Way Down Upon the Suwannee River
The Suwannee Spring Reunion
Photos by Frank Serio
In March 2022, I went to the Suwannee Spring Reunion to write about the event and interview a few musicians. I had no idea what to expect. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I had never been to a music festival. Although I went to cover it as a journalist, I also brought my wife, Arielle, and our son, Travis, along for the experience.
The Suwannee Spring Reunion is held in Live Oak at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, a campground located on the historic banks of the Suwannee River, situated between Jacksonville and Tallahassee in North Florida. Originating at its headwaters in the Okefenokee Swamp in southeastern Georgia, the Suwannee River flows south and southwest to the Gulf of Mexico. The river derives its tannic color from decaying vegetation in the Okefenokee Swamp and maintains a black tint as it flows south. The Suwannee River was made famous, in part, by Stephen Foster’s song “Old Folks at Home” (also known as “Swanee River,” spelled differently).
Walking into Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, I was immediately struck by the majestic cypresses and Live Oak trees draped with Spanish moss swaying in the breeze. Ducks, white pelicans, purple gallinules, egrets, herons, and other wading birds can be seen in and near the park.
There is a little world in the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. Some of the campsites are equipped with water and electric hookups. There are also campsites with fewer accommodations for the truly daring. Since we were flying in from New York City, we didn’t bring our camping gear and couldn’t stay at the campsite. And we’re lucky we didn’t because it rained Saturday night. The rain, however, didn’t seem to perturb the campers. I saw kids splashing around in mud puddles and generally making the best of the situation.
It is interesting and fun to wander through the campground and see the creativity of the campsite decor. One of the things I loved about the event is that there were all kinds of people: older people, younger people, families, hippies, men, women, and children. The Suwannee Spring Reunion has been going on for over twenty-five years. Many people know each other, which is why, I guess, they call it a reunion. There is an air of joy and familiarity about the whole thing. People come together for one reason: to listen to fantastic music acts in a beautiful environment.
As longtime festival event photographer Frank Serio told me, “Besides the wonderful familial vibe of the place is its unique and sprawling beauty, the small lakes and The River! People come every year and set up elaborate campsites with names and signage etc. It is like a bunch of little towns with very different vibes and personalities that all co-exist in beautiful harmony! And everybody looks out for one another! There is a big plywood bat house that attracts a considerable audience every evening at dusk to watch the thousands of bats embark for their evening dinner!”
While everything is close by, you can rent a golf cart to move around the park. There is a canoe livery, general store, and lots of campsites. There are tons of healthy food options (vegetarian, non-vegetarian, pizza, burgers) and less healthy food choices as well (chicken tenders, etc.).
The stages are walking distance from each other. There’s the Amphitheater Stage, the Porch Stage, and the Tent Stage. People bring folding chairs and even hammocks to hang from tree limbs. Others stand near the front of the stage to cheer on the performers. There is a lot of dancing. While the sound system is great, all the performances feel quite personal. As many of the performers have been coming to the event for decades, they feel at home. The staff knows who they are, and the audience has an intimate relationship with them. The music acts are relaxed, and they have fun with the crowd. Many people kick their shoes off and dance freely to the live music.
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park was founded by Bob and Jean Cornet, who were both inspired to bring people to the park to share music and have fun. According to the couple, they were looking for a place to spend winters and found the Spirit of the Suwannee serendipitously. On their way to a bluegrass festival, they discovered the area and envisioned a place where they could build a festival park. They then bought the land and decided to build a festival arena.
Live Oak wasn’t a stranger to bluegrass. The Stanley Brothers and other groups had played in Live Oak before. Incidentally, Joan and Bob coined the “Spirit” in the park name to honor the idea of Sunday church service. Joan has said in interviews that she designed the Amphitheater Stage, adding that it was built by the community. Jean came up with the idea of what she wanted and the campers in the park pitched in and helped.
The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park has hosted music festivals since the ’80s and some bluegrass events even earlier. Under the ownership of the Cornett family, Randy and Beth Judy have been managing spring and fall festivals at that location since the ‘90s. As Charles Cornett stated in an interview with Rick Davidson, “Many folks don’t know that the Spirit of the Suwannee began as an extension of my parents’ successful venture in festival creation with the Festival of the Bluegrass in 1973. That festival is still held annually in its original home in Lexington, KY. The early shows featured then ‘new’ acts like J.D. Crowe and the New South, featuring a very young Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas and a host of other great stars, and the Seldom Scene, who were new at the time as well. Indeed, both of those bands were among the first to sign up to help kick off the Spirit of the Suwannee at Mom and Dad’s in 1985. They dreamed of a ‘full time home’ for bluegrass and roots music along the banks of the Suwannee.
“The park has evolved, covering multiple festivals including a much broader range of music, but the roots festivals are still my favorite. I was ten when we held our first, so I literally grew up looking forward to renewing friendships every year. We absolutely view the roots festivals as family, and Beth and Randy ‘got that’ even before they arrived to join us. The ‘family’ truly is the festival. We just let the big names come by and set a spell, cause that road life can be tough.”
Both Randy and Beth Judy were musicians and, though they both loved all kinds of music, Beth has said that they are Deadheads, adding, “Randy always was more interested in who was playing; I was more interested in the experience. After visiting the RockyGrass festival in Colorado, Randy convinced me that Florida needed something like that; the only thing similar was Mitch Lind’s Wings and Strings festival which at the time was located in Orlando. When we looked at the Spirit of the Suwannee, we knew we loved the place. It just felt right, and the facilities were perfect; we didn’t know anything about the history of festivals there at the time.
“We put together a proposal for Springfest in March, but we realized that there were open dates in October, so we put together another one called Magnoliafest; we wanted to find times when the weather would be pleasant for everyone. We really had a shared vision. While there are many crossovers, initially we leaned toward more Dead-oriented bands for Magfest, as it was called. Springfest leaned a little more toward string music of all kinds; bluegrass, singer/songwriters, blues, and old-time bands. Essentially our goal was to provide a musical experience; we’ve always considered music to be a form of healing. Our regular attendees know that they can expect something appealing and unique; many buy tickets before the headliners are announced.”
The festivals began in 1997, and although the official name has changed a few times, they have continued as the Suwannee Spring Reunion and the Suwannee Roots Revival. Every year the lineups vary, but there are also many regulars. Peter Rowan is known as the spiritual leader of the festival and continues to return each spring and fall. Vassar Clements performed every year until he passed away in 2005. Guy Clark was a regular until his death in 2016. His guitarist, Verlon Thompson, an accomplished singer/songwriter in his own right, continued coming and has since been a regular. “I slipped in here playing with Guy Clark. And I said, this happens? Randy and Beth have been with me through divorces, when I broke both my arms. We’ve lived a lot of life together. It’s not like I’m putting on a show, it’s like I’m here with family. And I’ve seen them lose loved ones. Most of the folks you see coming, they come every chance they can get. It’s all about peace and understanding. That’s what Beth Judy has promoted. It’s what she likes to say ‘festive-heart’. The Suwannee has meant the world to me.”
Another regular, Rev. Jeff Mosier, said that the Suwannee Spring Reunion was “born out of a very eclectic music taste of Randy and Beth—not a Dead fest but it started off like that. They love performers who do variations on a theme. When they heard me mixing Bill Monroe and Col. Bruce Hampton— loud, soft, rock and everything—they knew I fit the mold.” Other regulars include Donna the Buffalo, The Grass is Dead, Sloppy Joe, Dread Clampitt, and Jim Lauderdale.
It should be noted that Randy and Beth are committed to the community. In 2001, the couple started a non-profit, the Live Oak Music and Arts Foundation, that raises money through raffles. Funds go directly to local school programs, instrument donations to groups, and sponsoring the Suwannee Spirit Kids Music Camp four times a year. The foundation also funds music and arts programs in hospitals, detention centers and community centers.
As if to cap the magic of the place, as I drove with my family out of the Spirit of the Suwannee Park area on our way to the Jacksonville Airport, the song “Suwanee” (Way down upon the Suwannee River) randomly came on my iPhone shuffle of over tens of thousands of songs.
For more details and info on the Suwannee Spring Reunion, please visit the website: suwanneespringreunion.com.
