Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival - Day Three

Day three gave us another perfect day of weather and a few of the best sets of the festival. The first band I was really excited to finally see was The Cactus Blossoms. After missing them open for Jenny Lewis in KC, I wanted to make sure I saw their set in Columbia. We caught the first half of their set before we cut across the grounds to see Israel Nash. The band played a few new songs which have me really excited for their sophomore release.

Israel Nash first showed up on my radar when someone compared him to maybe my favorite musician of all-time -- Neil Young. There is no doubt Nash is influenced by Mr. Young and he puts on a really solid live show. The highlight of Nash's set was a introduced as a "Protest Song" before Nash & his band plowed through a fiery cover of Neil Young's 'Ohio'.

My wife's number one act to catch at the festival was Amanda Shires. We've been fans for a while but her new album, To The Sunset, put here on a whole different level. Shire's set was a highlight of the entire weekend and I'd expect her to have a headlining spot the next time she plays the festival.

The final band we caught before driving back to Kansas City on Sunday night was Greensky Bluegrass. Admittedly I wasn't familiar with their music before the weekend but I consider myself a fan now. The members of the band are extremely talented players and they have a really devoted fanbase that showed up in front of the stage. They play a brand of bluegrass that I really enjoy and I look forward to catching them live again as soon as I can.

I really can't say enough good things about this festival. I'm disappointed it was never on my radar before this year because their past lineups are definitely in my wheelhouse. There's a very good chance we'll be in attendance every year going forward.