Set the Controls for the Heart of North Carolina: The BIG What?

We’re less than three weeks away from The BIG What?, the annual dance party thrown by BIG Something, the boys from Burlington, North Carolina, who are in demand everywhere. They’ve settled in at Shakori Hills Community Center in Pittsboro for several years, a great venue that hosts a variety of music events and fests. The BIG What? runs Thursday, August 8, through Saturday, August 10.

BIG Something – The BIG What? – Photo credit: Mandi Nulph

Your hosts are Casey Cranford, Jesse Hensley, Josh Kagel, Nick MacDaniels, Doug Marshall, and Ben Vinograd, but you know them better as BIG Something. They will perform each night of the festival with their brilliant amalgam of rock, pop, funk, and jamtronica, and they have invited many outstanding friends to join them in this musical paradise.

THURSDAY

The incredible Nth Power will help open The BIG What? Thursday with their specialty: LOVE. Their new album, Abundance, will be out in November. Empire Strikes Brass delivers on their promise, and People’s Blues of Richmond always entertains. The Ries Brothers, The Kind Thieves, and Emma’s Lounge are also on the bill.

The Nth Power – Hulaween – Photo credit: Yvonne Gougelet

FRIDAY

This day is slammed, jam-packed with music across multiple genres. Your hosts play, of course, joined by the manic antics of TOO MANY ZOOZ. There’s more insanity of the Appalachian funk kind with Dr. Bacon, and Colorado’s Sunsquabi bring their jamtronic funk to NC.

Too Many Zooz – Hulaween – Photo credit: Zach Sanders

Two outstanding homegrown bands always delight: the earthy roots rock of Urban Soil, featuring the vocals of Sarah Reinke and Eric Chesson, and the very psychedelic soul rock of The Broadcast, with chanteuse Caitlyn Krisko out front.

Urban Soil – The BIG What? – Photo credit: David Lee

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra will garner many new fans and delight current ones, and Casey & the Comrades and Nick & the Nomads fill out a lovely day.

SATURDAY

It’s a mostly-NC day, with BIG Something and the incredible Toubab Krewe on top of the lineup. Throw in the jamsters The Mantras and the soulful bluegrass of Hank, Pattie & the Current, and you’ve got a great day of listening ahead of you. Add to that the madness of the funky psychedelic jams of Litz, from Maryland, and South Carolina’s Schema, and you’re set. Check out Ranford Almond to top it all off.