New format for Feed More Festival aims to fulfill name

The goal of the Feed More Festival is embedded in its title. The benefit concert for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank on July 17 at Stage AE intends to deliver more food to those in need in the region.

Through 400 soup kitchens, pantries and other outlets in the food bank's seven-county service area, “the network distributes 29 million meals annually,” says Beth Snyder, the public relations coordinator for the food bank. “However, we know the need in our community is for 50 million meals. We're launching into the initial phase of a rather ambitious plan to help provide an additional 30 million meals for families by the year 2025.”

This year's fundraiser marks a dramatic shift in tone. Since 1995, the Pittsburgh Blues Festival was the organization's flagship fundraiser and raised about $2 million and 100,000 pounds of food over two decades.

Earlier this year, the food bank announced it was severing its relationship with Ronny “Moondog” Esser, who curated acts for the blues festival, in favor of the new direction.

Snyder admits the announcement drew a mixed reaction.

Via Facebook, Esser initially expressed disappointment about the new direction when it was announced while asserting his support for raising funds for the food bank.

“Moondog is a fantastic guy and his heart is totally in the right place,” Snyder says. “I think that was a powerful message for him to put out there.”

In 2014, net revenue from the blues festival was just over $30,000; in 2015, it was more than $60,000. This year's goal is to net $30,000 after expenses, which will provide 150,000 meals.

“We expect the change in format to take time to build an audience,” Snyder says, “but the new event model provides us the opportunity to increase net revenue to nearly $100,000 as attendance and popularity grows. The potential to grow net revenue is really fueled by our ability to limit event expenses while growing attendance.”

The festival at the North Shore venue will have 10 bands or performers. The headliners include:

Cold War Kids: Formed when the members were students at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Cold War Kids was more or less a cult favorite until the release of its fifth album, “Hold My Home” in 2014. The single “First” gave the bands a No. 1 hit on alternative music charts, and the band from Fullerton, Calif., saw its profile dramatically increase. Musically, Cold War Kids have a percussive, jangly sound that features driving rhythms. It's music that's perfect for lead singer Nathan Willett, whose impassioned vocal acrobatics defy categorization.

The Lone Bellow: It's impossible to pin a single sound to The Lone Bellow. The Brooklyn-based band sounds like it's channeling '50s rock 'n' roll on “Cold as It Is.” “Then Came the Morning” is a soulful torch song that could have been produced in a Memphis studio during the '60s. And “You Never Need Nobody” echoes a campfire song born in bluegrass country. Lead singer and guitarist Zach Williams, mandolin player Kanene Pipkin and guitarist Brian Elmquist are all transplanted Southerners, so that partially explains the group's penchant for gospel-flavored harmonies. But everything else is a matter of musical assimilation — and maybe even genius.

The Stone Foxes: Hailing from San Francisco, The Stone Foxes have a sound that hearkens to the heyday of the Fillmore West, when blues-based rock was a staple of the hallowed venue. Lead singer Shannon Koehler (who founded the band with his brother, Spence, the band's guitarist) is a throwback, a dynamic showman who wails away on the harmonica like he's possessed by a bluesman of yore.

Lucy Dacus: Time and Paste magazines have anointed Lucy Dacus as one of the breakout artists of 2016, both touting her debut “No Burdens” as one of the best albums of the year (so far). The Richmond, Va., resident's appeal is readily evident: Dacus writes driving indie-rock songs with dramatic story arcs and is an engaging performer.

Rege Behe is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.