Episode Details

0:00 Welcome to Only In The Green Room
0:45 How Dave and Tami first met at The Broadside
2:00 The Bay Area–New Orleans connection explained
4:30 The Grateful Dead, the Nevilles, and how it all started
6:15 How the Radiators brought Dave to High Sierra
8:00 The 2026 New Orleans lineup revealed
10:30 The Rumble + Dumpstaphunk late night throwdown
12:00 Anders Osborne, The Break, and Stanton Moore's new trio
14:15 River Ecker: 16-year-old piano phenom
16:30 Luther Dickinson, Jake Ecker, and The Word
18:00 George Porter Jr. with Lebo and the All-Stars
19:30 Don Was, Cymande, and the soul of the 2026 headliners
21:00 Steely Dead, Pink Talking Fish, and the late night mashup
23:00 Why musicians call High Sierra their favorite festival
25:30 The artist liaison program and why artists want to be there
27:00 The new Grass Valley venue and the future of High Sierra
29:30 Sunrise Kickball and the magic of the full festival experience
31:00 Get your tickets now — why this year is unmissableHigh Sierra Music Festival founder Dave Margulies sits down with Only In The Green Room at Jazz Fest in New Orleans — where the two festival worlds collide.

Dave has attended 49 consecutive Jazz Fests, and this conversation captures exactly why the connection between New Orleans music and High Sierra runs so deep. We cover the 2026 lineup, the new Grass Valley venue, and why musicians from Luther Dickinson to George Porter Jr. call High Sierra their favorite festival in America.

🎸 In this episode:
— The New Orleans roots of High Sierra going back to the Radiators and the Grateful Dead world
— The full 2026 New Orleans lineup: The Rumble, Dumpstaphunk, Anders Osborne, The Break (Stanton Moore, Robert Walter, Eddie Roberts), River Ecker, George Porter Jr., Cotadosa, Anna Moss & more
— Don Was and his Blues for Allah 50th anniversary tribute
— The Steely Dead Royal Scam 50th anniversary set + Pink Talking Fish late night mashup
— Lebo's "50 Years in the Rearview" — curating 1976
— Why High Sierra is a musician's festival: landing, connecting, sitting in
— The new Grass Valley location and what it means for the future of the festival
— Sunrise Kickball (yes, really)
— How to get tickets before they're gone

🎟️ Get your High Sierra 2026 tickets now: [LINK]

📍 Filmed at The Broadside, New Orleans, during Jazz Fest 2025

Only In The Green Room captures unscripted, candid artist moments backstage and on the road. Subscribe for more long-form interviews with the artists who make live music culture what it is.

🎙️ Also available on all podcast platforms: [LINK]
🌐 Full episode + transcript: [YOUR SITE LINK]

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