And I thought Saturday was hot. I woke up around 9 in my tent to it already being 85 degrees. Since I wasn’t going to begin shooting until 3, I decided to sit in my air conditioned car until about 1:30. It was weird to think that this would be the last day of the festival.
The Local Honeys
What many don’t realize is that much of eastern Ohio, especially the southeast, is both culturally and geographically in Appalachia. Especially in Athens County, where Athens and Nelsonville reside, the hills become older, you say app-uh-latch-a instead of app-uh-lay-cha, and you certainly don’t want to go into the holler after dark.
The Local Honeys, coming from nearby Kentucky, embrace their Appalachian roots heavily. Blending bluegrass and folk, the duo draws from the likes of Flats & Scruggs among other bluegrass legends. They were the only group I shot at the Creekside Stage this day and the wooded enclosure, magical decorations, and people strewn about in hammocks fit them perfectly.
The band will be on tour throughout the U.S through October, with another show in December after that. You can find The Local Honeys on Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify.
The Heavy Heavy
The final international band I covered during NMF was Birmingham, U.K’s The Heavy Heavy. In my opinion, they feel very much like The Nude Party, as discussed in the day two article, drawing from 60’s rock n roll with an indie, folky touch. They have been compared to The Mamas & The Papas, Jefferson Airplane, and other prominent bands from that era.
The Heavy Heavy will be on tour in the U.S and U.K through October. You can find them on Instagram, Spotify, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
John Vincent III
By numbers alone, you would expect John Vincent III to be one of the festival headliners, with over 2.3 million monthly listeners and hundreds of streams on Spotify. Instead of performing on the Main Stage, Vincent played at the Porch Stage to a not insignificant crowd. With his lyrics mostly focusing on nature, the best way to describe his music is campy. But not in the overly exaggerated movie way, but literally I get pictures of my times in the backcountry in Minnesota at camp along a lake shore.
John Vincent III will be hopping between the U.S and Europe until mid-October. He can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify.
Thee Sacred Souls
As implied by their name, our final headliner of the festival, Thee Sacred Souls, are full of soul. Of all the festival lineup, this was by far the quickest growing act. In fact, the band only started in 2022, and are now headlining festivals, thanks in part to going viral on TikTok for their song ‘Can I Call You Rose?’ Listening to them, I think of the sounds of Motown and Marvin Gaye. In fact, singer Josh Lane sounds surprisingly like him. Along with their soulful, lustful performance, Lane was not afraid to put on a show, walking across the speakers we were up against in the photo pit and even jumping into the crowd and running up the hill in front of the Main Stage during the set.
Thee Sacred Souls will be on tour and hitting festivals in the U.S and Europe from now until November. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Spotify.
