If your summer wasn’t already full of music festivals, make room this weekend for Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF).  It is all going down Friday July 4th until Sunday July 6th at Fort York, where it was held last year along with Field Trip and Grove Music Fest.  There is a massive lineup to appeal to many different fans and here are my choices of bands to see each day.

FRIDAY:

Definitely  the day for fans of Indie music and all sub-genres.  The more established bands Born Ruffians, Gary Clark Jr. and Beirut are scheduled on the East Stage.  Lucius, who blend smoothly 60s MOD pop beats and style with more contemporary electronica and indie pop sounds.

Deer Tick, Andrew Bird and Local Natives are other major artists that will be playing on Friday, bringing in more of a folk sound.

Beirut

SATURDAY:

This is the day where a lot of rock fans will pay to come.  With headliners Sam Roberts Band, The Gaslight Anthem, Violent Femmes, Hey Rosetta! and Drive-By Truckers, many people will have whiplash from head banging and possible mosh-pit-related injuries.

Other artists worth checking out for sure are The Strumbellas, Andrew Jackson Jihad, The Waco Brothers and Sam Cash & The Romantic Dogs, a self-explained “scrappy, loud, group of buddies” who write and perform heartfelt rock songs, with a sound similar to Arkells and Monomyth.

Andrew Jackson Jihad

SUNDAY:

TURF ends with a rocking bang, with Neutral Milk Hotel adding this festival to their comeback tour, as well as Jeff Tweedy, Gogol Bordello, July Talk and folk songstress Jenny Lewis.  Other notable acts are Ladies of the Canyon, Hollerado, Twin Forks and Noah Gundersen, a folk singer from Washington state with a haunting voice and style similar to Tom Waits and Fleet Foxes.

July Talk

Check out http://torontourbanrootsfest.com/ for the full line up and set times