20th Annual Gamble Rogers Music Festival headliners announced

Wilco, Jim Stafford, The Steel Wheels, Harpeth Rising and Chris Henry and the Hardcore Grass among dozens to perform at 3-day event

Top image: Harpeth Rising will perform from 7:25­­­-8:05 p.m. Saturday, May 2 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre as part of the 20th Annual Gamble Rogers Music Festival. Above: The Steel Wheels, on stage from 9:15­­­-10:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre during the Gamble Rogers Music Festival. Contributed images

From Gamblefest organizers

St. Augustine, FL — The 20^th Annual Gamble Rogers Music Festival will feature a celebration of sound — with the internationally well-known recording stars Wilco kicking off the 3-day event on May 1 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.

Six stages on May 2-3 at the Amphitheatre will feature dozens of celebrated artists including headliner and Florida performing great Jim Stafford.

Recording artist Jim Stafford, who was friends with Gamble Rogers, will perform from 8:10-­­­9:10 p.m. Saturday, May 2 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre during the 20th Annual Gamble Rogers Music Festival. Contributed image

“Jim was Gamble’s personal friend,” said Bob Patterson, local storyteller, musician and one of the Gamblefest organizers.

“He had a number of top 40 hit tunes, he was a writer for the Smother’s Brothers Show, and has his own theater in Branson, Mo. He’s an amazing showman.”

Other headliners will include The Steel Wheels, Chris Henry and the Hardcore Grass, and Harpeth Rising.

The list of popular musicians playing in St. Augustine: Walter Parks and Lee Hunter, The Currys, Laney Jones and the Spirits, Carlos and Carlos, The Driftwoods, Larry Mangum and the Cowboy Orchestra, Rod McDonald, The Obscure Brothers, Michael Jordan, Maja Gitana, The Dalziels, Belmont and Jones, Charley Simmons, Lucky Mudd, Wild Shiners, Wax Wings, Cracker the Box, Sand Fleas, Rivernecks, Mrs Kate, Black Fire, Rachael Carrick, Paradox, Aslyn and the Naysayers, Jim Carrick, Magda Hiller, Joe Mark, John Dickie, Shannon Ogdon, Lyn Rogers Lacey, Mindy Simmons and Lisa Bohn, Charlie Robertson, The Anderson Brothers, Jamie DeFrates and Susan Brown, Gypsy Wind, Cindy Bear, Hart Line, Al Poindexter and River Rise, Clyde Walker, David Dowling, Lauren Nicole Heintz, Kathryn Archer, Jerry Mincey, Jon Bailey, Bill and Eli Perras, Todd and Molly Jones, Jig to a Milestone, Chris Kastle, Mike Howard, Colton McKenna, Jeremy Rogers, The Skinny, Ancient City Slickers, The Dunehoppers, Promenade Action, and more to be added soon.

Local favorites are Flagship Romance, Sam Pacetti, Bob Patterson, The WillowWacks, The Rubies, Lonesome Bert and the Skinny Lizards.

Local Honey, a collective of area artists who came together recently to record an album and create a documentary, will have their own stage on Sunday, May 3 at the Amphitheatre.

“The Local Honey documentary and CD will be released just days before the festival,” Patterson said.

“The documentary will be presented to the public at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on April 28.”

Also on May 3, the Tale Tellers of St Augustine will present storytellers at the event, and there will be a stage for the North Florida Folk Network.

In addition, The “I Remember Gamble” song and story contest will be held on Saturday, May 2.

The festival will also feature a kids’ activity area with music and guided fun events, a food truck dining area, numerous art and craft vendors and the general ambiance of an all-day/all-weekend experience.

Who is Gamble Rogers? Gamble Rogers balanced a love of balladry and folk songs with a passion for the oral tradition and storytelling. The son and grandson of influential architects, Rogers was described as both a “modern troubadour” and the “resurrection of Will Rogers and Mark Twain”. Rogers was a master performer–enchanting an audience with Travis-style guitar finger picking and relating downright rib-tickling tales about the inhabitants of the fictitious Oklawaha County.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution called Rogers, “an American treasure worthy of inclusion in the Smithsonian”. Rogers was just hitting his peak when he died, on October 10, 1991, trying to save a man from drowning. The recreational area in Flagler County, where the accident occurred, was later renamed, Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area.

In the liner notes of his album, Fruitcakes, Jimmy Buffett dedicated the recording to Rogers’ memory and wrote that Rogers, “taught me how to move an audience with dialogue and delivery as much as with music”. In 1993, Rogers was posthumously awarded a Folk Heritage award.

Wilco tickets are available at the box offices of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and through Ticket Master. All other tickets are available at www.gamblerogersfest.org. Two-day tickets for May 2-3 are $35; tickets for May 2 are $25; and May 3 tickets are $15. Purchasers of Wilco tickets may purchase weekend Gamblefest passes (Saturday and Sunday) for the discounted rate of $20.

For tickets and the entertainment schedule, go to www.gamblerogersfest.org.

Gamblefest 2015 Schedule

Main Stage (Saturday, May 2)

• 1:30­­­-2:10 Larry Mangum and the Cowboy Orchestra
• 2:15­­­-2:55 The Driftwoods
• 3:00-­­­3:40 Carlos and Carlos
• 3:45­­­-4:25 Laney Jones and the Spirits
• 4:30-­­­5:10 The Willow Wacks
• 5:15-­­­5:55 Walter Parks & Lee Hunter
• 6:00­­­-6:40 The Currys
• 6:45­­­-7:20 Chris Henry’s Hardcore Grass
• 7:25­­­-8:05 Harpeth Rising
• 8:10-­­­9:10 Jim Stafford
• 9:15­­­-10:30 The Steel Wheels

Main Stage (Sunday, May 3)

•  12:00-­12:40 Gypsy Wind
• 12:45­0-1:20 Maja Gitana
• 1:25­0-2:05 Michael Jordan
• 2:10-2:50 The Dalziels
• 2:55­-3:35 Sam Pacetti
• 3:40­-4:20 Chris Henry
• 4:25­-5:05 Flagship Romance
• 5:10­-6:00 Lonesome Bert & the Skinny Lizards

Side Stage (Saturday, May 2)

• 1:3-­2:00 Aslyn & the Naysayers
• 2:00-­2:30 Rachael Carrick
• 2:30­-3:00 Jamie DeFrates and Susan Brown
• 3:00-­3:30 Charlie Robertson
• 3:30­-4:00 The Rubies
• 4:00-­4:30 Mindy Simmons and Lisa Bohn
• 4:30­-5:00 Rod McDonald
• 5:00­-5:30 Lyn Rogers Lacey
• 5:30 ­I Remember Gamble

Side Stage (Sunday, May 3)

• 12:00­-12:30 Ancient City Slickers
• 12:30­-1:00 The Dunehoppers
• 1:00­-1:30 Larry Mangum
• 1:30­-2:00 Rebecca Zapen
• 2:00­-2:30 Mindy Simmons and Lisa Bohn
• 2:30­-3:00 Rod McDonald
• 3:00­-3:30 Clyde Walker
• 3:30­-4:00 Lucky Mudd
• 4:00­-4:30 Lauren Nicole Heintz
• 4:30­-5:00 The Obscure Brothers
• 5:00-5:30 Paradox
• 5:30­-6:00 Wild Shiners

Florida Stage (Saturday, May 2)

• 1:30-­2:00 Joe Mark
• 2:00­-2:30 Lucky Mudd
• 2:30­-3:00 Jim Carrick
• 3:00­-3:30 Magda Hiller
• 3:30­-4:00 Bob Patterson
• 4:00-­4:30 Paradox
• 4:30­-5:00 Shannon Ogdon
• 5:00­-5:30 Belmont and Jones
• 5:30­-6:00 John Dickie IV

Florida Stage Sun (NFFN)

• 12:00 Sidetrack
• 1:00pm Dixie Rodeo
• 2:00pm Paul Garfinkel
• 3:00pm Jackson Creek
• 4:00pm Shane Myers
• 5:00pm This Frontier Needs Heros

Mezzanine stage (Saturday, May 2)

• 1:30­-2:00 Cracker the Box
• 2:00-­2:30 The Anderson Bros
• 2:30­-3:00 Jig to a Milestone
• 3:00­-3:30 Jeremy Rogers
• 3:30-­4:00 Mike Howard
• 4:00-­4:30 Bill & Eli Perras
• 4:30­-5:00 Charley Simmons
• 5:00­-5:30 Al Poindexter and River Rise
• 5:30-­6:00 Hart Line

Mezzanine stage (Sunday, May 3)

Hosted by Tale Tellers of St. Augustine

• 12:00­-12:30 Twila Flemming Hudson & Harold Lock
• 12:30­-1:00 Margaret Kaler
• 1:00­-1:30 Joyce Sabato
• 1:30­-2:00 Kaye Byrnes
• 2:00­-2:30 Madeline Potts
• 2:30­-3:00 The Storytelling Sims
• 3:00­-3:30 Chris Kastle
• 3:30­-4:00 Robin Schulte
• 4:00­-4:30 Backintyme
• 4:30­-5:00 Betty Fell
• 5:00­-5:30 MJ Harris
• 5:3-6:00 Drew Sappington & Kathy Duffy

Pickers Stage (Saturday, May 2)

• 1:30-­2:00 Jerry Mincey & Tony Macalusco
• 2:00-­2:30 Gypsy Wind
• 2:30-­3:00 Sand Fleas
• 3:00-­3:30 Black Fire
• 3:30­-4:00 Wax Wings
• 4:00­-4:30 Todd & Molly Jones
• 4:30-­5:00 Wild Shiners
• 5:00­-6:00 Rivernecks

Pickers Stage (Sunday, May 3)

Hosted by Local Honey

• 12:00-­12:30 Dewey Via
• 12:30­-1:00 Rob Peck
• 1:00­-1:30 Scott Sweet
• 1:30­-2:00 Elizabeth Roth
• 2:00­-2:30 Pat Murphy
• 2:30­-3:00 Amy Hendrickson
• 3:00­-3:30 Joe Schauer
• 3:30-­4:00 Eric Hood
• 4:00­-4:30 Shea Birney
• 4:30­-5:00 Jim Johnston
• 5:00-5:30 Chelsea Saddler
• 5:30­-6:00 Love Chunk

The Gazebo Stage (Saturday, May 2)

• 1:30­-2:00 David Dowling
• 2:00-­2:30 Chris Kastle
• 2:30-­3:00 Cindy Bear
• 3:00-­3:30 Katherine Archer
• 3:30­-4:00 Lauren Nicole Heintz
• 4:00­-4:30 Jon Bailey
• 4:30-­5:00 Colton McKenna
• 5:00-­5:30 The Skinny
• 5:30-­6:00 Promenade Action

Children’s area (Saturday, May 2)

Mrs. Kate Carpenter hails from the tiny town of Callahan, Florida, and tours the world making families smile with her interactive folk music. With her sidekick puppets, she’ll be sharing homespun stories and folk songs inviting the audience to sing along. She has recorded 11 original CDs and two children’s music videos, which she will be happy to autograph for you after the show. Go to www.MrsKate.com

Showtimes: 2:00-­2:30; 3:30­-4:00; 5:00-­5:30