The Hudson Valley will be teeming with music festivals this year. Come fall, “fests” will be popping off nearly every weekend, including Positive Jam, Hudson Valley Jazz Festival, Meadowlark Festival, O+ Festival, Cave Mountain Festival, Tubby’s 5-Year Anniversary.
It bears pointing out that the definition of “music festival” seems to be more fluid than ever before. Take this weekend’s Follow the Arrow Festival at Arrowood Farms in Accord. It’s one of several “festivals” the brewery and venue will be hosting in the coming months, a one-day event (Sat. June 17 at 1pm) with about a half-dozen acts, most tied to the headliner. Is that really a festival, or is that more accurately an all-day show? Do the semantics even matter? Isn’t it the atmosphere that makes a live event a music festival – crowds, camaraderie, food, drink and a full day of tunes? Who cares if it’s not two or three days and fifty acts long? The more you think about it, a one-day festival has many perks versus your typical weekend-in-a-tent commitment.
Arrowood might be onto something here.
They’re certainly on to one of our area’s top musical talents. Saturday’s bill features all things Marco Benevento, a genre-blending New Yorker who’s well known around these parts for superlative musical chops, boundary-pushing creativity and prolific sonic projects. He plays many instruments, wears many hats, and in New York’s experimental rock and jazz scene, he’s been a fixture. He already was a one-man festival, and this all-day celebration confirms it. In addition to his eponymous music project, he’ll also front the Benevento Family Band, followed by what promises to be an electrifying tribute to David Bowie with special guests Duane Betts, Arleigh Rose & Jackson (of Sister Sparrow), Mikaela Davis and Stuart Bogie.
Also performing will be Brooklyn indie art-poppers Rubblebucket, indie folk quartet The Barr Brothers, jammy jazz-heads LaMP (featuring Scott Metzger, Ray Paczkowsi and Russ Lawton), indie folk-pop practitioners Upstate and trip-hoppy indie rocker Karina Rykman.
With such a dynamic, energetic and exciting lineup, this event gets our festival stamp of approval, no problem. Plus you get to sleep in your own bed when it’s over (there’s no camping and you can’t leave your car there overnight).
Tickets are $80 general admission, $160 VIP (hangout area, priority viewing, separate bathroom and refreshments included), with a $10 fee for parking passes (carpooling is encouraged). Visit arrowoodfarms.com for all the details.
Join the family! 
