Our annual Summer Stars series features a variety of groups making the rounds on the festival circuit. Today we feature The Lumineers. We’ve also checked in with Futurebirds, Tea Leaf Green and moe..

The first festival that Lumineers frontman Wesley Schultz attended was the inaugural Bonnaroo in 2002. “I remember smoking a joint inside a tent in the sweltering heat thinking we had to be secretive about it,” he chuckles in reflection. When he and his friends emerged into the hot Tennessee sun they soon realized that a festival environment such as Bonnaroo tends to be a bit freer than a traditional concert’s. “It was the wild west that first year.”

Schultz, along with drummer Jeremiah Fraites and cellist Neyla Pekarek, have quickly gone from attending festivals as fans to attending as top-billed performers, thanks to the grassroots success of their self-titled debut record. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, and they received Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Americana Album. The record,
an 11-track collection of contemporary, acoustic-based folk rock led by Schultz’s raw honey vocals, is strong from front to back.

“We have a 43-minute record and are being asked to play anywhere from 50 minutes to 75 minutes, so we’ve been trying to incorporate new songs into the set,” Schultz says. “Not only to take the place of cover songs” – they’re known for doing Talking Heads and Bob Dylan – “but also because it keeps us on our toes.”

The group is beginning work on their sophomore effort during their rigorous tour schedule this year. “We’ve been home recording for seven years now, so it’s like Wayne’s World where they try to recreate Wayne’s living room wherever they tape the show,” Schultz pans. "We’re trying to recreate our home studio at each venue we’re playing in order to work on new music.

While The Lumineers have become something of a household name – the inclusion of their song “Ho Hey” in a gargantuan number of television ads for the film Silver Linings Playbook leading up to the Oscars helped recently spread the word – they remain eager to attract more fans.

“Restaurants would call it walk-up business,” Schultz says of the audience dynamic at festivals. “It’s appealing to me because the people who come to check you out may have not have been willing to spend their money on tickets to your show but they’re curious.” *

Album for a Hot Summer Night: Best Coast, The Only Place (Pekarek)

Summer Drink: Moscow Mule but substitute gin for the vodka if you want to get extra wild. (Pekarek)

Festival Stops: Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam, Firefly, Glastonbury, Roskilde, FloydFest, Newport Folk, Lollapalooza, Osheaga, more.