Sound Summit Returns to Mount Tam September 7

Sound Summit

Sound Summit returns to the slopes of Mount Tamalpais Saturday, September 7, 2000 feet above San Francisco Bay. Take flight from the flatlands and join us for a hawk's-eye view of the highest festival in town – stellar lineup, stirring backdrop, buoyant spirits – all nestled under the late-Summer sun. A day of music and imagination not to be missed! Tickets on sale Friday, June 7th at 10 AM PT. Visit soundsummit.net for more details. 

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FEATURING

COURTNEY BARNETT

In the hands of Courtney Barnett, fragments of everyday life become rich and riveting. A deft lyricist and virtuosic guitarist, she is an emblem of millennial wit and one of Australia’s most successful musical exports. Based for much of her adult life in Melbourne, Barnett first found critical acclaim with 2013’s The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, and broke into the mainstream in 2015 with her debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. Garnering a coveted Best New Artist Grammy nomination and numerous other accolades, the album stands as a generational classic. Barnett followed her debut with 2017’s Lotta Sea Lice, an acclaimed collaborative record with Kurt Vile, and eschewed the vignettes of her early records on 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel, her humid, political sophomore record, which featured the Margaret Atwood-invoking single “Nameless, Faceless”. In 2021, she released Things Take Time, Take Time, a remarkable artistic step forward.

KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS

Kurt Vile is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his distinctive blend of indie rock, folk, and psychedelic music, whose career began in the early 2000s when he started writing and recording songs in his bedroom. In 2008, he released his debut album, “Constant Hitmaker,” which led to his signing to Matador Records. Following the success of “Constant Hitmaker,” Vile continued to release a string of critically acclaimed albums, including “Childish Prodigy” (2009), “Smoke Ring for My Halo” (2011), “Wakin on a Pretty Daze” (2013), and “b’lieve i’m goin down… (2015),” which further solidified his reputation as one of the most important voices in contemporary rock music. In 2022 he signed to Verve Records, releasing his major label debut “(watch my moves),” followed by a 2023 EP titled “Back to Moon Beach.”

THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS

“The California Honeydrops…evoke the greasy rumble of Booker T and channel the spiritual ecstasy of Sly and the Family Stone.” -Rolling Stone Formed in the subway systems of Oakland, retro-soul outfit The California Honeydrops are an electrifying group that defy convention at every turn. Led by the enigmatic and energetic frontman, Lech Wierzynski, and drummer Benjamin Malament, each member of the band is a virtuoso in their own rite — Yanos “Johnny Bones” Lustig on saxophone, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards/guitar, Beaumont Beaullieu on bass, and regularly accompanied by Scott Messersmith on percussion, Oliver Tuttle on trombone, Leon Cotter on saxophone/clarinet, and Miles Lyons on trombone/sousaphone — navigating through a vast repertoire of original songs and timeless classics every night. But what truly sets them apart is their unwavering commitment to the art of improvisation – a skill so finely honed that they have completely abandoned the use of set lists and no two shows are ever the same.

SKYWAY MAN

Like a West Coast Dr. John—but more preoccupied with flying saucers than voodoo dolls—Skyway Man is in the business of opening new aural worlds, cracking open reality just enough to get the message through. Flight of the Long Distance Healer sparkles and blinks, whispers and moans—hugely enjoyable music rendered in imaginative and gleaming style. There are hints of the polyrhythmic cinematic sensibility from Wallace’s contributions to the Joe Pera television series, rhythms of the Stax-inspired Spacebomb house band, and ripples of the current East Bay scene outside San Francisco. In a real showcase for the extended Skyway Man family, Wallace has coaxed personal and masterful performances from the likes of Erin Rae, Vetiver’s Andy Cabic, Molly Sarlé, pedal steel wizard Spencer Cullum, Kelly McFarling, and more. Cooking up genres in such a way as to keep their nutrients intact, he packs prog, blues, glam rock, swamp boogie, and future folk into a beautiful Martian bouillon.

GRACE BOWERS & THE HODGE PODGE

Grace Bowers was baptized by rock ‘n’ roll music. She cut her teeth on sweat soaked stages inside dive bars and found fellowship in the divine playing of B.B. King. She once studied six-string scripture – written by Slash and Leslie West – for hours a day, mastering her favorite riffs on a ‘61 cherry-finished Gibson SG. As an up-and-comer in Nashville, Dolly Parton recruited her for a network television special and Tyler Childers requested that she join him on stage. She’s played with a who’s-who of three-chord storytellers and guitar-pickin’ torchbearers – Lainey Wilson, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Susan Tedeschi, to name a few. And she’s not yet old enough to graduate high school. Phenom? Wunderkind? … Prodigy? No matter what label may be pinned to Bowers, she’s just a teenager who’s putting her faith in rock ‘n’ roll – one song at a time.