Guster have confirmed the lineup for their eighth On the Ocean festival. The event will once again return to singer/guitarist Adam Gardner’s hometown of Portland, ME, with the festivities taking place at Merrill Auditorium on August 7 and Thompson’s Point on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9. At Merrill Auditorium, Guster will collaborate with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, while Saturday’s festival lineup will feature Iron & Wine, The Barr Brothers,  Bebe Stockwell, Dave Butler & Friends and Cilla Bonnie. (Iron & Wine’s Same Beam sat in with Guster and Mike Gordon for “Dreams” at Bourbon & Beyond last year and Butler is a touring member of the group.) Then, on August 9, Guster will perform their 2006 record Ganging Up On The Sun in full for the first time to mark the 20^th anniversary of the LP’s release and welcome Watchhouse, Neal Francis, Eggy and Khatumu for support sets.

“It means a lot to me personally to welcome everyone to Maine,” Gardner said in a statement. “This is a beautiful area that I’m proud to call home, and On The Ocean has become our way of sharing it with fans from everywhere. We try to build a weekend that’s more than concerts — it’s a curated chance to experience the music, the water, the neighborhoods, and all the things that make it such a special place.”

As always, On The Ocean will boast a mix of activities and experiences, including daily harbor cruises on Casco Bay (Saturday and Sunday), guided bike tours of Portland’s lighthouse loop, kayak rentals on the bay, a partnership with Bissell Brothers Brewery featuring an exclusive beer co-created with Gardner, free admission for families to the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, a REVERB trail cleanup and the Easy Wonderful 5K, a casual run or walk designed for all levels. In addition, singer/guitarist Ryan Miller and conductor Steven Jarvi will lead a behind-the-scenes look at Guster’s symphonic collaborations and Gardner will stage a screening of the new documentary Adam in the Amazon, followed by a Q&A about his journey to the Peruvian Amazon.

While describing Ganging Up on the Sun around its 20^th anniversary this week, the band said:

“Ganging Up on the Sun was released in 2006, a few years after Keep It Together. It was the first time we wrote an album with a 4th band member, Joe Pisapia, and his influence is strong, guiding us into territory that was poppy, sometimes a little country, sometimes ethereal and psychedelic. We hunkered down at Joe’s home studio in Nashville and spent months working on songs, allowing ourselves to experiment with production elements and sonic textures that we hadn’t delved into before. There were days that we got nothing done, and days where we created real studio magic. It’s well documented by Dave Yonkman in the video web series “Joe’s Place” online. Warner Brothers rejected the album when we delivered it. They did not hear a single (even though we delivered ‘Satellite’ on that version of the album, which went on to be our biggest song to date). To Guster’s credit, we didn’t wallow. We called back our old friend Ron Aniello and recorded a batch of six more tunes. They all ended up on Ganging Up on the Sun.

If you’re keeping score… first batch from Nashville:

‘Manifest Destiny’

‘Satellite’

‘Captain’

‘Ruby Falls’

‘Empire State’

‘Dear Valentine’

And the second batch, recorded with Ron Aniello in NY:

‘Lightning Rod’

‘One Man Wrecking Machine’

‘The New Underground’

‘C’mon’

‘Beginning of the End’

‘Hang On’

Somehow the two batches combined to make one very ambitious Guster album (and with plenty of b-sides from the Nashville sessions). Mixing with Ben Grosse with our record label breathing down our neck was both unnerving and gratifying. We got things where we wanted them and they were happy to promote ‘One Man Wrecking Machine’ as the single. And while people liked it, it didn’t catch on with radio. ‘Satellite’ never got a chance but would spend two decades trickling into the mainstream to become our most well known song.”

GUOTS is our band feeling driven and emboldened and open minded.”

Guster will kick off a three-night run at Providence, RI’s Uptown Theater, where they will perform acoustic and plan a career-spanning mix of songs, on Friday, May 1.