Ah, yes. Spring is in the air and those of us that live and breathe to the sound of music know that means another Wakarusa adventure is upcoming. We get as excited about that new record release as we do about the freshly blooming world launching back to life. Life and music…they’re intertwined as tightly as that gnarled oak tree and kudzu vine. We’ll see plenty of it all when we make the trek to Ozark, Arkansas for the groovefest that is Wakarusa 2011. My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper, Umphrey’s McGee, Grace Potter, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. This partial list of headliners makes one begin to sweat before we’re even basking in the heavy Ozark humidity.
Living just spitting distance from the original Wakarusa locale makes me a bit nostalgic, and memories of many great moments of music and humanity swim in the spring-addled brain. A few flashes: Neko Case absolutely soaring like an angel in the Kansas night; The Flaming Lips altering our consciousness yet again; Widespread Panic captivating and capturing a shoulder to shoulder audience; Grace Potter and company in the tent, rocking with greasy, soulful abandon; partially- to barely- clad women, men, and children dancing, smiling, wandering, frisbee-ing, sharing… OK, I must stop now or I’ll forget to buy my tickets to Waka 2011.
Fellow Waka-ites, Waka-holics, Waka-tarians…let us unite once more and groove till it hurts good.
