4848 Festival

Performing to critical acclaim for over 25 years and over 3100 shows, Dark Star Orchestra continues the Grateful Dead live concert experience. Their shows are built off the Dead’s extensive catalog and the talent of these seven fine musicians. On any given night, the band will perform a show based on a set list from the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring or use their catalog to program a unique set list for the show. This allows fans both young and old to share in the experience. By recreating set lists from the past, and by developing their own sets of Dead songs, Dark Star Orchestra offers a continually evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. Honoring both the band and the fans, Dark Star Orchestra’s members seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.

Dark Star Orchestra offers much more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they truly encapsulate the energy and the experience. It’s about a sense of familiarity. It’s about a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over. It’s about that contagious energy…in short, it’s about the complete experience and consistent quality show that the fan receives when attending a Dark Star Orchestra show.

Dark Star Orchestra has performed throughout the entire United States, including a sold out debut at Colorado’s Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater, plus shows in Europe and the Caribbean with the band touching down in seven different countries. DSO continues to grow its fan base by playing at larger venues for two and even three-night stands, as well as performing at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, Milwaukee’s SummerFest, The Peach Music Festival, Jam Cruise, Wanee Festival, SweetWater 420 Festival, Mountain Jam, and many more.

In addition to appearing at some of the nation’s top festival, Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual music festival and campaign gathering, titled the “Dark Star Jubilee”, currently in its eighth year where DSO headline all three nights and are joined by a mix of established and up and coming national touring acts. Beyond the shores of the United States, DSO has taken its internationally-acclaimed Grateful Dead tribute to the beaches of Jamaica in the dead of winter for the past six years, with their event appropriately titled ‘Jam in the Sand’. Featuring an ocean-side stage, DSO sets up camp to perform shows for four nights along the tropical sands of an all-inclusive resort, selling out the event each year for hundreds of lucky attendees.

Fans and critics haven’t been the only people caught up in the spirit of a Dark Star show. The band has featured guest performances from six original Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and even toured with longtime Dead soundman, Dan Healy. Other notable guests have included Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock, Peter Rowan, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and many more.

“For us it’s a chance to recreate some of the magic that was created for us over the years,” keyboardist and vocalist Rob Barraco explains. “We offer a sort of a historical perspective at what it might have been like to go to a show in 1985, 1978 or whenever. Even for Deadheads who can say they’ve been to a hundred shows in the 90s, we offer something they never got to see live.”

There seems to be an aura in the air when the five members of The Main Squeeze enter a room. A multicultural five-piece from Los Angeles, CA, The Main Squeeze have built a cult following in the States on the road – putting rubber to pavement and playing over 1,000 shows together over the past nine years. For a group of men with completely different backgrounds, tastes, religions, and opinions, there’s already a spirit shared among them when they sit down to play together.

The Main Squeeze, who have toured with the likes of George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, and many more and are lauded across North America’s live music circuit. They’ve graced hundreds of stages and played festivals including Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Firefly, and many more. Their breakout moment came during the pandemic, the band quickly developed a huge following on TikTok. They’ve since gained praise from NPR, Rolling Stone, Relix, and Wonderland as well as collaborated with artists such as 6LACK and Gallant and regularly hosted celebrity-attended gigs at their fast-becoming infamous “Squeeze House.”

The band is coming off their fourth album “To Be Determined” a body of work showcasing the unique chemistry the Los Angeles, CA based band have developed together over the years – and seem to be hinting towards a new album coming soon.

Saxsquatch is a 7’ tall multiinstrumentalist, producer, and electronic music artist from North Carolina.

He has accumulated over 3 million followers online through releasing music with legends such as John Oates, Billy Ray Cyrus, the band WAR, and songs with the infamous electronic music label Monstercat. In 2021, Saxsquatch created theme music for Rocket League, and the following year had music featured in Fortnite. Saxsquatch has been trending on Rolling Stone’s website and on the front page of Forbes for his music releases.

Showcasing his spell binding stage presence, he has been a guest on Jimmy Fallon’s “That’s My Jam!’ and Tosh.0 and has shared the stage with Tedeschi Trucks Band, Goldfish, Andy Frasco, Here Come the Mummies, Sam Bush, and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.

Saxsquatch’s live show is a mind bending experience showcasing his music production, stage plot, and saxophone skills over original music, remixes, and crowd participation. His dream of creating the “Bigfoot Rave” tour came to fruition in 2024, adding a laser show to an already dynamic set. Well received across the United States and selling out major markets, the search for this cryptid won’t be hard. You can find him on tour or at major festivals across the world.

The Davisson Brothers Band are a genre-blurring mountain rock band formed in Clarksburg, West Virginia, by Chris and Donnie Davisson. Along with nephew Gerrod Bee and life-long family friend Aaron Regester, the band has created a uniquely authentic Appalachian country sound, which has helped them grow into one of the most successful independent acts in the world.

Since their founding in 2006, the band has recorded three albums, been celebrated as a Highway Find on Sirius XM, charted on country radio with “Foot Stompin’” and scored a hit song in Australia with “Po’ Boyz,” while also earning a dedicated following in the Jam Band/Bluegrass scene and standing shoulder to shoulder with mainstream country stars at festivals like CMC Rocks (Australia) and the Carolina Country Fest.

The new album, Home Is Where the Heart Is, was produced by Brent Cobb and David “Ferg” Ferguson, and features Tim O’Brien, Rob McCoury, Stewart Duncan, Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman, Ronnie Bowman, Kyle Tuttle, Lindsay Lou and more.