16th Annual River Revival

Friday, May 4, 2012
6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Park Tavern at Piedmont Park

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS!

UPDATE: We've just added a $25 Late Night Admission ticket! Starting at 9 p.m. (not before), you can come to Park Tavern and hear the last two bands, Julia Haltigan and Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics. Includes beer and wine from Park Tavern and a one-year UCR membership -- as well as beer from SweetWater!

Exciting changes highlight our 16th Annual River Revival, featuring a weekend night, more honorees and more music! The party, which will once again be held under Park Tavern’s Big Tent but, with its May 4 date, signifies a move to Friday night from its traditional Thursday night slot.

We’ve loaded up on both our musical lineup and River Rock Star honorees, including one artist who’s both! Modern-rock cellist Ben Sollee, whose musical prowess is matched only by his passion for environmental activism, will be honored with the River Rock Star Award and also will perform as this year’s headliner. We also will honor Johnny Colt, former bassist for the Black Crowes and Train, for his tireless citizen journalism-style reporting on the environment (see below). And finally we’ll honor Atlanta singer-songwriter and passionate UCR supporter Gareth Asher, who has performed at several annual events including River Revival and Back to the Chattahoochee River Race & Festival.

Besides Sollee, the musical lineup is power-packed, featuring Atlanta swamp-blues outfit Burnt Bacon; New York’s Julia Haltigan, whose rollicking, torchy sound echoes everything from Nancy Sinatra to Tom Waits; and Atlanta’s own Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics to close the night with an R&B revue-fueled dance party!

Ticket options
$45 General admission includes food, beer and wine from Park Tavern and a one-year UCR membership – as well as beer from SweetWater. We're talking about a ticket worth more than $150, so this is a party with a value and a purpose!.

$65 VIP access (limited availability) includes all of the above, plus preferred seating with private bar and the opportunity to meet and mingle with musicians and honorees. VIP tickets will also receive a boxed gift set from our partners at AVEDA. Gift sets contain AVEDA’s Dry Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner and Light Elements Smoothing Fluid styling product. The set is valued at over $70. We're talking about a ticket worth more than $220, so this is a party with a value and a purpose!.

Also, SweetWater kicks off its annual Save the Hooch campaign at the event. (For more info, visit this link.)

Save the Hooch Campaign

River Revival is also the kick-off party for SweetWater Brewery’s 7th annual Save the Hooch Campaign, which engages beer drinkers, bar patrons, and restaurants throughout metro Atlanta in efforts to raise awareness and funds to support UCR’s river patrol and water quality monitoring programs from Memorial Day through July 4 weekend. According to SweetWater Marketing Director Steve Farace, “River Revival is a great way for us to kick off the campaign. It’s always a fantastic party, and it gives people a chance to get personally involved in protecting our river.” For more information, visit www.savethehooch.com. Last year, we raised an unprecedented $93,000!

Learn more about the music performers and honorees below:

MUSIC LINEUP

BEN SOLLEE – Coming seemingly out of nowhere nearly four years ago with his 2008 debut CD, Learning to Bend, Ben Sollee redefined how the cello could move popular music listeners. Bringing a classical music training to his penchant for folk and soul – think Yo Yo Ma playing Bonnaroo – Sollee’s music bridges generations as it does moods. Learning to Bend inspired NPR’s “Morning Edition” to name Sollee on of the “Top Ten Great Unknown Artists of 2007,” noting: “Ben Sollee’s distinct cello playing and soulful voice set him apart from most traditional folk or bluegrass musicians. His style involves plucking strings and using percussive bow techniques to create a surprising and original sound.” Sollee's most recently release is Inclusions, which came out in May, 2011 to rave reviews. And that’s just his musical side! Learn more about Ben Sollee here. Read more about his environmental work in the River Rock Star section below.

JULIA HALTIGAN – A torch singer with rhythm and a punk-rock attitude, Julia Haltigan leads her band not only with her vocals but with a weeping guitar that would make Lee Hazelwood flush with pride. Mixing blues, old-time country and a dash of Americana, Haltigan knows how to swing (hence the Nancy Sinatra reference) as easily as she can brood (hence the Tom Waits reference). As her website puts it, “She puts you out like a Lucky cigarette in an ice cream cone.” You can hear Haltigan’s music on her most recent release, last year’s My Green Heart. She’s shared the stage with a number of impressive artists in their own right, including Justin Townes Earle and Corey Chisel. Learn more about Julia Haltigan here.

RUBY VELLE & THE SOULPHONICS – This group has its roots embedded in the rich sound and history of Georgia music beginning with early 1950s and '60s R&B that became so well known around the world. By producing 45 rpm singles, and performing countless gigs since 2005, the band is steadily increasing an awareness of genuine rhythm and blues music that exists today. The band packs local clubs and festivals with its own soul music that is written, recorded and performed in Atlanta. Named by Creative Loafing as Atlanta's best soul band in 2010 and 2011, Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics have become a staple to the Atlanta music scene. The group is putting the final touches on a full length debut album to be released in mid-2012 on Element Records. Finally, the group will begin touring overseas and the US in 2012. Learn more about our closing-set band here.

BURNT BACON – Guests at a Burnt Bacon show could be forgiven for feeling a little out of place – like in, say the Louisiana bayous while jamming to music that evokes everything from swampy R&B and New Orleans funk to the Delta Blues and Hank Williams-style country swing. This is Americana at its most soulful, and danceable, thanks to musicians with a combined 30 years of experience in Atlanta’s fertile music scene – including blues harp player Jon Liebman, percussionist Chris Uhler, bassist Dave Roth, and guitarist Oliver Wood. You may be more familiar with Oliver’s work from his time in the Wood Brothers. Learn more about Burnt Bacon here.

RIVER ROCK STAR AWARD HONOREES

JOHNNY COLT – The original bassist for Georgia Hall of Fame inductee the Black Crowes, Johnny Colt also formed the Brand New Immortals and played bass for the band Train as well as the supergroup Rock Star Supernova. While he has enjoyed a wide range of work including running his own backline company, co-hosting WMLB’s “Politely Disruptive” with Cartoon Network’s Michael Ouwleen and hosting his own Travel Channel show, Colt has been a passionate citizen journalist – mostly working on environmental issues. He’s gained lots of exposure for his award-winning CNN iReports, most notably on the Haitian earthquake and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, and, more recently, reports on the island of Nauru. Learn more about Johnny Colt here.

BEN SOLLEE – An artist on a mission, Sollee can often be seen bicycling the country, cello strapped on his back, hoping he can show people how to connect the dots between music, art, film, dance, their community, and personal relationships. A passionate steward of the land, the Kentucky native often partners with such regional nonprofits as Appalachian Voices and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. One of his key causes is raising awareness about destruction caused by mountaintop removal coal mining in central Appalachia. Read about his bicycle trip to the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival here.

GARETH ASHER – West Georgia native and Atlanta singer-songwriter has developed a growing fan base, and a growing passion for the Chattahoochee River, for years now. Citing influences as acoustic as Jackson Browne and as soulful as Otis Redding, Asher’s music evokes contemporary artist Amos Lee in its blending of folk and R&B. “Gareth Asher is an exceptional songwriter and truly unique vocalist,” says legendary Georgia keyboardist Chuck Leavell of the Allman Brothers and Rolling Stones fame, and also the co-founder of the Mother Nature Network. It was the Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee Leavell who was so impressed with Asher’s demos that he helped supply keyboard tracks for Asher’s scheduled 2012 CD. Asher is also a major supporter of UCR and has been found performing at many of our events, but his passionate commitment to causes also fills his music. His latest single, "Get It Right," is a siren call for social change in the world. "I support organizations like UCR because of the work they do to make our world a better, safer, healthier planet for us all," Asher said. "The Chattahoochee River is the main water source for much of the South, and protecting it's environmental condition for our health, as well as it's visual beauty is important to me. Anything I can do to help bring awareness to the project is an honor, and a goal."
Learn more about Gareth Asher here.