In doing so, the annual celebration of and fundraiser for Mount Tamalpais State Park by Nash’s Roots & Branches Conservancy nonprofit joined the ranks of music and arts festivals around the world that have fallen victim to the COVID-19 crisis. Music lovers will have to wait until 2021 to gather in Mt. Tam’s 4,000-seat Cushing Memorial Amphitheater, home to the Mountain Play, for performances from world-class artists.
In the meantime, Nash and his team have cooked up a virtual live stream of the widely hailed 2016 Sound Summit performances, featuring sets from Wilco, Los Lobos, Bill Frisell, and Bay Area locals The Stone Foxes and Matt Jaffe. Powered by Nugs.net, the live stream, set for Sunday, September 27, 7-9pm (viewing options available here), is free but seeks donation to raise money for Sound Effects, its relief effort for Bay Area musicians who have “not been able to gig since the pandemic took hold and will likely not be able to do so for some time,” Nash says.
Roots & Branches partnered with Sweet Relief, which will handle applications for and distribution of grants to musicians.
““In the absence of being able to hold Sound Summit this year, we just wanted to do our small part in trying to lend a hand to local musicians whose livelihoods have been seriously compromised since coronavirus dramatically altered the landscape,” Nash says. “The stream is free to watch and 100% of donations raised will go to musicians, not to Sound Summit or Roots & Branches.”
The annual one-day Sound Summit has raised more than $200,000 for Mount Tam over the years, with lineups that have included jazz legend Herbie Hancock, Grateful Dead vets Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, Grace Potter, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Dr. John & the Nite Trippers and Marin favorites the Mother Hips, among many more.