The fertile western Massachusetts music scene has long set the stage for countless musicians, from groups looking to get their start to big names that have fans coming out in droves for their shows.
Now Brooklyn-based Rubblebucket, the funk and jam band known for its high-energy live shows, has recognized the area’s untapped music potential in planning its fall “Dream Picnic” festival with Northampton’s Signature Sounds. On Sept. 8, the group will be using Holyoke’s Gateway City Arts as the base for a day-long party on Race Street that will feature food trucks, yoga, thrift store pop-ups and of course live music.
Joining Rubblebucket will be a host of other groups and artists — 13 in all — including several from the Valley and others from from New England and New York, including Diet Cig, Caroline Rose, The Greys, Mal Devisa, Fire Letters,Old Flame and Kimaya Diggs. It’s the first event of its kind to take place on Holyoke’s historic canal walk.
Vocalist and saxophonist Kalmia Traver, a co-founder of Rubblebucket with trumpet player Alex Toth, says this area is an ideal place for the Dream Picnic festival. “Our love affair with western Mass goes way back,” she said in a recent phone interview. “The culture is so resonant with what we’re doing musically and spiritually.”
Traver and Toth first met at as students at the University of Vermont, where they would eventually come together to form Rubblebucket, a powerhouse of indie-pop-funk fusion that culminates in performances that Traver affectionately refers to as “celebrations.”
The duo is joined on stage by guitarist Ian Hersey, bassist Jordan Brooks, drummer Dave Cole and Darby Wolf on synthesizer; the full band has played in the Valley numerous times, including at Gateway and the Green River Festival.
Last year at New York City’s Knockdown Center, Rubblebucket staged their first Dream Picnic, which was hosted by LPR (formally Le Poisson Rouge). The band members knew immediately they had to do it again next year.
“I was blown away that this event [last year] really felt like my birthday and Christmas,” said Traver. “I’m pretty optimistic this new one will feel the same way.”
Rubblebucket is just about to release a new album, “Sun Machine,” and it’s a refreshing departure from the group’s past, mixing in their self-described “dream element” with synth and horns, the latter of which became a priority for Traver when the group began recording the new disc.
Traver and Toth started working on the record in the fall of 2015 while on tour with their previous album, “Survival Sounds,” and Traver says it’s been rewarding for them to see it come together.
“When we were conceiving this on the tails of ‘Survival Sounds’ and our own life events, we had a really clear idea of how we wanted this to diverge,” she said. “We really wanted this album to kind of be a bouncy danceable album, less grungy and rock and roll.
“We would finish songs one by one in a really intentional flow,” Traver added. “I’m so proud and thankful and happy that we brought it to fruition, the proudest of any album we’ve done by far.”
An early release from the disc, “Lemonade,” which is written by Toth, leads with a distant horn measure that is revisited in an instrumental break following an ethereal synthesizer, chorale-reminiscent vocals and spoken word. The lyrics reflect the confusion of a breakup and blend cohesively with the energy of the remainder of the album’s tracks.
Indeed, Traver and Toth have gone through momentous life events both together and independently, a feature that Traver notes is evident throughout the album.
“It’s cool how the music can be a place where everything comes together in a beautiful way,” she said. “The album is like a basket of all of these experiences and thoughts and grief, kind of a catch-all for this story woven over the past four years. That’s why music is so powerful — it’s a safe space to explore hard stuff.”
Valley band The Greys, a duo-turned-quartet, will be part of the Dream Picnic stage as well, bringing a sound that lead singer Cait Simpson describes as “poetry-driven indie with jazz and rock influences,” though the band hasn’t wedded itself to one solid genre.
“Some of our musical influences are definitely Lake Street Dive, Jimi Hendrix, and Consider The Source,” said Simpson, a 2015 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Following that graduation, Simpson and her writing partner, Chris Merritt, also a UMass grad, released an EP, “The Landing,” with songs like “The Circus” that feature prominent bass and melodic guitar underscoring Simpson’s vocals. The Greys are also preparing to film a video for an upcoming single and beginning work on a full-length album.
Aside from the thrill of performing with some of their favorite artists, Simpson says her band is excited to be a part of a charitable event. The thrift store hosted at Gateway City Arts during Dream Picnic will give 100% of the proceeds to Enlace de Familias, a Holyoke organization aiming to reform social policies that impact families and children.
All of the clothing will range from $1-$10, and Gateway staff say they’ve already had an overwhelming response in the form of donated clothes
The Dream Picnic will also feature Kalbells and Tōth, Traver’s and Toth’s solo projects, respectively, offering a different side of their musical journeys. Diet Cig, a pop-punk duo from New Paltz, N.Y., brings high energy to the stage, while Northampton’s Kimaya Diggs offers a more mellow performance as a multi-instrumentalist with haunting vocals.
Putting together a bill this extensive is arguably Traver’s favorite part of the festival. “We’re really excited about how this all came together, with friends and artists that we’re fans of, too,” she said.
Dream Picnic takes place on Sept. 8 on Race Street outside Gateway City Arts in Holyoke. For more information about the event and to buy tickets, visit gatewaycityarts.com or signaturesounds.com.