The “Grass’ will be wonderfully invasive during a prestigious music festival that starts April 1. No fooling.
Grass After Dark is a series of nighttime music shows held at Olympic Valley, Truckee and Tahoe City, coinciding with the April 1-3 WinterWonderGrass at Palisades Tahoe. There will be 10 shows at five venues:
- Alibi Ale Works, Truckee: Trout Steak Revival, Friday, April 1. The Colorado string quartet has Emmy and Telluride Festival trophies on its plate. Definitely a band to catch. On Saturday, April 2, Pixie & The Partygrass Boys have a motto: “We Like Chickens and We Like Fun. Let’s have Whiskey with Everyone!” Another all-string ensemble, the quintet hails from Utah’s Wasatch Range.
- Tahoe National Brewing Company, Lighthouse Center, Tahoe City: AJ Lee & Blue Summit appears Friday, April 1. A Bay Area 5-piece, this tasteful, jammy group started electric before going to an all acoustic sound. Lead singer A.J. has wide-ranging voice that could be the talk of the entire festival. This band is on the verge of blowing up on the national scene.
- Plaza Bar, second flood, Olympic House: On Friday, April 1, marks the WWG return of Pickin’ on the Dead, a trio that harmonizes voices and a mandolin and two guitars, plays the Grass After Dark’s most intimate venue. Like the name indicates, jams are served. The Lil’ Smokies will sizzle on Saturday, April 2. The Missoula, Montana quintet has a huge Tahoe fan base after appearances Hangtown and High Sierra Music Festivals, Live at Lakeview, Crystal Bay Casino and Moe’s Original BBQ.
- Moe’s Original BBQ, Tahoe City: Midnight North and Twisted Pine play on Friday, April 1. Seattle’s storytellers, Midnight North will be fresh off a tour of prestigious venues in the Northeast, including Levon Helms Studios in Woodstock, N.Y. Twisted Pine will perform (we believe) for the first time in the Lake Tahoe region. The Boston Globe called the sound “Punch Brothers meets Jean-Luc Ponty and Jethro Tull.” On Saturday, April 2, Rapidgrass and Tyler Grantwith Ace & Friends will take the stage. National flatpicking champion Tyler Grant was to appear at WWG 2020 as an artist at-large. Now he will appear in a reunion show with Ace & Friends. The Colorado string band Rapidgrass has a world sound melding America, France, Italy, Russia, Tibet, Argentina and Ireland.
- Olympic Village Lodge will host the mother of all Grass After Dark performances with Fruition and Brothers Comatose on Friday, April 1, and festival headliner The California Honeydrops and Larry Keel Experience on Saturday, April 2. Kitchen Dwellers and Town Mountain play the weekend’s final performance on Sunday, April 3.
WinterWonderGrass was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid 19. The venue remains the site of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, but the venue has changed names from Squaw Valley to Palisades Tahoe.
Tickets to all separately-ticketed late night shows are on sale now. Weekend passes, single day Friday and Saturday tickets and VIP passes to the festival have completely sold out, but fans can still join the waitlist for re-sale tickets via the festival’s official fan-to-fan ticket exchange, powered by Lyte. Very limited Sunday only tickets remain.
The California Honeydrops top the WWG lineup. There will be two sets of Billy Strings, along with performances by The Infamous Stringdusters, Peter Rowan, Keller & The Keels, Fruition, The War & Treaty, Brothers Comatose, Kitchen Dwellers, Della Mae, Lindsay Lou, Larry Keel Experience, Town Mountain, Trout Steak Revival, Midnight North, Cris Jacobs, Pixie & The Partygrass Boys, Old Salt Union, Rapidgrass, TK & The Holy Know Nothings and Twisted Pine. Special performances are also scheduled from the collaborative, rotating powerhouse, WinterWonderWomen featuring Bridget Law and Lindsay Lou.
