Spring LEAF lineup announced

The groundhog may have predicted six more weeks of winter, but the folks who bring is Lake Eden Arts Festival twice a year are already thinking spring. Spring LEAF, that is! Today brings the announcement of the lineup for May 10-13.

Performing Arts Director Billy Jack Sinkovic says the roster is “so exciting, it gets Caps, Bold, Italics, AND Underline.” Xpress got a sneak peek at the headliners, which include Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and Taj Mahal

Preservation Hall Jazz Band is an umbrella name for a number of jazz groups that tour under the auspices of New Orleans’ iconic Preservation Hall performance space.

Nigerian-born Seun Kuti is the youngest son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. He currently leads his late father’s band, Egypt 80. (Image from Nigerian Music Movement.)

Bluesman Taj Mahal visits Asheville with some frequency, playing The Orange Peel and the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam, which he talks about in this interview with Xpress.

Other spring LEAF performers are:

•  David Bromberg
•  The Red Clay Ramblers
•  King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan
•  Rubblebucket
•  Red Baraat
•  Sarazino from Ecuador
•  The Black Lillies
•  Nuala Kennedy Band from Ireland
•  Msafiri Zawose from Tanzania
•  The Beast
• Pop Ferguson
•  Gaye Adegbalola w/ Roddy Barnes
•  Homemade Jamz Blues Band
•  Captain Luke & Cool John Ferguson
• Tony Cedras South African All-Stars
•  Brothers in Christ feat. C.D. 
•  Chikomo Marimba Band
•  Molasses Creek
•  Goldstein Family Band  
•  Tom Heck’s Trebuchets
•  Blue Fairy Troupe  

Regional and local:
•  Corey Harris & The Rasta Blues Experience
•  Town Mountain
•  Zansa
•  Cary Fridley & Down South
•  Shane Pruitt Band
•  Big Nasty Jazz Band
•  Skinny Legs and All
•  40 Fingers & A Missing Tooth

Dance:
• Contra dance with Lift Ticket & The Horse Flies
•  Late-night techno contra w/ Technophoria feat. DJ Shel-D
•  Callers Beth Molaro & Brian Hamshar
•  Cajun dance with Feufollet
•  Salsa dance with Montuno
•  Family dance with Phil Jamison
•  Dance workshops from Ira Bernstein, Maria-Guajira, Ted & Kimberly Ross

And more! Tickets and volunteering opportunities are available through LEAF’s website. Tickets are sold in advance only.

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About Alli Marshall
Alli Marshall has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years and loves live music, visual art, fiction and friendly dogs. She is the winner of the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize and the author of the novel "How to Talk to Rockstars," published by Logosophia Books. Follow me @alli_marshall

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