Our Outside Lands hangover still hasn’t even cleared up, but we’re already stoked for the next massive musical festival in Golden Gate Park. That, of course, is the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (September 30 - October 2, 2016), which just kind of announced their first batch of confirmed acts for the 16th annual free music festival in the park. As they usually do, HSB has merely released a gamified “audio medley” that leaves you to guess the true identity of the acts. But SFist did you a solid and used Shazam to crack the code and identify these artists with a hardly strict degree of certainty.
Our very first #HSB16 medley has just been posted at https://t.co/imKS7Hkjgg - take a listen & guess all ten! pic.twitter.com/8NsCbIMWit
— Hardly Strictly (@HSBFest) August 7, 2016
Note: These are not officially confirmed acts for HSB 2016, as there are no officially confirmed acts yet for HSB 2016. These are just the results that Shazam produced for the songs contained on the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2016 musical teaser, which festival organizers say come from "confirmed" acts. But the results below are completely in line with caliber of acts at previous HSB festivals, and I’ve also included the embedded video of the songs so you can double-check these results. If you think I’m wrong on any of these educated guesses, then open up a No. 10 can of bluegrass on me in the Comments section below.
Infamous Stringdusters
The first track on the preview medley appears to be “Where the Rivers Run Cold” by Charlottesville, VA bluegrass group the Infamous Stringdusters.
Cake
There is no question that Cake is on the lineup, as everyone will recognize “Love You Madly” as the next song on the medley. Sacramento’s own 90's-famous pop act is the biggest-name band featured on this medley, and this will no doubt get some longtime fans excited.
California Honeydrops
The Bay Area’s own California Honeydrops the lead singer of which SFist just interviewed a couple months back will be dropping in to HSB16 from the sounds it.
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Harry Chapin’s fifth cousin Mary Chapin Carpenter looks to be on the bill in support of her new album “The Things That We Are Made Of”.
Mavis Staples
One-time Staples Singer Mavis Staples is attached to this Hardly Strictly schedule. Just in June it was announced that the great gospel and blues singer will be among the five artists honored at this year's Kennedy Center Honors. If you have HBO Now, you should watch her documentary!
Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare’s 1962 hit “Detroit City” (above) is included in the mix, though he is perhaps best remembered for releasing the Grammy-nominated novelty song "Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)".
Elephant Revival
I’ve never heard of psychedelic country-folk band Elephant Revival, but the lovely sound of their track “Petals” makes me seriously consider penciling them into my Hardly Strictly schedule.
Buddy Miller
Buddy Miller has played in tour bands for Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Linda Ronstadt, and more, but he appears to get his own slot at this year’s bluegrass festival.
The Mother Hips
Another local act made good, the Mother Hips will have hipsters dancing in the park if this audio medley is to be believed.
Rosanne Cash
No surprise here, as Johnny Cash’s daughter has played several Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festivals and the inclusion of her track “A Feather's Not A Bird” pretty much cements her on this year’s lineup too.
The rest of the lineup for the free festival, which will include about four times as many acts, is expected to be released next month.
Related: 19 Photos That Prove Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Is A Dog Festival