Alternative roots-music acts from all over to perform at festival

Musicians from Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and Maine will bring fresh perspectives to traditional sounds during the third annual WRBC Roots Music Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at the Florence Keigwin Amphitheater, adjacent to the Olin Arts Center, at Bates College, 75 Russell St. (rain site: Benjamin Mays Center).

Sponsored by Bates’ student-run community radio station, WRBC-FM, the concert is open to the public at no charge.

Featured acts range from acoustic folksingers Sara Cox and Caitlin Cary to the epic, roots-inflected indie rock of Okkervil River.

“This year’s lineup is intended to consider how contemporary artists are pushing the boundaries of ‘roots music,’ ” says Tucker McKinney, festival coordinator. “The acts are more difficult to categorize. We feel this lineup will appeal to a diverse audience and at the same time break new ground for our festival.”

In order of scheduled (and approximate) starting times, the performers are:
The Pubcrawlers, from Portland and Dover, N.H. They reflect influences ranging from traditional Celtic music to street punk, hardcore and even a little metal (noon);

Sara Cox, of Portland, a singer-songwriter featured on four volumes of the compilation recordings Greetings From Area Code 207 and one who recently released, to critical acclaim, her first full-length recording, Arrive (1 p.m.);

Two Cow Garage, from Columbus, Ohio, featuring three small town guys playing crunchy, straight-ahead roots rock with a country tinge (2 p.m.);

Okkervil River, from Austin, Texas, playing rootsy indie-rock and described by Rolling Stone magazine as a “haunted country quartet” whose singer-songwriter Will Sheff is “ready for worldwide renown” (3 p.m.); and Caitlin Cary, a singer-songwriter based in Raleigh, N.C. A former member of the alt-country group Whiskytown, she sings melodious Southern pop in a voice compared to Mary Chapin Carpenter and Patsy Cline (4 p.m.).

Festival attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets. Alcoholic beverages, pets and sound-recording equipment are prohibited, as is on-site parking.

WRBC broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 91.5 FM. Its programming covers the musical map, including metal and loud rock, punk and ska, rap and hip-hop, techno and electronica, garage and psychedelic, jazz and funk, soul and R&B, rock and pop, world and ethnic musics — and, of course, American blues, folk and country.

For more information about the festival, please call 207-777-7915.