Some of the best local and regional jam bands will be gathering for The Enchanted Mayhem Music Festival on May 11th, 2024 for its third year. The event takes place at The Enchanted Forest & Music Hall in New Albany, IN and will feature Hot Brown Smackdown, Roadie, Pushing Daisy's Band, The Low Glow, Captain Midnight Band, Villa Mure, Runaway Souls, and The Hot Sauce Horns accompanying each group as the appointed "Artist At Large". We asked Joe Bowers, the organizer of the festival, how it came to be and where he'd like for it to go in the future:
"Post covid I was looking to bring all the local bands I love in the jam band scene together for an epic bash. It's an eclectic bunch of bands and the people that love these bands really love dancing, smiling, and having a good time. The first year was a huge success even though I had bands cancel due to members having covid and then it hailed on everyone during the first band and we had to move everything inside on one stage. It's a huge testament to this community that even soaking wet it was well attended and we all had an absolute blast! This is the 3rd year of the event.
My main mission has always been to have top notch original bands and make sure they can all get paid well. I like the idea of having fewer bands with longer sets. No fine print bands. I'm also a huge fan of collaboration, so I try to encourage that. I always have an Artist At Large that sits in with all the bands. The first year was A.J. Clements from Electric Garden, last year was fiddler Michael Cleveland, this year its a 3 piece horn section with Drew Miller(sax), Craig Twedell(trumpet), and Ethan Evans(trombone). My hope for the future is just to continue growing the festival and spotlighting this great local and regional talent. The more people that come to the fest the more I can pay the bands. If we bring in more money then that money goes to the bands."
More info and tickets here.
