and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd,” says Griffin Sherry, guitarist/singer in The Ghost Of Paul Revere. “Everyone assumed we were a bluegrass band because we were playing these traditional instruments, but we weren’t writing traditional music. We were just writing songs with the instruments we had.”  Building on their triumphant appearance at the iconic Newport Folk Festival, Maine’s own Ghost of Paul Revere will bring the call-and-response melodies, sing-along hooks, and densely layered harmonies of their unique brand of “holler folk” west to the California mountains.  Bear Music Festival audiences can count on being invited into the band’s essential sense of musical camaraderie, which, in the words of the Boston Globe, "creates the type of foot-stompin’ music for which festivals are made." If you are headed toBottleRock this weekend, check them on out Sat afternoon.  Feel free to mention after the show, "see you at Bear Music Fest!"

Helen Gillet

Taking the Cello on a joy ride! Helen Gillet is a both a singer-songwriter and surrealist-archeologist, equally focused on the worlds of synthesized sound and acoustic cello, who’s known for her eclectic palette – which includes avant-garde jazz, French chansons, funk, alternative rock, and the bohemian flair of the Velvet Underground.  Though Gillet had already begun to experiment with improvisational music prior to her arrival in New Orleans, she’s since flourished into one of the most unique, talented, and beloved artists in the Crescent City.  She’s worked with artists including Arcade Fire, Kid Koala, Cassandra Wilson, Dr. John, and Marianne Faithfull and not surprisingly, is a regular at New Orlean's acclaimed Jazz Fest. With her onstage arsenal she fabricates each song with a true mastery of live looping technology and conjures a different side of New Orleans in the Sierras. 

Amalia Watty

Amalia Watty has one of those voices you just don't forget. Whether you hear her on your TV set, drawing raves from Lionel Richie and Katy Perry on “American Idol”, or busking in the New York City subway, her distinctive tone and spellbinding pop-soul style - somewhere between Pharrell Williams and Corrine Bailey Rae - stay with you. Originally from Anguilla in the Caribbean, she's an island girl who didn't swim and a tomboy who loved to climb white cedar trees. She's a wild child who was a good girl and brings this combination of strength and tenderness to her songs. She woke naturally with the rooster's sound, roaming through farmland and forests, singing as she gathered her own lemongrass leaves for bush tea. We know she will fit in perfectly at Bear Music Fest!

Spread The Word

There are still some cabins available at both Blue & Gold.  While you are hanging out with friends & family this Memorial Day weekend you might as well recruit them to the festival.  Being a small, personalized festival, our audience is just as important as the artists so bring us your best!

That's all for now! More artists to be announced in the coming weeks.

Have a Question?

Reach out to us at anytime at info@bearmusicfest.com.

See you in the mountains!
Bear Music Fest