This year’s Bunbury Music Festival, the first since it was acquired by Columbus, Ohio’s PromoWest Productions, features an ambitious and diverse lineup. The event, running Friday through Sunday at Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove along the riverfront, will draw plenty of fans to see headliners like The Black Keys, The Avett Brothers (see interview on page 35) and Snoop Dogg.
But there are once again plenty of other reasons to explore the festival’s stages this year.
Here are our picks for some of the “must see” acts performing at the 2015 Bunbury Music Festival. Visit bunburyfestival.com for the complete schedule and ticket information.
FRIDAY
Machineheart
(2:30 p.m., River Stage)
At the beginning of this decade, Machineheart was known as He Is We, but soon after its debut for Universal, defections and illness altered the band’s personnel enough to warrant a couple of name changes. By last year, founding guitarist Trevor Kelly and his new cohorts settled on Machineheart and embarked on a new Emo-meets-Synth Pop direction that clicked with the cool kids through powered-up covers of Katy Perry (“Unconditionally”) and The 1975 (“Chocolate”). But last year’s original “Circles” and its subsequent video, showcasing the estimable talents of frontwoman Stevie Scott, sparked a massive buzz in, around and beyond the band’s Los Angeles base (they notched over a million SoundCloud plays) and catapulted Machineheart into the spotlight that had eluded its earlier incarnations. The band has since been working on more original material for a proposed EP or full-length. If the group has crafted anything half as infectious as “Circles,” look for Machineheart at the top of the contemporary charts of your choice. (Brian Baker)
Father John Misty
(4 p.m., Yeatman’s Cove Stage)
The cover of Father John Misty’s new album, I Love You, Honeybear, features an illustration of singer/songwriter/all-around creative force Josh Tillman as a bearded baby suckling from the breast of his wife, photographer Emma Elizabeth Tillman. It’s the perfect encapsulation of the music in Tillman’s second album as Father John Misty — he previously released a series of Folk records under the moniker J. Tillman and did a stint as Fleet Foxes’ drummer — which includes big-hearted songs adorned with lush instrumentation and the lyrics of a gifted wordsmith. Tillman admits it was a tough transition from his wise-ass nature to put his naked feelings for his new love on record. But, as he recently told Under the Radar, “Being honest on a record is a lot easier than being honest in your life.” The stings-laden I Love You, Honeybear sounds like Neil Young at his most unabashedly romantic, which even the ever-critical Tillman will admit is a good thing. (Jason Gargano)
Catfish and the Bottlemen
(5 p.m., River Stage)
Not since a guy dubbed Hootie was paired with the even more oddly christened Blowfish has a band name sparked the heated discussions that have sprung up around Catfish and the Bottlemen. As it happens, the Welsh Indie Rock sensations derived their moniker from a street entertainer that frontman Van McCann recalled from his Australian childhood; the busker played beer bottles strung by a wire and was known as Catfish the Bottleman. McCann, bassist Benji Blakeway and a couple of friends formed Catfish and the Bottlemen in 2007, packing their sets with Beatles covers before trying their hands at writing originals. After years of honing their craft, Catfish and the Bottlemen signed with the Communion label and released a trio of singles, leading to a 2014 contract with Island Records, gigs at every summer festival and a game-changing single “Kathleen,” the precursor to their debut album, The Balcony. McCann says Catfish and the Bottlemen has three more albums in them, and to that we say: Please empty your pockets, sir. If the idea of Johnny Marr and The Kooks highsteppin’ and fancy dancin’ at an Oasis tribute appeal to you, don’t miss this set. (BB)
Mini Mansions
(5:30 p.m., Pavilion Stage)
Erstwhile Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman seems to have worked through his caveman Rock instincts with Josh Homme, because his new band, Mini Mansions (featuring guitarist/vocalist Shuman, bassist/drummer Zach Dawes and keyboardist/vocalist Tyler Parkford) walks a fine line between propulsive psychedelic Indie Rock and effusively bubbling Synth Pop. The L.A. trio’s engaging sophomore album, The Great Pretenders, was released in March to an overwhelmingly positive response, perhaps driven by the video for “Vertigo,” featuring half-naked women and Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, who guests on the album, as does the legendary Brian Wilson. So if you’re known by the company you keep, Mini Mansions can count Homme, Turner, Wilson and half-naked women in their circle. But given the stunning results on The Great Pretenders, Mini Mansions might be just slightly better than the company they keep. (BB)
Matt and Kim
(6:45 p.m., Sawyer Point Stage)
Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino — known musically simply as Matt and Kim — jumped from jubilant, sweaty shows in tiny clubs to Lollapalooza in a single bound, a curious, head-spinning sign in an era known to launch tiny DIY outfits to the largest stages in the land. The Matt and Kim formula is simple: Kim on drums and Matt on vocals and keyboards, each attacking their instrument with unbridled glee as Matt sings in a modest but exuberant voice about simple pleasures. The Brooklyn, N.Y. duo’s songs are short and sweet Pop confections that swell with big choruses and infectious energy. Their 2006 self-titled debut began their unlikely ascent from hard-touring underground favorites to overground curiosities. Matt and Kim’s fifth album, New Glow, which dropped this past spring, is their most Pop-oriented effort yet, the kind of perpetually sunny jams that would be right at home as the soundtrack to an energy drink-fueled pizza party. (JG)
Tame Impala
(8:45 p.m., Sawyer Point Stage)
Tame Impala burst onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere, riding high on a debut — 2010’s Innerspeaker — that tweaked the Pysch Pop playbook through labyrinthine arrangements inspired by The Beatles at their trippiest and, as mentioned in its opening track, likely lots of “sitting around smoking weed.” It turns out Tame Impala is essentially one man — a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Australia named Kevin Parker. Lonerism, the band’s stellar 2012 breakthrough, refined Parker’s woozier visions, relying on driving beats and swirling keyboards as much as shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars. All of which makes Tame Impala’s latest, Currents, which is set for a July release, one of the most anticipated records of the year. If the sprawling track “Let It Happen” is any indication, expect a further indulgence in beats and keyboards; it sounds like Cut Copy dosed with a better sense of dynamics and dreamy vocals relaying lyrics that might hint at Tame Impala’s new direction: “All this running around/I can’t fight it much longer/Something’s trying to get out/And it’s never been closer.” (JG)
SATURDAY
Playing to Vapors
(2:30 p.m., Sawyer Point Stage)
Columbus, Ohio five-piece Playing to Vapors’ brand of AltRock is a particularly enigmatic one, soaring on an airy ambiance full of crafty rhythms, hypnotic, progressive guitar lines and vocals that recall the elastic brilliance of the late, great Jeff Buckley (fans of U.K. arena rockers Muse will also find the band’s soulful, high-ceilinged sound thoroughly engaging). The group put out its first EP, Identities, in 2012 and, after a series of single releases, recently followed it up with the excellent A Glitch in a Void EP. Named for a phrase one of the band member’s musician father used to describe a lightly attended gig, Playing to Vapors shouldn’t face many similar situations as word continues to spread about its magnetic music. The sky’s the limit for this talented quintet. (Mike Breen)
Bummers
(3:30 p.m., River Stage)
A good band has the innate ability to reference familiar styles while incorporating them into its own singular identity. A great band bends familiarity to its own will, creating fresh new sonic atmospheres that access a variety of cool, interesting sources and seem maddeningly recognizable while defying categorization. Hailing from Ohio’s capital, Bummers is firmly in the latter camp. The quartet pieces together elements of Garage, Psychedelia, Doo Wop, Surf, Pop and seminal Rock, then brings it to blistering life with a few billion volts of lightning-hot right-now (and reverb) to create that irresistible feeling of “I’ve never heard this a million times before.” Bummers’ four-song 2013 EP, Hot Tub Hoagie Boys, was a brief glimpse into their potential, but last year’s eponymous full-length was iron-clad evidence of their genre-blending genius. Turn on, tune in, drop way out; Bummers is anything but. (BB)
The Devil Makes Three
(4:30 p.m., Sawyer Point Stage)
Perhaps the most fortuitous event in the evolution of authentic American music forms like Bluegrass, Folk and Country was the rise of ’70s Punk. Just look at all the acoustic outfits that began as full-bore Punk bands. The Devil Makes Three took a slightly different path. Vermont natives Pete Bernhard and Cooper McBean were steered by Punk’s energy,å but were equally enamored of their parents’ Folk- and Blues-filled record collections, so when they set out for Santa Cruz, Calif. with upright bassist Lucia Turino, they formed The Devil Makes Three in 2002 and set up at the intersection of Punk’s adrenalized blast and Folk’s stripped-down truth. The trio self-released a pair of studio albums and a live set, had a couple albums released by soundtrack/film-score label Milan and then scored a New West contract for 2013’s darkly brilliant I’m a Stranger Here. You want real? The Devil Makes Three’s got all you can handle and then some. (BB)
The Secret Sisters
(4:45 p.m., River Stage)
The pride of Muscle Shoals, Ala., The Secret Sisters come frontloaded with plenty of musical DNA, an abiding love of Country and Gospel and a church-singing background, yet neither sister entertained the idea of forming of a duo. Laura Rogers studied business at Middle Tennessee State, while Lydia Rogers pursued music. When Lydia couldn’t make an audition for some Nashville music execs’ new vocal group, Laura went in her stead and got a callback. She got permission to bring Lydia on the return trip; they sang together and, recognizing their Everly Brothers-like harmonic chemistry, The Secret Sisters were formed. Since then, the Sisters have recorded two albums (both with hands-on help from T Bone Burnett), including last year’s amazing Put Your Needle Down; recorded a single with Jack White on guitar; and had their song “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder” featured on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games. Imagine what would have happened if they’d actually wanted to sing together. (BB)
The Decemberists
(6:15 p.m., Sawyer Point Stage)
Has it really been more than a dozen years since The Decemberists’ debut, Castaways and Cutouts, marked the arrival of a hyper-literate Folk Rock outfit as interested in 18th-century seafarers as pretty much anything since the invention of electricity? It most certainly has, and the Portland, Ore.-based band and its leader Colin Meloy have been anything but complacent over the years, releasing six albums from 2002 to 2011. The final record of that run, The King Is Dead, was The Decemberists’ most accessible effort to date, one that nodded heavily to Meloy’s beloved R.E.M. (Peter Buck even contributed some guitar work) and featured a lavish touring production that was a far cry from the outfit’s intimate, smaller-scale beginnings. Released in January, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World is the band’s first album in four years, another collection of relatively straightforward Folk Pop highlighted by “Make You Better,” a wistful, piano-aided anthem about the ways in which that special someone can alter our lives. (JG)
Kacey Musgraves
(7:15 p.m., Yeatman’s Cove Stage)
Good magicians don’t fool you; they make you believe. The same goes for Country chanteuse Kacey Musgraves. As authentic as a hoedown and as contemporary as breaking news, she sings the truth as if her heart was pumping pure sodium thiopental. That’s the basis for Musgraves’ almost supernatural crossover appeal; her honest musical approach and passionate execution translate equally to Country and Pop fans. By the time Musgraves sailed to a seventh-place finish on the Nashville Star TV singing competition in 2007, she’d already self-released three excellent albums and was a serious contender in the biz. Five years later, she signed with Mercury Nashville and unleashed her bona fide masterpiece, 2013’s Same Trailer Different Park, scoring a couple of Grammys and CMAs along the way. Rolling Stone put Musgraves’ platinum single “Follow Your Arrow” at No. 39 on its list of the best Country songs ever (but you knew that). Her new album of modern classics, Pageant Material, drops later this month. (BB)
SUNDAY
The Front Bottoms
(3 p.m., Yeatman’s Cove Stage)
It’s difficult to avoid referencing They Might Be Giants when discussing The Front Bottoms, so we won’t fight it. Vocalist/guitarist Brian Sella and drummer Mathew Uychich teamed up in New Jersey in 2007 and were soon joined by Uychich’s brother Brian on keyboards (he formed his own band in 2010). They assembled their snarky, funny tracks into several self-released albums/EPs/cassettes (I Hate My Friends, Brothers Can’t Be Friends, My Grandma vs. Pneumonia, Calm Down and Breathe), which ultimately led to a deal with the esteemed Bar/None label in 2011. The Front Bottoms’ self-titled third full-length dropped later that year, as well as their third EP, Summer of Steroids, followed in 2013 by their fourth full-length, Talon of the Hawk (their best-selling album, which grazed the lower reaches of Billboard’s Top 200 albums) and the Rose EP, an odds-and-sods collection featuring the favorite songs of Uychich’s grandmother, Rosemary. TMBG or not TMBG? You make the call. (BB)
Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas
(4:15 p.m., Pavilion Stage)
Sometimes an artist can sacrifice focus and their identity when too many disparate influences are crammed into their musical stew. But the eclecticism exhibited in the music of Detroit’s Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas flows so naturally, you come away thinking you’ve just listened to a band that has pioneered its own new genre. A Soul/R&B streak runs through everything Hernandez and Co. does, but there’s also a powerful and unique Pop element that helps provide some sense of cohesiveness as the band dips its toes into Rock, Psychedelia, cabaret-ready Jazz and any number of other styles. After capturing the hearts of their hometown, Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas has turned its sights on conquering the world — something their stellar 2014 debut album, Secret Evil, shows they are more than capable of. Known for their great live show, a steady diet of international touring (including a recent stint opening for Social Distortion in Europe) should seal the deal. (MB)
Manchester Orchestra
(4:30 p.m., Yeatman’s Cove Stage)
Spawned from the suburbs of Atlanta, Manchester Orchestra’s dynamic, often epic Indie Rock first caught attention in 2007 when the buzz building around the band’s thinking-man’s Pop Rock landed them on tour with Brand New and their self-recorded/-released debut full-length, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child (and its addicting single, “Wolves at Night”), were unleashed nationally via the Canvasback label. Built around the smart, melodic songwriting of frontman Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra has consistently put out great music ever since. Last year, the band’s most recent effort, the thick and intense Cope, was released to strong reviews. A few months after the release, the band offered a different look at the album with Hope, a reworking of Cope that translated the songs into sweeping, dark and drumless ballads. It’s a fascinating listen that reveals the depth and many layers that go into constructing Manchester Orchestra’s compelling Rock sound. (MB)
Shakey Graves
(5:30 p.m., River Stage)
Alejandro Rose-Garcia’s captivating spin on bluesy Folk/Americana first drew ears in 2011, when the singer/songwriter/guitarist who performs as Shakey Graves self-released his debut album, Roll the Bones. The album’s unexpected success led to a deal with Dualtone Records, which released the excellent And the War Came full-length last year to considerably more acclaim and commercial success. While initially performing and recording solo (using a kick drum constructed from an old suitcase), the fascinatingly unpredictable And the War Came found Rose-Garcia expanding his sound and widening the instrumentation to great effect. Last month, the capper to Shakey Graves’ breakthrough year came with the announcement that he’d been nominated for three Americana Music Association Awards. (MB)
Atmosphere
(6 p.m., Sawyer Point Stage)
Minneapolis Hip Hop duo Atmosphere — which includes rapper Slug and producer/sonic sculptor Ant — has long gone in its own direction, defying genre conventions the deeper it gets into what is now a 20-year collaboration. Atmosphere’s most recent record, 2014’s Southsiders, continues to move away from the sample-heavy dynamic of earlier records in favor of stripped-down arrangements driven by piano, guitar and drums. Slug’s deft delivery has likewise moved from a more conventional approach to often something closer to spoken word and even straight-up singing. Lyrically, he’s as soul-searching and detailed as ever. The down-tempo “I Love You Like a Brother” can be taken as both a tribute to his close acquaintances and a shout-out to the broader Hip Hop community: “You separate the faux from the friend by the showmanship and the bones that don’t bend/So now I’m studying your moves like you’re the only one who knew how to do right/Presented with a sleeve of success like we all benefit if you achieve and progress.” (JG)
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2015.