A British Americana band?!
No, Mumford & Sons did not hatch from the Earth in 2010 and immediately begin commanding global attention. In fact, Mumford’s overwhelmingly popular debut LP Sigh No More was actually released in 2009 and the band formed in 2007 (This was overlooked by a good number of music publications who included the album on their Best of 2010 lists). Minor discrepancies aside, Mumford & Sons experienced an impressive meteoric rise in popularity last year seldom seen these days outside of the hip-hop and pop milieus. However, unlike many heatseeking bands achieving international popularity seemingly overnight, Mumford’s sole album is more than flavor-of-the-month sugar and shows signs that these guys will be around for more than one period/unit of blogosphere excitement (an unquantifiable measure of time scientists are still working to pinpoint). With the support of Island Records and a solid Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Bjork) produced record under the belt, the pieces to the puzzle of long-term success are moving into place.
Mumford’s style meshes bluegrass, pastoral and reverent folk, country rock and anthemic, march-into-battle vocals (especially on songs like “Dustbowl Dance”) in an easy-to-swallow, organic fashion. Should make for an excellent day-time set on the first Friday of the festival. Recently, the band experienced a second (and more substantial) boom in popularity in the wake of their Grammy performance alongside fellow 2011 Jazz Fest artist The Avett Brothers and the one-and-only Bob Dylan, vaulting to #2 on the Billboard 200 (a new peak) and moving 49,000 copies in a week exactly a year after it was initially released to only moderate fanfare.
Mumford & Sons will be performing on Friday, April 29th at Jazz Fest, the set time and stage are to be announced. To check out the rest of the 2011 Jazz Fest lineup, go here.
The Cave (Acoustic — Bookstore Sessions)
Dustbowl Dance (Live at Glastonbury 2010)
<iframe title=”YouTube video player” width=”640″ height=”390″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/BKR5bq5av4s” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Past Jazz Fest Weekly Artist Spotlights on Live Music Blog: NOLA —
For more information on this year’s Fest, visit the Jazz Fest web site
NOLAbeings Multimedia artist Claire Bangser created NOLAbeings as a portrait-based story project that marries... 
Voodoo in New Orleans: Reviving history: New Orleans fortune telling This article takes a deep dive into the history of Voodoo in New Orleans, its hybridization with Catholicism, and its present-day place in the city's culture. The author visits fortune-tellers in the French Quarter, using their guidance as a tool for introspection rather than a deterministic predictor of the future. Through her experiences in New Orleans, the author feels a mystical connection to both the past and the future. 