By Benjamin Wallen //

High Sierra Music Festival //
Quincy, CA
June 30th-July 3rd, 2015 //

High Sierra is an intimate music festival nestled in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains. Held every year around the Fourth of July in Quincy, Calif., people come from all over to get down in the sun and have some fun.

Celebrating the festival’s 25th year brought the return of jam-band giants The String Cheese Incident and Umphrey’s McGee, both of which are no strangers to High Sierra. Tearing the roof off of festivals and causing the earth to shake from fans dancing is what String Cheese and Umphrey’s do best, after all.

The String Cheese Incident

San Francisco locals The Sam Chase & The Untraditional were another highlight at the festival. The Wood Brothers, meanwhile, brought their special sound to Quincy and had lots of new fans talking about them afterward. The Word, a mash-up of amazing musical talents from John Medeski to Robert Randolph, impressed by surprisingly only playing instrumental gospel tunes.

Pennsylvania bluegrass band Cabinet also left a heavy mark at High Sierra, as did T Sisters, who seemed to be everywhere. Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO), Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, The Brothers Comatose, Steve Poltz and Surprise Me Mr. Davis shared the stage for a memorable, mid-day set of California-inspired tunes in the indoor, air-conditioned music hall. On the final day of High Sierra, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed things out on the main stage with two full, vibrant sets.

On the whole, this year’s festival was very well-handled and maintained. High Sierra is a special event, made special by all of those who make it what it is. The festival never feels too crowded or overpopulated — it’s just right between the music, the people and the area amid everything else. It’s exactly what many want in a festival and so much more.