Cosmico, BloodRoot Ramble festivals to highlight indie music, intimate venues

Move over, BottleRock. Step aside, La Onda.

Those late-spring music festivals in downtown Napa might be getting all the headlines these days, but two other upcoming multiday festivals in the northern and western parts of Sonoma County might be even more exciting.

The local music extravaganzas — Cosmico Fest and the BloodRoot Ramble — are smaller, more intimate, kid-friendly and more focused on independent music. Headliners include Lord Huron, Andrew Bird, Susto, Cautious Clay, Sam Grisman, and the Arevalo Brothers (to name a few).

Each festival was conceptualized and booked by a couple from Healdsburg, giving the events an inimitable community-oriented, down-home feel.

As of press time, tickets were still available for both events.

Cosmico is up first, and will be held May 17-19 under the redwoods at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville.

Over the course of three days, the event will feature Susto, Sam Grisman, Jeffrey Arevalo, Jackie Green, Nicki Bluhm, Jason Crosby, Pedro Arevalo, Andrew Duhon Trio, Afrolicious, Moonsville Collective, King Dream, Object Heavy, Aardvark and Jason Bentley.

Founders Chris Schultz and Anne Driscoll said the lineup reflects an eclectic sound they have cultivated from years of listening to records and hanging out in the redwoods at their house off Mill Creek Road in Healdsburg. That sound comprises folk, soul, psychedelic rock, afro beat and more.

Action kicks off the evening of May 17, when the trio of Object Heavy, King Dream and Afrolicious fills out a lineup to which guests can dance.

Bentley, the music director of KCRW in Los Angeles, will DJ an electronic music set that night.

On May 18, Susto, based in Charleston, South Carolina, gets top billing.

The folksy rock band with country-style storytelling is the main act that night. The band currently has four songs in the rotation on The Krush, 95.9 FM.

“They are a band that a lot of people know but they may not recognize the name,” Schultz said. “These guys have an incredible body of work and they’re on the cusp of superstardom.”

Driscoll added that Grisman, a local icon, will bring friends to jam with him May 19.

“His line is ‘Never miss a Sunday show,’ and we don’t even know some of the surprises he has up his sleeve,” she said.

In addition to musical acts, Cosmico will feature a maker area where local artisans will be on-site to sell crafts, hold wellness talks and offer a wine program where guests can buy $20 tasting cards and sample roughly a dozen local, independently owned wines.

Alex Sarovich, who was named VinePair’s New Wave Sommelier of the Year in 2023 and is CEO of Own Rooted Hospitality, will be on site to talk about each of the wines.

“Anne and Chris care so deeply about the boutique nature of this music festival and with that their music selections often remind me of how I like to choose my wine: by supporting talented people and genuinely believing in their success because they see the talent and passion behind it,” she wrote in a recent text message.

Perhaps most notably, Cosmico welcomes families; kids under 16 are free and there will be a CosmicoKids Camp on Saturday afternoon that will involve crafts, music and a talent show.

After BottleRock and La Onda (scheduled for the last weekend of May and the first weekend of June, respectively), the BloodRoot Ramble will be held June 7-8 on the field just south of the Healdsburg Community Center in Healdsburg.

This festival will bring together an eclectic lineup of bands such as Lord Huron, Andrew Bird, Cautious Clay, The Nude Party, The Coffis Brothers and Spike Sikes.

In addition to delivering great music, the Ramble aims to contribute to an important cause: advocating for sensible gun ownership legislation.

Founders Noah and Kelly Dorrance lost their niece, Evelyn Dieckhaus, last year in a school shooting in Nashville. All proceeds from this year’s Ramble support Giffords, a nonprofit led by former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, herself the victim of gun violence.

The Dorrances, who live in Healdsburg, own wine labels BloodRoot and Reeve Wines, and have planned other music events in Healdsburg over the past decade, including the first Ramble last year.

This one, which they booked entirely themselves, might be the biggest achievement yet.

“We really went big for a small local festival by curating a lineup to draw a great crowd,” said Noah Dorrance.

Kelly Dorrance added: “There is nothing big, corporate or slick in anything we do. There are a million reasons why we shouldn’t be pulling off a music festival, but it boils down to the fact that we just want to do it. We are as passionate about music as we are about wine. Nothing makes us feel better than pulling people together for a good time and a good cause."

The festival represents the only Bay Area shows for Lord Huron and Bird this year. It also likely will be one of the smallest venues either of these two headliners plays at any point in the next 12 months.

Bird, a cult-favorite singer-songwriter whose music often combines strings with whistling and electronic loops, is making a special trip to Wine Country to perform.

“I believe in the cause and I’m a fan of the landscape and the wine it produces, so I made it work, though it’ll be a crazy couple of days of traveling,” he told The Press Democrat. “Festivals that are on a human scale and reflect the culture of the surrounding area can be so inspiring as they remind me that people can make good things happen.”

Like Cosmico, the Ramble will feature other components, including special areas for food and wine. Also like Cosmico, the Ramble will welcome kids of all ages; for this festival, tickets for kids ages 4 to 12 are half-price, and kids under 4 are free.

These aren’t the only common threads.

When they’re not planning music festivals, the Dorrances and Schultz and Driscoll are personal friends, traveling to concerts together and meeting up locally to celebrate life and a shared love of music.

Driscoll credited the creative, entrepreneurial spirit of Healdsburg as an inspiration for both couples.

“Everything around here is about collaboration — supporting each other and lifting each other up,” she said. “You get that sense in this community with wineries and restaurants and other small businesses, and we certainly believe you’ll get it from these music festivals, too.”

For tickets or more information about Cosmico, visit cosmi.co; for more about the BloodRoot Ramble, visit bloodrootramble.com.