Are You Experienced? Taking Stock of Music Festival Culture and History From Ancient Greece to Albino Skunk

About this episode

This episode explores the history and culture of music festivals from ancient Greece to modern times, featuring insights from various music artists and festival staff.

Did you know that almost three thousand years ago, before there were athletic competitions at the first Olympics, there were music competitions at Delphi in Greece, with contestants singing hymns to Apollo? Or that, in the late 19th century in America, John Philip Sousa protégé Bohumir Kryl's Bohemian Band was frequently seen on the Chautauqua circuit, and featured four husky timpanists in leather aprons hammering on anvils shooting sparks across the darkened stage? These early festivals set the stage for music festivals today, which are doing quite well overall, having recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and surpassing the level of success before the worldwide shutdown on the whole. In this episode, we trace the origins of music festivals like the Pythian Games to modern day festivals like the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, where Jimi Hendrix famously lit his guitar on fire, and small roots music festivals like the Albino Skunk Music Festival. We welcome music artists Shelby Means, Joel Timmons, Liam Purcell, Mac Leaphart and Ian George, as well as Albino Skunk staffers Peter Eisenbrown, Kristen Grissom and Thieme Hall, who give us their insights into festival…

People in this episode

Host: Joe Kendrick

Guests: Shelby Means, Joel Timmons, Liam Purcell, Mac Leaphart, Ian George, Peter Eisenbrown, Kristen Grissom, Thieme Hall

Topics covered

• music festivals
• festival culture
• history of music
• interviews with artists
• COVID-19 recovery
• ancient music competitions

Keywords

• music festivals
• Pythian Games
• Monterey Pop Festival
• Albino Skunk Festival
• festival culture
• music history
• COVID-19 impact

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at Monterey

Places: Greece

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