Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival hosted three nights of outstanding musical performances over a chilly weekend in Brooksville, FL. Whippersnap has been happening on and off for 15 years now, beginning in Illinois in 2011. Fest promoter Shane LaVigne had trouble finding the right venue after holding the event at three different locations from 2011 to 2013, which resulted in an 11-year hiatus, but when he discovered the Florida Sand Music Ranch, he knew he had found the festival’s new longterm home. His relationship with many of the artists runs deep, with more than a few bands having played Whippersnap festivals in two different decades.

Florida Sand is located in a beautiful lakeside spot and run by a team who understands how to create a high-chill environment that eliminates the drawbacks of typical music festival venues, with permanent bathroom and shower facilities and a minimal, low-key security staff that embraces a hassle-free, have fun, stay safe philosophy. There were two stages set up a short walk apart. The “Whippersnap Stage” was under the permanent pavilion while the “Home Team Stage” was placed in an open field lakeside. While the top-billed acts performed in the pavilion, it was arguably the bands lucky enough to play on the grass beside the water that got the better spot.

Whippersnap organizers paid great attention to ratcheting up the production value for sound and visuals. Landing The Disco Biscuits lighting crew, Herm Light Designs, for a second year was certainly a major coup. Laser Fox, also returning, burned eyeballs at the Home Team stage, and DreemLume turned the surrounding forest into an ever-shifting projection-mapped tableau of faces, mirrored in the glass-still lake.

Whippersnap featured nationally known acts and more than a dozen bands from Florida and the greater-Tampa area. A rotating group of “artists at large” staged some spectacular sit-ins with the bands on the bill. The overall result was a truly special music festival experience.

Wednesday Night

Whippersnap opened with a Wednesday night pre-party featuring Steeln’ Peaches, who delivered a stellar revue of the Allman Brothers Band—the perfect tone-setter for the weekend. Opening with a sad and poignant “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”, the band’s two sets meandered through the ABB catalog, with a dash of Gov’t Mule sprinkled in. The mood varied from aching and melancholy on treatments of “Melissa” and “Come and Go Blues” to uplifting with an always welcome “Revival” and raucous with “One Way Out” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”.

Thursday

Sooza Brass Band kicked off Whippersnap’s opening day with a joyous hay wagon peregrination through the campgrounds, their music alerting any still sleeping campers that the festival was indeed underway. Given the band’s name, one might be forgiven to have expected martial music, but instead, Sooza plays what they describe as “Brass Funk” or “Brass Metal.”  Ascending the Whippersnap Stage, their set was lively, animated, and even danceable, with a characteristic sound only available from a five-horn band.

Bodhicitta made the drive down south all the way from Lake Geneva, WI to play their second Whippersnap festival, taking the Home Team stage. Bodhicitta’s set of genre-bending music certainly brought the crowd to a state of enlightenment. It also brought the Florida sunshine, turning a grey, chilly day brilliant and warm. Bodhicitta played an amazingly versatile set that rambled through psychedelia into funk/rock fusion and Nashville inspired country. There even was a Carpenters cover tossed in.

Tire Fire played a relentless and bouncing bluegrass set that had the fans under the pavilion dancing with abandon. Fiddle player extraordinaire Dani Jaye joined in on sets with several other bands in the hours to come. The bluegrass form was also skillfully repped by The Firewater Tent Revival, who played the kind of ass-kickin’ set that you’d expect from a band thusly named.

Joe Marcinek Band, like several other Whippersnap artists, was fresh off of Jam Cruise 21. Listed on the festival poster as “Joe Marcinek and the Whippersnap All Stars,” collaboration was a major theme of the set and the entire festival. The band opened with a solid “Franklin’s Tower” assisted by artists at large Alex Steele on vocals and the Sooza horns, with Shane LaVigne beating the skins in the background. The Grateful Dead theme was supplemented with a 20-minute take on “Shakedown Street” with Organ Fairchild’s Dave Ruch adding his guitar to the mix. Marcinek and company got some of the best crowd engagement of the weekend with original material and familiar favorites that simply compelled movement.

What can be written about Keller Williams that hasn’t already been expounded upon? His ubiquity on the festival circuit is almost unrivaled, whether alone or with his various bands. His performances are uniformly fun, jammy musical celebrations. His guitar skills are jaw-dropping, and with his ability to loop into his one-man-band persona, Keller creates shows that are always engaging, playing a repertoire of songs that have been learned by rote by those who dwell in jam world. “Kidney In a Cooler” had the entire audience singing along, and the ever-present “Freaker by the Speaker” encore was the perfect way to close out Day One of the Whippersnap festival.

Check out Keller’s complete set on The Internet Archive, taped by Peter Timby.

Friday

Thursday night was frigid, and Friday morning had many savoring the relative warmth of their tents until Kat Hines took the Whippersnap stage. Discovered singing in a karaoke bar in front of about two people, she is now, at 19, playing real gigs in front of real crowds, a position that she certainly deserves. She has a powerful voice and range (and the confidence) to cover some of the immortals of female vocals, from Stevie Nicks and Grace Slick to Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell.

The Reality played a set high on energy and put on a psychedelic funk tour de force. Meesta Juanjomon and Dan Jones front the band, and both play multiple instruments. Their set was enhanced by sit-ins by Dani Jaye on fiddle and, making his first appearance as artist at large, JP Miller, guitarist from Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band. The set was eaten up by attendees, including a couple of dancing inflatable tyrannosaurs, and was exactly the thing to get everybody’s blood flowing on a chilly day.

Displace blew the doors off Friday afternoon. Fresh off Jam Cruise with Joe Marcinek, who sat in on a few songs, Displace obviously had no holiday hangover. Their set was energy epitomized, and thoroughly versatile. Chris Sgammato and Kyle Sareyani are musical polymaths, with Chris picking up keyboards, guitar, sax, and keytar and Kyle covering lead guitar and keys, with a little flute added in. Sooza horns joined them on stage and made the act a septet. The result was a blaring and beautiful meld of funk and rock music.

If there was any band in the lineup that was mischaracterized, it was the Ain’t Sisters. Nominally listed as a “folk” act, the Ain’t Sisters threw down an absolute rocking rager of a set. Combining strong, shredding guitar work by Barb Carbon—dressed like a true rock star in all black leather and fur—with beautiful vocal harmonies by Barb and Arie Bozeman, their sound was revelatory. “Shake Your Taint” was one of the hottest moments of the weekend, strengthened by JP Miller joining in to trade lead licks. It also explained all of the “Shake Your Taint” tees and hats spotted around the festival grounds.

Guavatron got the full advantage of the Home Team stage with a set where the visuals were absolutely mind-blowing. The team of Herm Lights and Laser Fox punctuated every beat and DreemLume cast their spell upon the trees, resulting in a set that the Biscuits would have been proud of. The show was musically perfect for the setting—trippy and face-melting jams anchored by driving, danceable grooves. Kanika Moore joined in for a ripping cover of Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker” to end the set. To top everything off, the Florida Sand staff lit a huge bonfire that attracted anyone who wasn’t generating enough heat of their own by dancing on the grass. It certainly was one of the highlights of the festival, as confirmed by the awed reviews from the people who were privileged to experience it.

Listen to Guavatron’s entire set on The Internet Archive.

Shane LaVigne’s own band, MiniM, played the penultimate pavilion set and brought lots of friends up to join the fun. Artist at large Kanika Moore made an appearance on a mashup of Deee-Lite’s “Groove is in the Heart” and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”, with Alex Steele, David Sarkis, and Kat Hines singing the chorus. It was the perfect vehicle for Kanika’s powerful, soul-stirring voice, and MiniM played with passion that had the dance floor full and singing.

Friday ended with a blast. Polyrhythmics, another Jam Cruise 21 alum all the way from Seattle, demonstrated why they have attracted so much attention over the past 14 years. Their music draws on psych-funk and Afrobeat influences and varies in tone and mood throughout their set, with their horn section often setting the theme.

Saturday

The final day of Whippersnap opened with Chicago Farmer. At the beginning, the pavilion was nearly empty, but the sound of Cody Diekhoff’s honest, completely authentic music about life in the Heartland as experienced by blue collar folks swelled the ranks of listeners. Diekhoff is a master storyteller, in the tradition of some of America’s great folk-music heroes like Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and others. His set was mesmerizing, poignant, and sometimes even humorous as he played songs like “Assembly Line Blues”.

Whippersnap’s Saturday got truly rocking when Moonstone Rider mounted the Home Team stage, dressed in full NASA regalia. They played a very diverse set of songs that included originals and covers of classics, with styles that ran from throbbing jams into material that could fit comfortably into any mainstream, or even country, playlist. But their jam roots are never far from the surface, and guitarist Matt Benfield has clearly been steeped in its influence.

The Headtones played their horn-infused experimental funk in an afternoon set under the pavilion. Fresh off the official release, only the day before, of two new singles, “No Sleep” and “Tight Pants”, the Headtones played both. JP Miller also sat in, and his guitar shredding was the perfect complement to their signature sound.

Antelope brought the lakeside back to life with one of the most heavily attended sets of the weekend and delivered a Phish tribute that had every Phan at Whippersnap jamming out, many sporting their tour t-shirts, some going back to the ‘90s. After opening with an extended “Tube”, Antelope brought Kat Hines up to sing on a stirring and beautiful “If I Could”. Joe Marcinek also sat in on a 15-minute “Sand” > “Boogie on Reggae Woman” > “Sand”.

Stream Peter Timby’s tape of Antelope’s complete set on the Internet Archive.

Future Joy was another of the fortunate bands that got to play an evening set on the Home Team stage. The dynamic duo of Emily Cooper and Zach Simms took full advantage of the amazing visuals. Both DJ (the only DJ set of the festival), both play keys, and Zach plays a variety of horns. The result is a funky, rocking wall of music that had the crowd bouncing. Kanika Moore joined the couple for a cover of System of a Down’s “Aerials” and was a perfect addition.

Ajeva’s after-dark set by the lake was quite different—much more jamtronica than their usual funk/rock/improv. Reading the “room,” or more likely the trippy ambiance, Ajeva poured out a groovy, EDM-style set that was rivaled only by Guavatron’s set the night before. The entire audience was transported to another place, lost in the mood, the music, and the lights and lasers, dancing and swaying in the groove.

The New Mastersounds played the final sets of Whippersnap. Their mastery of multiple genres, be it traditional rock ’n’ roll, straight blues, funk, or R&B, makes the band impossible to pigeonhole, and Whippersnap got a taste of it all. TNM commanded the moment with impeccable crowd awareness and left the audience shaking their heads in wonder—exactly what you’d expect from a band that has achieved their level of success. Joe Tatton played the ultimate classical setup—a Hammond organ through a Leslie rotating drum cabinet—and gives the show an instantly recognizable and relatable feel. Guitarist Eddie Roberts displayed the effortless command that makes him the ultimate frontman. Their show was simply the perfect way to close out Whippersnap Festival—a great weekend spent with old and new friends, lifted by soaring performances, the beautiful atmosphere of the venue, and the magic created by the production crew. Congratulations are due to everyone involved.

Visit Whippersnap Festival’s Facebook page to see more videos from the weekend.