Farewell, summer, we hardly knew ye.
School is back in session, the last Nightfall concert ended almost a week ago and -- wonder of wonders -- pumpkin-spiced beer has found its way once more onto store shelves.
Yes, as utterly impossible as it is to believe, fall is almost upon us.
While I'm hardly complaining about the reappearance of pumpkin beer -- which is proof that autumn trumps all other seasons in sheer awesomeness -- it does feel like the season of sun has come and gone so quickly that I hardly registered its passing. It seems like only yesterday that the sweaty throngs were gathered for Riverbend, but 3 Sisters is just around the bend.
Summer has never been my favorite season. I hate being hot, and my Casper-like complexion makes me borderline combustible in direct sunlight, but I admit that I'll miss the will-o'-the-wisp glow of fireflies and the nighttime chorus of droning cicadas.
Don't shed too many tears at summer's passing, however, because there's a heck of a fall in store for us all.
• Speaking of 3 Sisters, the eighth iteration of the bluegrass festival will take place Oct. 3-4. Yet again, the lineup is full of genre greats, including Rhonda Vincent and Del McCoury, all of whom can be enjoyed for the low, low price of free.
I'm especially excited about the second night's headliner, Vermont-based roots trio The Devil Makes Three, whose song "Old Number Seven" (yes, it's a tribute to Jack Daniel's) reminds me favorably of The Haunted Windchimes' "Out With the Crow."
• Normally, I think of May as being the high point of Track 29's year, in terms of amazing bookings, but this October is overflowing with talent.
New Orleans-based Dumpstaphunk wowed me at Riverbend in 2010, and they'll be bringing their dirty brand of funk indoors on Oct. 10. For fans of electronic music, it doesn't get much bigger -- pun unavoidable -- than Big Gigantic (Oct. 18) and Sound Tribe Sector 9 (Oct. 29). On Oct. 23, Jimmy Eat World will party like it's slightly later than 1999. Closing out the month, Nashville's Moon Taxi will headline the venue's annual Halloween bash.
• And if that wasn't enough, the second annual -- but first in Chattanooga's neck of the woods -- Fly Free Fest will take place Oct. 10-12 at Cherokee Farms in LaFayette, Ga. They just unveiled the full lineup, which features the likes of Railroad Earth, Dan Deacon, Paper Birds and the return of Saturday's Riverfront Night's headliner, The Main Squeeze. Grab tickets now at FlyFreeFest.com for $114.18.
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.