Mix a smoking bluegrass band with a wide variety of influences and styles, known for mind-melting performances… with a Grammy-nominated West African harp player known as a musician’s musician, who has recorded with Matisyahu, Michael Franti, and Midnite and performed live with String Cheese Incident, India.Arie, Bela Fleck, Steve Kimock, and more… with one of the most progressive Jamtronic bands in the Bay Area... and what do you get? The most rockin’ SCI Greek Theater late-night aftershow in the history of the East Bay!

The Bay Area’s outlaw music bards, Poor Man’s Whiskey brings a reputation for high-energy live shows, an incomparable fusion of folk, punk, rock, and disco, and a surefire foot-stompin’ good time. PMW has evolved into a ragged, spontaneous beast pulling from equally deep wells of storytelling originals, expertly crafted covers, and zany on-stage shenanigans. They’ve taken their “high-octane hootenanny” to such notable festivals and venues as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, High Sierra, Wakarusa, Kate Wolf Music Festival, the Fillmore, the Great American Music Hall, and many more.

www.poormanswhiskey.com

“PMW’s sway of smarts and wit infuses their originals, where they delight in jumbling elements in a way that pops like super balls in a cement mixer. String band? Sort of. Rock band? Sure. Prog-metal enthusiasts and swing time fellas? Absolutely. In the end, they are an original distillation, a tasty burn that goes down with a kick and lingers beautifully when it hits your gut.”
– Dennis Cook, JamBase.com

Youssoupha Sidibe is a kora player from Senegal, West Africa. He is the only West African kora player to collaborate heavily with Western musicians in a non-traditional style of kora playing. Sidibe began his music career more than 20 years ago, studying kora at the National Music Conservatory in Senegal. He combined the lilting, angelic sounds of the kora with the Sufi chanting of the Senegalese Baay Faal community. He and the Mystic Rhythms have been taking North America by storm, performing at festivals such as the African Festival of the Arts in Chicago, the world’s largest African fest; the main stages of High Sierra and Reggae Rising; Earthdance; Wanderlust; and more. The Mystic Rhythms are a bass-and-drums backing band combining reggae and African sounds. Sidibe floats his beautiful kora solos and deeply soulful vocals over the band’s high-energy, trance-inducing dance grooves.

www.ysidibe.com

“Youssoupha is great. I have performed with him many times, and we find ourselves on stage together sharing very deep and moving musical improvisations. His melodies are beautiful, his rhythm is engaging, and he is a spiritual man transmitting roots music. I am a fan of Youssoupha and his music.”
– Matisyahu, multiplatinum-selling and Grammy-nominated musician

HoverKraft takes listeners on a musical journey as they explore the live electronic realms of funk, space rock, glitch hop, and beyond. Be ready for an eclectic mix of mid-tempo glitch, fantasy wobbles, psydub, electro funk, and Pink Floyd-inspired astral guitar licks. The trio is Trey Howard on guitar, keys, and Ableton control; Darin Lehman on bass; and Max Vernon on drums.

www.hoverkraft.org