Northlands Music Festival Is a Jam Band Refuge

In the current live music industry, putting on an independent festival is a dicey proposition. But that hasn’t stopped the Northlands Music & Arts Festival from going all in.

Held in Swanzey, New Hampshire, surrounded by the White Mountains, Northlands celebrates the rootsy jam music and culture that is ingrained in the region. This past weekend, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Disco Biscuits, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Andy Frasco & the U.N. all performed at the fifth installment.

“Corporate America can’t take over music. There’s too much soul in the music and in the festivals,” festival co-producer Jen Meyerhardt tells Rolling Stone. “It’s all about the vibe. It’s people being together, and creating a sense of community.”

Natalie Brooke was one of the newer artists championed by Northlands this go-round. Hailing from Baltimore, Brooke and her futuristic funk-and-soul quartet have been staking their claim as ones to watch on the festival circuit. At Northlands, she sat in with Dogs in a Pile for a rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady,” and later with Frasco for a take on his “Talk About It.”

But even with the buzz behind her, Brooke, who plays keytar, isn’t immune to the challenges of embracing the indie side of the business. “The biggest thing I struggle with is seeing everybody cut the cake differently,” Brooke says. “You have to play the game and do a lot of things the way they are done, and should be done. You also have to follow your own intuition, your own artistic voice. It’s a really tough puzzle to put together.”

With so many artists experiencing cases of “blue dot fever” — those seas of unsold tickets on the venue map — Northlands has been weathering the storm by booking artists that appeal to their audience demographic. The fest is becoming a beacon for those who still pine for former jam meccas like Gathering of the Vibes, Wakarusa, Rothbury, and 10,000 Lakes. Last month, longtime Midwestern jam weekend Summer Camp canceled its 25th anniversary edition, citing “unforeseen financial circumstances.”

All that helps make Northlands a safe harbor for groups like Yonder Mountain String Band, and the rapidly rising Magoo, currently on tour behind their debut album, What a Life. “There’s a scene now and it’s exploded,” Yonder Mountain String Band bassist Ben Kaufmann says. “In a lot of ways, I feel like we were first through the wall of traditional bluegrass, and then kind of blasting through it, a lot of it out of ignorance.”

By late Saturday afternoon, indie-rock stalwarts the Slip took the Echo Stage with Joe Russo on drums in place of Andrew Barr, who was unable to make the set. With the Slip celebrating 30 years together in 2026 — and the 20th anniversary of their Eisenhower album — it was a highly-anticipated set and the only show on the books this year for the trio formed just down the road in Boston.

“The music on Eisenhower was the result of a decade of living and touring and breathing together,” Brad Barr says. “But it’s still just a template for improvisation and channeling energy — I think that’s why it’s aged well.”

After his cameo behind the kit with the Slip, Joe Russo and Almost Dead opened their headlining set with Grateful Dead’s “Don’t Ease Me In” and “Cats Under the Stars.” With their intricate approach to the Dead’s music, JRAD, who formed in 2013, have become heirs to the Dead’s scene following the death of Bob Weir earlier this year.

“Let’s breathe as much new life into the catalog and keep it going, and insert new information as much as possible,” says JRAD guitarist Tom Hamilton of playing the Dead’s music. “You toe the line of tipping your hat to the guys and making sure you’re being respectful, but also doing our own thing with it.”

Andy Frasco & the U.N. share that same spirit. Closing out the Echo Stage on Sunday, Frasco brought up several friends, including Jen Hartswick on trumpet for David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” and Kanika Moore, who appeared onstage in pink spandex and rhinestone boots to debut the alt-country ballad “Perfectly Yours.”

“We’re people who never got the chance to be rooted for,” Frasco says. “I’ve always been an underdog my whole life. I try to take that mentality of the people who don’t have self-esteem or who are insecure about themselves, and make them know that I’m not the greatest musician in the world, but I could still try my best to try to bring everyone together.”

Northlands is rooting for those same people. Tim Palmieri, of the band Lotus, says the festival is important to filling the void left by all those defunct fests. Musical variety is what set them all apart, he says, and the reason why Northlands is succeeding so far.

“It’s about meeting people and community. We’re organic people, everyone is a little headier here,” Palmieri says. “We don’t want to be on concrete. Here you are in New Hampshire — a bunch of trees and good earth.”