Hardly Strictly Bluegrass brings eclectic sounds to Golden Gate Park
One of the most celebrated music festivals in the Bay Area and the nation, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass makes a welcome return to Golden Gate Park for three days of wildly varied music this weekend, with appearances by such notables as Emmylou Harris, Patti Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power, Steve Earle and many others.
Founded and financed in 2001 by venture capitalist Warren Hellman, the free public concert was initially held on a single day and focused specifically on traditional acoustic bluegrass. Over time, the wide diversity of sounds the festival encompassed -- including punk, world music, country, blues, rock and soul -- led organizers to add "Hardly" to the name by 2004.
The festival would expand during the decade that followed, growing to extend over a full three days and include a special children's program for San Francisco elementary school students every year. While the festival's benefactor passed away in December of 2011, he left an endowment that would ensure that Hardly Strictly would continue for at least ten years following his death. San Francisco's Rec and Parks Department named the site of the festival Hellman's Hollow in his honor.
After two years of virtual versions of the festival because of COVID, Hardly Strictly returned in 2022 with some of the major changes that were introduced for its 19th edition still in place. Due to security concerns in the modern world in the wake of the 2019 shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the festival will again have four secured checkpoints for attendees to enter as well as new restrictions as to what will be allowed inside Golden Gate Park. The four entrances to the park -- at JFK Drive and Transverse Drive, Fulton Street and 30th Avenue, JFK Drive and 36th Avenue and the South Polo Field -- will be open starting at 9 a.m. (11 a.m. on Friday) where festival goers will be subject to search prior to entry.
Among the items that are no longer be allowed at the festival are hard alcohol, hard-sided coolers, large backpacks (anything over 22" x 15" x 10"), high-backed chairs and glass containers. Organizers are also asking attendees to leave flags, selfie sticks and any poles at home. Additionally, Hardly Strictly is recommending that people use clear plastic backpacks for expedited security screening and smaller soft-sided coolers. All larger bags and coolers will be subject to search. More information on restricted items is available on the HSB website.
As with past years, the Friday line-up kicks off at 1 p.m. and features performers on five stages: the new smaller Horseshoe Hill Stage, the main Banjo Stage and the Arrow Stage in Hellman Hollow and the back-to-back Swan Stage and Towers of Gold Stage at the western end of Lindley Meadow. Acts featured on the latter two stages will be livestreamed throughout the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the entertainment begins at 11 a.m. with one additional performance area -- the Rooster Stage in Marx Meadow. It appears the small Porch Stage that welcomed attendees as they entered at the eastern end of the festival and the equally intimate Bandwagon Stage are no more. The festival also partnered with city officials to create a neighborhood guide for those unfamiliar with the areas on both sides of Golden Gate Park with dining and shopping suggestions.
Returning regular guests at the festival include legendary vocalist and annual HSB closer Emmylou Harris, political firebrand Steve Earle -- this time backed by rising songwriter/guitarist Molly Tuttle and her virtuoso bluegrass band Golden Highway -- Texas tunesmith Jimmie Dale Gilmore (performing with his current collaborator and HSB mainstay Dave Alvin and his band, the Guilty Ones), guitar wizard Buddy Miller presenting his annual Cavalcade of Stars at the Rooster Stage Saturday, perennial bluegrass traditionalists Dry Branch Fire Squad, Laurie Lewis and her band the Right Hands, and noted U.K rocker Jon Langford, who takes the stage with his new Austin-based band the Far Forlorn to play solo songs and hits from the Mekons. Other returning artists include NYC punk poet and vocalist Patti Smith, British songwriter Robyn Hitchcock -- who will read from his new book, "1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left," on the Horseshoe Hill Stage in addition to performing on the Swan Stage Saturday -- powerhouse gospel/soul singer Mavis Staples and folk icon Ramblin' Jack Elliot.
A sprawling line-up of over 70 acts will perform on the festival's seven stages between Friday and Sunday, not including a number of nighttime concerts with HSB acts happening at various venues around the Bay Area as part of the Hardly Strictly Out of the Park series starting Thursday night with a headlining show at the Fillmore by Irish songwriter Glen Hansard, who is equally known for starring in the movies The Commitments and Once, which earned him an Oscar for the original song "Falling Slowly." The Fillmore also presents celebrated Billy Strings collaborators and noted jamband Greensky Bluegrass on Friday. The Sweetwater Music Hall will be hosting shows each night including sets from Portland, OR-based Americana band Fruition with rock n' roll troubadour Charlie Overbey, musician Jonathan Linaberry's unusual one-man band project The Bones Of J.R. Jones that employs drum machine and synths, a Sunday performance by Hitchcock and a Tuesday concert featuring Austin-based singer/songwriter Kelly Willis.
Meanwhile, the Great American Music Hall hosts a sold-out show Saturday by the Big Star Quintet, a group featuring surviving original Big Star member Jody Stephens performing the album Radio City in its entirety backed by all-star players Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Jon Auer (The Posies), Pat Sansone (Wilco), and Chris Stamey (The dB's). On Sunday, the venue hosts the Alive and Kicking benefit to raise funds for the Prader-Willi Homes of California headlined by a reunited SF legends The Lost Planet Airmen, the group that backed late '60s roots rocker Commander Cody featuring guitar great Bill Kirchen and four other original members. Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Dave Alvin, Chuck Prophet and his new Latin-flavored project Cumbia Shoes and keyboard player Austin de Lone also appear. The Chapel also gets in on the action with a Sunday show by celebrated UK electronic afro-funk outfit Ibibio Sound Machine (also an early highlight of the festival's Friday line-up) and San Francisco-based indie-dance collective Mild Universe. Down on the Peninsula, Menlo Park's Guild Theatre presents indie folk singer/songwriter Haley Heynderickx on Sunday night.
This year, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass will offer up sets from a stunningly diverse range of acts from influential Olympia, WA-based rockers Sleater-Kinney, neo-psychedelic acts Devendra Banhart and Levitation Room, indie songwriter Cat Power performing her acclaimed tribute to Bob Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert, luminous tunes from onetime San Francisco resident Jessica Pratt, a tandem performance by Bay Area product and Phil Lesh/Black Crowes collaborator Jackie Green and fellow songwriter Anders Osborne, modern bluegrass great Tony Trischka (playing songs from his recent album Earl Jam that features tunes transcribed from lost recordings of private jams between Earl Scruggs and John Hartford), UK "punk poet" John Cooper Clarke, blues-funk legend Bobby Rush, mesmerizing Ukrainian folk quartet DakhaBrakha and veteran indie rockers Yo La Tengo. For more detailed schedule information, please visit the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass website.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 4-Oct. 6, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fri.) FREE
Golden Gate Park