It’s not even June yet, but it’s possible that you’re already suffering from festival overload. The Asheville area will have held six (ish) festivals in five consecutive weekends by the time you’re reading this post. But there’s a new one on the horizon and it’s well worth checking out: Siren Mountain Jam holds its inaugural two-day festival at High Country Fairgrounds in Boone, N.C. on Friday and Saturday, June 21 and 22.
Siren Mountain Jam is kind of like a Southeastern Lilith Fair. That festival, held from 1997-1999 and again in 2010 featured female solo artists and female-led bands. Siren Mountain Jam is a women’s music and art festival (yes, men are welcome to attend) which, according to the festivals’ website, “brings together some of the best women musicians and female-fronted bands, world-class women artists, and non-profit women’s organizations for a weekend of fun celebrating women’s contributions to the arts.”
Headliners include Joan Osborne and Me’Shell Ndegeocello, with Asheville-based trio The Swayback Sisters, former Asheville outfit Rising Appalachia (they now live in New Orleans), N.C.-based artists Samantha O’Brien, Eliza Eason, Lisa Baldwin and The Mountain Laurels and N.C.-born folk/funk/blues/jazz artist Crys Matthews.
The line up is:
Friday — Mountain Laurels, Greta & Marcie Schaefer, Eliza Eason, Lisa Baldwin & Dave Haney, Melissa Reaves, Toshi Reagon, Rising Appalachia, Meshell Ndegeocello.
Saturday — Samantha O’Brien, Amythyst Kiah, Crys Matthews, The Swayback Sisters, Melissa Reaves, Michelle Malone, Joan Osborne.
The festival also includes a healing arts village and an artisan village.
Tickets are $75 for two-day passes until June 1; $85 until June 20; $100 at the gate). Friday-only tickets are $40/$50. Saturday-only tickets are $50/$60. A weekend tent-camping pass is $25 per person, a weekend RV pass is $150.
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