If you were looking for some peace and quiet or rest and relaxation last weekend, the Old City wasn’t the place for it. The eighth installment of Dogwood Arts’ Rhythm N’ Blooms music festival hit the neighborhood on Friday, April 7, and ran through Sunday, April 9—three fully packed days and nights of rock, pop, country, folk, and more.
Officially a celebration of roots music, Rhythm N’ Blooms challenges the limits of that designation every year. The festival maintained especially loose boundaries in 2017, with headlining sets on the Cripple Creek Stage under Interstate 40 from the laid-back SoCal indie-folk-pop band Young the Giant, New York bohemian internationalists Gogol Bordello, and Nashville singer-songwriter Dave Barnes and appearances by acts as diverse as Beyoncé collaborator Ruby Amanfu, soul survivor Lee Fields, the Asheville experimental jazz trio led by Jon Stickley, Knoxville rapper and spoken-word artist Black Atticus, local electronic R&B duo Peak Physique, and the teenage sister power trio the Pinklets. There were secret shows, late-night jams, the ever-popular silent disco, and panel discussions; 15,000 people from around the world attended the festival.
One of those was former Mercury reporter Clay Duda, who visited and took photos. You can see a gallery of his shots here.
Senior Editor Matthew Everett manages the Knoxville Mercury's arts & entertainment section, including the comprehensive calendar section—Knoxville’s go-to guide for everything worth doing in the area. You can reach Matthew at matthew@knoxmercury.com.
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