Steve Winwood gears up for Outside Lands fest

[Refugee 7]

The year 2008 has seen a resurgence of festivals, with the birth of major new events like Michigan's Rothbury Festival and San Francisco's upcoming Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

Legendary rocker Steve Winwood, who is scheduled to play Outside Lands Aug. 22-24, chalks it up to the decline of the record industry.

"I think the decline of the record industry, in many ways, is quite good for the health of music," Winwood said during a recent teleconference with participants of Outside Lands. "Because I think it gives people other routes and other avenues to get their music across, such as festivals and live music, and I think that there is something exciting about seeing bands live."

If Winwood's theory holds true, there will be plenty to be excited about at Outside Lands as headliners including Radiohead and Beck (Aug. 22); Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and Winwood (Aug. 23); and Jack Johnson, Wilco and Widespread Panic (Aug. 24) take the stage at Golden Gate Park.

Winwood, who released a new collection of material called "Nine Lives" earlier this year, said it doesn't bother him that festivals are known for more of a partying atmosphere than a listening atmosphere.

"I'm quite happy that people party when they hear my music," Winwood said. "That's absolutely fine. I'm not particularly precious about that. I like to see people have a good time."

Festivals also have a reputation for giving way to improvisational jamming. Winwood explained he does that no matter if he's playing a festival like Outside Lands or a "regular" concert. As a matter of fact, many of the songs on "Nine Lives" evolved out of jams.

"We try and do that a lot because we try and put new songs into the show all the time and sometimes we never know quite what's going to happen in the show," Winwood said. "[You never know] how long the improvised passages will go on and what will happen there.

"But I wouldn't say, though, that I tailor the show specifically to festivals. We do the same whether we play in arenas opening for Tom Petty or whether we play our own shows or whether it's a festival. We play a little bit longer at festivals, so that obviously opens the door for us to do slightly more extended improvised passages."

And Northern Californians will appreciate his efforts, he said.

"I always imagined that Northern California has much more organic, bohemian view toward music," Winwood said. "I mean, we have to think, in the first place, it was the birth of jam bands known as the jam band genre with The Grateful Dead, but it also has various other influences [such as] Santana, of course. And it has those Latin influences and it has, in the past, had its own particular brand of jazz as well.

"I've always tried to combine these areas of folk rock and ethnic music and jazz. And it seems, in a strange kind of way, that San Francisco has almost embodied all those elements of music."

[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

August 2008

22-24 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands (Golden Gate Park)