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ASSORTED DECLARATIONS BY STAFF WRITER

TOM GRAHAM

The Return of the Peach
Remember to save the date as The Peach Music Festival returns to Montage Mountain, Aug. 15 to 18. Although the line-up has not yet been announced, last summer’s festival featured The Allman Brothers Band, Zac Brown Band, Warren Haynes, Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, O.A.R., The Wailers, Dark Star Orchestra, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Blackberry Smoke, Blind Boys of Alabama and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. The festival also had a number of acts from the region including MiZ, Cabinet and Railroad Earth. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for lineup and ticket info.

Have a Ball
The 6-piece bluegrass/Americana outfit, Cabinet, announced the first annual Old Farmers Ball festival to be held at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Saturday, May 11th. The festival will feature a collection of Americana, roots, bluegrass and folk artists aimed at music lovers of all ages and tastes. The Old Farmers Ball will also offer a farmers’ market as well as a host of vendors.
Cabinet spent much of 2012 touring the United States to promote their fourth album, Leap, and will be heading out on the road for a string of dates in March with Hot Buttered Rum. Cabinet is Pappy Biondo (banjo, vocals), J.P. Biondo (mandolin, vocals), Mickey Coviello (acoustic guitar, vocals), Dylan Skursky (electric bass, double bass), Todd Kopec (fiddle, vocals), and Jami Novak (drums, percussion).
Tickets go on sale Monday, March 4 at 10 a.m. and will be available at ticketmaster.com, Toyota Pavilion Box Office (1000 Montage Mountain Rd., Scranton), Ticketmaster outlets or by-phone at 800-745-3000.

A Music Video
Area musician Rich Jenkins will premiere his new music video for “If I Had You” at the Scranton Club, 404 N. Washington Ave. on Friday, Feb. 15. A cocktail hour soirée will begin at 5 p.m., with the video screening and presentation at 6. The video was shot on location at POSH at the Scranton Club last December by local director Joe Van Wie and producer Joe Peters. The video cast includes local actors as well as Jenkins (guitar, vocal) with Mark Woodyatt (violin) and Jon Ventre (bass). For more information, call 815-1491.

Vintage Crooners
The Vintage Theater, 326 Spruce St, Scranton, will host “An Evening with Charles Havira, Vinnie Ferra, & Aaron Brown from Aaron & The Spell” on Saturday, Feb. 16. Doors for the show open at 7 p.m. with show time at 7:30 p.m. Multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Vinnie Ferra’s song “Destroying Me” was recently featured on an episode of The CW’s 90210. Aaron Brown (formerly of local outfit, Alien Red) has recently been popping up on the national radar with praises from the likes of WXPN and NPR, labeling him as an artist to watch in 2013.

Is That a Grammy in your Pocket?
The Grammys took place last Sunday and I watched the whole shebang. Instead of focusing on the many lowlights, the highlights were pretty amazing. Jack White was outstanding as he slithered then shook up the stage. The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons delivered stripped down stomping music. Personally, the highlight of the night for me came during the Levon Helm tribute. When 24-year-old Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) began to sing her verse, my jaw hit the floor and I’ve been kicking it around all week. That is how you sing your heart out.

Here’s what’s in my headphones this week: The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights (Third Man) 2010