While most of the music industry is in limbo in December with the holiday season right around the corner, one Central Florida festival is instead kicking into high gear. Taking place Dec. 2 and 3 amidst the live oak and palmetto trees of Lake Wailes Park in Lake Wales, the Orange Blossom Revue celebrates the region's citrus heritage with a collection of top-notch American roots music, food trucks, craft beer and more.
After playing the festival for the first time in 2021, The Wood Brothers will return to the gathering in 2022 not only as headliners, but also as co-curators. According to band member Oliver Wood, the band's partnership with Orange Blossom Revue came about after conversations between them and Micah Davidson, an event promoter brought in by festival founders Rusty Ingley and Reid Hardman who the band has worked previously with at events like Tennessee's Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and Pennsylvania's White Rose Music Festival.
While The Wood Brothers' influence on the overall festival experience is largely limited to helping diversify its lineup this year, Wood looks forward to seeing how their creative touch can grow alongside the event the longer they're involved with it. It's also the first time the band has taken on a role like this with a festival, despite having performed at similar events put together by other artists.
"We've played at several other band-curated festivals like The Avett Brothers' 'Avetts At The Beach' and Greensky Bluegrass' 'Camp Greensky', but we've never been the curators ourselves, until now," Wood tells Wide Open Country. "It presents a new and exciting opportunity for us to take on."
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Joining The Wood Brothers on the hand-picked lineup are Margo Price, Langhorne Slim, Allison Russell, Neal Francis, Son Little, Katie Pruitt, John R. Miller, Cat Ridgeway and Laney Jones, resulting in the Orange Blossom Revue's most vibrant lineup yet.
Partnering with the festival has also provided The Wood Brothers an opportunity to bring their music down to the Sunshine State more regularly, somewhere Wood admitted to being inconsistent in touring prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to performing at the Orange Blossom Revue, the band will also travel to Pensacola, Key West, Ponte Vedra and Fort Lauderdale in the days before and after the festival before departing for Strings & Sol in Mexico from Dec. 8-11.
During their Florida tour the band will be traveling through an area recently decimated by Hurricane Ian, something not lost on them or the festival. Fortunately for Lake Wales, it suffered minimal damage from the storm even though it wasn't far from the direct path it cut across Central Florida. Through October, the Orange Blossom Revue has partnered with the Lake Wales Care Center to allocate 5% of ticket sale proceeds toward hurricane relief efforts.
"It's been devastating seeing all of the damage that Hurricane Ian left in Florida, so I'm glad the festival is focusing on raising awareness and money toward relief efforts," says Wood. "It's a tough time down there for a lot of people right now. I look forward to helping lift their spirits with our music when we come down to play there."
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In addition to touring hard in 2021, The Wood Brothers have also been working on their first new music since 2020's Kingdom In My Mind after stowing away at The Studio Nashville with engineer/producer Brook Sutton to record. Aside from hinting at an early 2023 release Wood didn't have much to share on the project yet. However, he's hopeful that once December and the Orange Blossom Revue roll around that the group will be ready to show off some of their new material in a live setting.
"We usually keep our new material close to the vest until the records come out, but I'm hopeful that once December and the Orange Blossom Revue roll around that we'll be playing a couple of the new songs live," says Wood.
Founded in 2014, the Orange Blossom Revue has always had a philanthropic focus. After initially being born out of a longtime barbecue fundraiser hosted by the Lake Wales Rotary Club, the festival announced the establishment of a new beneficiary, the Blossom Charitable Foundation, in 2021. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit works year round to support community-wide tutoring programs, arts education, and recreation programming in and around Lake Wales.
For more information on the Orange Blossom Revue visit OrangeBlossomRevue.com.
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