Over the years, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones have accumulated several Grammy awards and many more nominations for the bluegrassy fusion jazz sound they so deftly create. They don’t do too bad as solo musicians either. As a group, they have been around for nearly 20 years, and still tour rigorously. The group is comprised of banjo pundit and band leader Béla Fleck, technical bass master and three-time winner of Bass Player Magazine’s “Bass Player of the Year” Victor Wooten, jazz saxophonist known to play two saxes (alto and tenor) at the same time Jeff Coffin and percussionist and eccentric inventor of the group Future Man, who plays an instrument he created that resembles a piano based on the periodic table of elements and may believe that he is in fact from the future.

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Latest Release: The Hidden Land, 2006
Friday, Sept. 14, 2:30pm, AMD Stage

They may not have a very extravagant name - derived from a combination of member’s names, not the allergy-inducing, flowering plant - but it suits their country rock sound. Formed in 1994 and musically bred in the Red Dirt music scene of Stillwater, Oklahoma, which somehow earned the nickname “North Austin,” Ragweed are gearing up for the upcoming release of their sixth studio album, Mission California. They have been building up momentum for the past couple of years, and this release could finally see the group move beyond their strong Oklahoma/Texas fan base into mainstream success.
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Latest Release: Mission California, upcoming 2007
Saturday, Sept. 15, 7:45 pm, Austin Ventures Stage