Made in America isn’t happening, but the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival is.
Plus, Mannequin Pussy and more new music from Philly bands and bands playing Philly.
It’s a rare Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia without “Made in America.”
So this week’s playlist has a handful of artists from the MIA that might have been, including Lil Yachty, Miguel, and SZA, who is still scheduled to make it to town for her Wells Fargo Center show on Sept. 26. Also one by one of last year’s featured acts: Nigeran singer Burna Boy, from his new I Told Them… album.
But with MIA taking the year off, let’s give a little love to another longstanding Philly-area festival that is on schedule for this weekend.
That would be the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, now proudly in its 51st year in Pilesgove in Salem County, South Jersey. The three day bring-your-own-lawnchair fest’s highlights include Rhonda Vincent, Riders in the Sky, Dan Timynski, Savoy Family Cajun Band, and Lonesome River Band.
The list of new Philly music of note begins with Mannequin Pussy, the Marisa Dabice-fronted punk ensemble which is celebrating buying back its master recordings and starting its own Romantic Records label. The new single “I Got Heaven” hits hard, with a satisfying sweet spot.
In a statement, Dabice said: “‘I Got Heaven’ is a song intended to merge the sacred and the profane and to serve as a reminder that we are all perfect exactly as we have been made and that no one gets to decide how a life should or should not be lived.”
“Rich Man” is the new single from Philly singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton, who plays the Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts with Marielle Kraft on Friday. Philly-by-way-of-Turin, Italy songwriter Santa Chiara’s “Worth It Or Not?” teases her album Imported, due in October.
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Speedy Ortiz’s Rabbit Rabbit has arrived. The band plays Johnny Brenda’s on Sept. 5. Experimental psych-rock band Spirit of the Beehive is back with a brand new EP, i’m so lucky, and play JB’s on Sept. 8.
Danni Baylor’s cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Come On Home,” recorded by Philly producer Joe Nicolo, is part of a forthcoming compilation featuring the Bacon Brothers and Taj Mahal that benefits the Sound Mind Network, a nonprofit aiding artists battling mental health issues.
Aerosmith is kicking off their Peace Out tour, which is said to be the Steven Tyler-fronted band’s last, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. The Black Crowes open.
The Dell Music Center in Strawberry Mansion is the place to be for old school R&B and hip-hop this weekend, with two shows hosted by Philly radio legends.
On Saturday, Patti Jackson’s Party in the Park features The Whispers, Zapp, Heatwave and the Chi-Lites. And Lady B.’s Basement Party brings in MC Lyte, Stetsasonic, C.L. Smooth, Brand Nubian, Kool Moe Dee, and Force M.D.s.
More recommended new tunes: Asbury Park pop-punk band Teenage Halloween’s “Getting Bitter,” The Paranoid Style’s ZZ Top-esque “I Love The Sound of Structured Class,” Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgrave’s new duet “I Remember Everything” and “A Love,” from the Pretenders new Relentless.
And close out the season with the breeze blowing through “Summer Windows,” from Slaughter Beach, Dog’s upcoming album, Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling, due this month on Philly’s Lame-O Records.