Article and Photos by Sean Reiter

San Francisco’s beloved Hardly Strictly Bluegrass returned to Golden Gate Park last weekend to fill the air with songs and the park with people.

This year’s lineup once again featured a packed lineup of artists ranging from traditional Bluegrass to Americana and more straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll. As Jesse Welles put it on Sunday, “They said this is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. We’re leaning into the Hardly.” Here’s a look at some of the highlights:

FRIDAY – DAY 1

Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams – The longtime married couple and frequent guitar support duo for other artists started out the festival on the large Banjo Stage. Actually, they started it a few times with Williams noting that the party for Thursday’s celebration of Steve Earle had gone on long into the morning and their 1 pm start was “really early.” Pros that they are, Campbell and Williams were able to deftly pull off a solid hangover set after the shaky start.

Meels – Mill Valley’s own has had quite a rise over the past few years and celebrated it with an early-arriving packed Arrow Stage crowd. The last time I had seen her was playing the small stage at the 2025 Mill Valley Music Festival. Since then, she has garnered national attention and risen to where she will make her Grand Ole Opry debut on October 28. Her country-leaning set showcased her throwback style that popped the occasional yodel and banjo along with her guitar-playing. Writing songs since she was five-years old, Marin’s country darling seems poised to become a frequent fixture at the festival.

Sierra Hull – Sierra Hull brought her more traditional bluegrass and second-to-none good spirit to Swan Stage with a set that leaned heavily into her extraordinary fiddle playing and tender voice. Her ten song set was highlighted by songs like “Compass”, “Middle of the Woods” and her now famous, haunting cover of Tears For Fears “Mad World”.

Wreckless Strangers – Bay Area-based Wreckless Strangers always put on a fun and interactive set and have made frequent appearances at HSB. Their traditional good-time, guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll and highlighted by songs like “Dirty Soul” and “Never Give Up.” The band’s core five – vocalist Amber Morris, guitarists David Noble and Rob Anderson, bassist Joshua Zucker and drummer Mick “Marco” Hellman – continue to produce shows that combine tight musicianship with a call to celebrate and dance.

My Morning Jacket – In town for a 7-night run at The Fillmore throughout October, MMJ delivered a greatest hits set to a packed Towers of Gold crowd. For those unfamiliar with the band, this set was a terrific introduction to the band’s power and their self-professed love of San Francisco and the Bay Area (they recorded albums at Stinson Beach’s Panoramic House in 2015 and 2020). Jim James launched the set by admiring the crowd and perfect sunny weather as he noted “just when you think you can’t have another more beautiful day in San Francisco…”

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Lukas Nelson – An audience member next to me exclaimed “Hearing Lukas is like hearing a young Willie Nelson who can shred.” While Lukas’ father may not shred as much as he used to, there is no doubt that his sons Lukas and Micah (who plays with Neil Young in Crazy Horse) are modern day guitar masters. The wide geography and large crowds at the end of the day often force audience members to make a difficult choice and the most-lamented one this weekend was between Lukas’s set at Swan Stage and Molly Tuttle’s all the way across the park at Banjo Stage. While I had set out with a firm plan to photograph Nelson’s first three songs and then cross to Banjo for the second-half of Tuttle’s, I simply couldn’t quit Nelson’s sweet and good-natured set. As the sun set beautifully behind the stage, his version of “Forget About Georgia”, along with a cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” held me magnetically in place.

SATURDAY – DAY 2

The Crowd – Saturday’s heat and uninhibited sun brought out so many people that – for the first time ever – The City was forced to shut the gates and turn away any more concertgoers from entering for safety purposes. Given the strong lineups and buzz of the largest free music festival in the United States over the last few years, it seems like this may be a situation that has likely becomes the norm – rather than the exception -going forward.

Crosby Collective – Saturday started strong and early with Sonoma County multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby and his all-star band taking the Swan Stage. Crosby, who has long been part of Jackson Browne’s touring band and a fixture among many of the jam band collections such Terrapin Family Band and Phil & Friends, is on to something really unique and special with his signature band’s approach. Crosby deftly directs the musicians in a series of live mashups that take them in and out of songs that one would think unlikely to form a suite. Saturday’s highlights included: Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean into The Doors’ Riders on the Storm, Friend of The Devil into Nirvana’s Lithium and Grateful Dead’s Scarlet Begonia into Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog with guest vocalist Miko Marks showing her impressive power steps away from where the Golden God himself (Robert Plant) would perform a day later.





















Fantastic Cat – A hard to describe and incredibly fun gathering of four singer-songwriters who exchanged instruments and vocal duties. Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne, Don DiLego and Mike Montali (along with touring support from keyboardist Michael Hesslein) each showed their ability to step out front and carry their blend of Indie-Americana-Country-Rock-Folk. Think Bink-182 meets the Eagles, Springsteen and Dylan late night at the bar after many drinks and you will visualize the vibe of their thoroughly enjoyable set.





Moonalice – Bay Area staple and Frequent HSB participants Moonalice took the Swan Stage at lunchtime and – as always – delivered their blend of psychedelic rock and soul. The group was minus Lester Chambers Saturday, but it was great to see guitar great Barry Sless and bassist legend back together with drummer John Molo on the back line. Founder Roger McNamee, the T Sisters, Dylan Chambers and the already mentioned Jason Crosby ably held down the front line duties as the day began to shift from warm to hot on its way to scorching.











Kathleen Edwards – The Canadian singer-songwriter lifted spirits over at Rooster Stage – overcoming early issues with a defective cord and telling the audience “I’m worth waiting for.” Later, she reminisced about her honeymoon trip to Calistoga at 24 and then driving down the Highway 1 to Los Angeles to mix her first album. Every time she comes to California, she told the crowd, she feels that same way again.







Bandits on the Run – The New York City trio wowed the PACKED smaller Horseshoe Hill Stage area with an overflow crowd that had led to admittance to the area having to be restricted for the entirety of their set. They shared the tale of how they met on the New York City Subway and even performed down in the subway as they started out.





Anna Moss – WOW! Listening to Anna Moss took me back to the first time I heard Norah Jones. Moss’ energetic set was ringing nicely in my ears all night as she overcame the heat and lack of shade at Arrow Stage to wow a large crowd in the meadow. Moss was joined for a guest appearance by past touring companions and Bay Area veteran musicians Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz and Rainbow Girls. Highlights included “If I Was A Train” and “Amnesty”.











Rilo Kiley – The Towers of Gold crowd roared at the site of Jenny Lewis and her band taking the stage and launching into “The Execution of All Things” and seemed locked in and thrilled with every move she made whether with she was on her guitar, at the keyboard or dancing as she sang on the stage. The set finished with fan favorites “A Better Son/Daughter”, “With Arms Outstretched” and “Portions for Foxes”.













Old Crow Medicine Show – It was another tough choice in the headliner slot on Saturday as Old Crow Medicine Show brought their super high octane Americana to Swan Stage at the same time that longtime HSB treasure Steve Earle headlined at Banjo Stage and John Craigie joined the Coffis Brothers at Rooster Stage. I opted for O.C.M.S. and was treated to a rousing set with leader Ketch Secor shot out of a cannon and never coming down until the final note. The huge audience at Swan Stage was also treated to special guest appearances from Secor’s wife Molly Tuttle (just married in Santa Cruz in late August), Miko Marks (who had a VERY busy weekend) and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The great lighting on the stage also added to the October dusk vibe and helped the band to pop better than most bands as they played to the time limit.

















SUNDAY – DAY 3

Miko Marks – Miko Marks returned to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass two years after she made her impressive HSB Debut on the Rooster Stage. This time, Marks and her band held the second slot on the giant Banjo Stage and took the swelling crowd to Sunday church with her blend of rock, blues, country and a dash of gospel. Marks’ new album “Hell or High Water” is set to come out October 30th and she didn’t hesitate to break out the title song, as well as the first single off the album “Death Rolls Like Thunder” with the big crowd. The new songs shined, along with past hits “Trouble” and “Feel Like Going Home”. Marks more than lived up to the moment as she popped up on many stages throughout the festival – popping the sets of others with her energy and powerful vocal.




















Jesse Welles – Jesse Welles definitely won the most impressive debut performer award this year as he wow’ed the Towers of Gold stage taking the stage initially with his acoustic guitar and delivering a blistering attack on the current situation of America’s Executive Branch with “The Nerd Reich” and then going into a full band version of the sarcastic “Join ICE” that set the tone for his set. The band’s cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Tom Petty’s “I Wont Back Down” continued the theme of the middle finger to current authority and a power “Masks Off” also shined. Welles combines the point of view of Woody Guthrie with the defiance of Bob Dylan and the lyrical dexterity of Tupac Shakur (yep, I mean it!).













The Record Company – The trio’s straight-ahead, swamp rock ‘n’ roll was refreshing and different among acts over the weekend. Before they kicked into song, Guitarist and singer Chris Vos shared from the heart that he had played Hardly Strictly Bluegrass years earlier as a support musician for an act and vowed at that time that he was determined to come back and perform as a main act.











Robert Plant and Saving Grace with Suzi Dion – To see Robert Plant taking the Towers of Gold Stage in front of what appeared to be the largest single stage crowd of the weekend was breathtaking. Now on his fourth incarnation and identifying himself tongue in cheek as “Indie Americana”, Plant held the crowd aghast as they remained as quiet throughout his set as any all weekend. The most thrilling moments, of course came with his visits to the Led Zeppelin catalog. “Ramble On” featured Plant at his wailing, screaming best and “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” showed that the 78-year old Plant still has all the ability to work every nuance of an intricate arrangement. As the sun moved the meadow into the golden hour at the Towers of Gold Stage, the Golden God himself stood smiling and triumphant as he delivered the exclamation point on another terrific Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.