Bands and Entertainment

Schedule

Thursday

Grateful Gary, 9pm to midnight (Pavilion)

Friday

Shanty Irish 5pm to 7pm (Cooters)

Jesse Milnes Band, Friday 9pm to midnight, Pavilion

Saturday

“Grateful” Gary 12 noon to 2:45pm (Cooters)

Todd Burge, Saturday 6:30pm to 8pm, Pavilion (headliner for “OTR Family Dinner” event)

Black Masala, Friday 9pm to midnight, Pavilion

Sunday

Wild Rumpus (special original 4-some configuration), Sunday, 2pm to 5pm, River Stage

Buzzz City, 9 pm to ???? (Pavilion)

Grateful Gary

OTR 2022 entertainment opens with Grateful Gary, a solo guitarist and vocalist from the
Chicago area who plays a blend of hippie and retro music like Crosby Stills Nash, Pink
Floyd, Grateful Dead and Neil Young. He has entertained at numerous other caver
events like NSS Convention, Kentucky Speleofest, MVOR and previous OTRs.
Gary also is ‘one of us,’ a caver, NSS Life Member, Mammoth Cave Resto Crew
member, chair of the Sub-Urban Chicago Grotto and Assistant Copy Editor for the NSS
News. He also put together this year’s OTR Guidebook!

Grateful Gary also will be playing music on Saturday afternoon at Cooters Pub, 12:30-
3:30pm, where he will feature mostly folk/acoustic songs like Bob Dylan, John Prine,
Jim Croce and John Denver.

Otherwise, Gary can be found at the controls of the Pavilion sound booth for the rest of
the weekend, as he’s a fully-qualified audio engineer.

The Shanty Irish Band

Everyone enjoys a wee bit of Irish music, and perhaps also a pint of Guinness! What
better way to enjoy them both than to check out The Shanty Irish Band. Consisting of
friends, cavers and long-time TRA members, the lads play traditional Irish folk music
that dates back to the 18th and 19th Centuries, what would be heard in the so-named
‘singing pubs’ that are scattered throughout Ireland. Many of the songs, shanties, reels
and jigs tell tales of fighting, revolution, love and the wonders of poitin and porter (–
whisky and beer). Come join The Shanty Irish Band on Friday at Cooters Pub.

Here is a video of Shanty Irish doing what Shanty Irish does best!

Todd Burge

A native of West Virginia’s Wood County region, Burge spent the ’80s and ’90s earning his place as one of the most important and enduring figures in the state’s music scene, fronting everything from the alt-rock band 63 Eyes to the outlaw-country cover project Triple Shot. Since the early 2000s, Burge has concentrated on his singular brand of folk-pop storytelling. If it’s been discovered by man, West Virginian Todd Burge has written about it. Born to ponder and observe life, each of his songs tells a story. Whether drawn from personal experience or a tale of poetically woven fiction, you’ll live every second of it through his songs.

Black Masala

Black Masala’s Brassy Midnight Party Grooves from NoLa to Punjab on Trains and Moonlight Destinies. You want to have a good time? You need brass.

This is what DC’s Black Masala blasts to the world, harnessing all the good times sunk in the Romany, second-line, bhangra, and funk horn parts that have gotten huge swaths of the planet up and dancing. With rock drive and a willingness to be as weird and wonderful as the party demands, Black Masala woos fans and new listeners with their album Trains and Moonlight Destinies, a tribute to the ins and outs of love, fate, and wanderlust.

Black Masala’s originals hit both elements head on, telling stories of powerful women, rascally dudes, raucous nights, and life on the road that are tinged with a hint of the fantastical.

Whether they are performing live shows or releasing new music, Black Masala push the boundaries between genres and explore new musical frontiers. This unorthodox and highly creative approach is what makes the shows so much fun with a wild and unpredictable vibe for the audience.

The Wild Rumpus

Originally formed in 2007, The Wild Rumpus has been spreading their Appalachian Stompgrass to a worldwide audience. Their first album “Love, Trains, Home” garnered critical and national acclaim, culminating in winning the “Fans Choice Award” for best new band from the Alternate Root Magazine, the #1 magazine for roots/Americana music in the US and Europe, topping bands such as Mumford & Sons, Elephant Tent Revival and a host of other bands and were awarded a spot in the Americana Music Festival in Nashville TN. They released their second album “304” in Oct.2010 and immediately their name became well known by fans and critics alike. 2011/2012 saw them playing festivals to thousands of fans, including Merlefest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots, The Americana Music Ass. Festival once again along with tours all over the US. They were featured in various magazines and television shows, including a taping for Martin Guitars at their world-famous headquarters in Nazareth PA for a promotional video along with Yarn and Brian Molnar. They have toured and played shows with such luminaries as The Hackensaw Boys, Old Crow Medicine Show, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Langhorn Slim, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice and many others.

Buzzz City​

Buzzz City is a loose confederation of caver-musicians who have played group
performances for years at OTR. They formerly played at their campsite, at Cooters or
wherever they could. In recent years, Buzzz City began performing at the First Aid
Station as a thank-you and to raise money to fund medical supplies. The ‘Band-Aid’ (get
it?) fundraiser started eight years ago. Buzzz City performed at the Pavilion the past two
years, and the band has proved to be a big hit (not to mention the money raised for the
First Aid Station)! This year’s performance once again will immediately follow the
Sunday Awards Ceremony at the Pavilion, and once again will be a benefit for the First
Aid Station. You’ll hear lots of good old-timey songs, including their crowd favorite, The
OTR Anthem!