Sam Bush Band, Lyle Lovett, Big Richard, Danny Paisley and The Southern Grass, The Fretliners and AJ Lee & Blue Summit are just a few of the acts headed to the rustic Colorado mountain town of Telluride next June, according to JamBase.
The Telluride Bluegrass Festival returns to Town Park on June 20 – 23, 2024. Organizers Planet Bluegrass recently started revealing the Telluride Bluegrass 2024 lineup one act per day with six artists confirmed so far.
Sam Bush Band and Lyle Lovett are aboard for the 51st annual event. Lovett will be joined by His Large Band.
Telluride Bluegrass tickets went on sale earlier this month and quickly sold out. Planet Bluegrass typically puts refunded tickets up for resale each spring. For more information on one of the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious music festivals, visit https://bluegrass.com/telluride
Born in 2009, Ellis grew up not far from the Great Smoky Mountains. His first recollection of hearing the mandolin is Bobby Osborne’s iconic solo on the Osborne Brothers’ bluegrass classic “Rocky Top.” Hearing the Tennessee bluegrass anthem echo throughout the early years of his childhood was what led Wyatt to set his sights on learning to play mandolin. With his schedule packed with school, Boy Scouts and team sports, it was hard to find time for music.
When he was almost 10 years old, Ellis talked his dad into buying him a used mandolin so he could learn to play it just like Bobby. Soon, he began weekly mandolin lessons in his hometown and quickly developed a strong desire to attend local bluegrass jams. He told his parents that he wanted to play his new mandolin alongside other bluegrass pickers.
The COVID lockdown began just as he was forging those real-life musical friendships. Team sports, local lessons and bluegrass jams came to an abrupt end. At the same time, festivals and in-person recording sessions suddenly stopped, parking the most in-demand bluegrass musicians at home. Many of his favorite mandolin players started teaching or simply spending more time connecting within the community online.
In the fall of 2020, Ellis was chosen by his hero Sierra Hull, herself a former mandolin prodigy, for a Tennessee Folklife apprenticeship. Eager to improve under the watch of a true virtuoso, Ellis describes those one-on-one tutorials as “working on exactly what I needed to work on at the time. Details. Timing. Tone. Getting all the little things right by slowing down was a really big deal in that situation. Sierra has taken bluegrass mandolin to another dimension and I was excited to start my journey with her. I’ve played my mandolin every day since then.”
Having never been a fan of watching television or playing video games, playing mandolin became Ellis’s preferred pastime. With no close neighbors and the music world suddenly at his fingertips, his passion for the instrument grew. As word circulated in the bluegrass community about his accelerated abilities, Wyatt befriended many of the genre’s top mandolin players through camps, workshops, and individual lessons.
In October 2022, Ellis performed alongside former Bluegrass Boy Peter Rowan and Grammy winner Molly Tuttle at Rowan’s induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Ellis was invited by his ultimate mandolin hero, Marty Stuart, to help kick off the Grand-Reopening of the Ellis Theater in Philadelphia, Mississippi. In March 2023, Ellis joined the genre’s newest superstar, Billy Strings, to honor Doc Watson at his 100th birthday celebration. The now 14-year-old was recently invited to play the iconic MerleFest event Mandolin Mania with five of his mandolin heroes. And, on Nov. 10, 2023, Ellis made his official debut on The Grand Ole Opry, a milestone achieved by only a rare few at such a young age.
As a young musician just starting out on his musical journey, Ellis has found that the bluegrass community is full of supporters, kind words, and encouragement. He has accrued more than 90,000 followers on combined social media before ever releasing a single.
Emmylou Harris, a 2018 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, will bring her band to headline the 14th annual Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival on May 23-26, 2024 ,at Pop’s Farm just outside Martinsville, Virginia. Joining her at the top of the band lineup will be celebrated guitarist Cory Wong, an exploding star on the international music scene.
Harris has been estimated to have sold more than 15 million records worldwide. She has also earned 13 Grammy Awards and placed 27 singles into the top 10 US country chart. She will make her Rooster Walk debut with a Saturday evening set.
Wong will also make his RW debut when his band performs a Friday night headlining set. A former member of Vulfpeck, Wong’s live shows are lauded for their instrumental wizardry, incredible cohesiveness and their sheer, energetic fun.
Other bands getting added to the lineup include: Couch (Boston, Massachusetts – funk/rock/soul); Catilin Krisko & The Broadcast (Asheville, North Carolina – rock); Arkansauce (progressive bluegrass from northwest Arkansas); Sneezy (high-energy party music from Chicago, Illinois); Sticks N Thorns (bluegrass duo featuring Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon and Jon Stickley); Travis Book & Friends (Asheville, Americana/rock band led by The Infamous Stringdusters’ Travis Book); The Jared Stout Band (southern rock from the New River Valley of Virginia); T.C. Carter Band (blues from Martinsville); Lua Flora (Asheville – beach folk); Big Fat Gap (Chapel Hill, North Carolina – bluegrass); Jules & The Agreeables (Key West, Florida – rock); DJ What (Martinsville – DJ); and Pirates of the Piedmont (Martinsville – pirate shanties).
The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is a collaboration between the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center and the GrassRoots Festival Organization, providing a family-friendly celebration of music, dance, art and education. Activities for all ages! Yoga classes, sustainability discussions, food vendors, local beverages, demonstrations, workshops and much more! There are a variety of camp site options on a bucolic 72 acre site in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Find tickets for the May 2-4, 2024, event on sale at this link: https://www.shakorihillsgrassroots.org/
From the good folks at Hopscotch: Act fast, y’all! These are the lowest prices available for 2024, and quantities are extremely limited. New for 2024: payment plans are available during checkout! Buy your 3-day GA or VIP passes for just 20% down, and split the remaining balance over four additional payments. For more info on payment plans, visit our website. We can’t wait to reunite with you all for another Hopscotch Music Festival in the heart of downtown Raleigh
“MerleFest, presented by Window World, has added Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Larkin Poe, Lukas Nelson & POTR, Sierra Hull, Dan Tyminski Band, and more to its 2024 lineup. Taking place April 25-28 on the campus of Wilkes Community College, the 36th annual celebration of “traditional plus” music and founding legend, Doc Watson, promises an unforgettable weekend featuring a treasure trove of A-list talent, including first-time performers as well as familiar MerleFest veterans. Also joining this year’s docket is Grammy award winning outfit Béla Fleck My Bluegrass Heart, decorated songwriter Brandy Clark (up for a staggering six Grammy nominations this year), fast-rising country fixture Nick Shoulders, and over two dozen others. View the complete lineup below.
“MerleFest continues to deliver one-of-a-kind programming that pays equal homage to pioneers of the folk movement alongside fresh and burgeoning voices. Last year, the festival commemorated both its 35th year in operation and Doc Watson’s 100th birthday. Drawing over 75,000 patrons to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains each spring, MerleFest’s well-attested “traditional plus” experience maintains its title as one of the most iconic musical pilgrimages of its time.
“MerleFest’s full 2024 lineup includes Old Crow Medicine Show, Turnpike Troubadours, The Teskey Brothers, Nickel Creek, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Larkin Poe, Lukas Nelson & POTR, Steep Canyon Rangers, Dan Tyminski Band, Béla Fleck My Bluegrass Heart, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, The Earls of Leicester, Sierra Hull, Brandy Clark, Shinyribs, Nick Shoulders, Willie Watson, Peter Rowan, Scythian, Donna the Buffalo, Jim Lauderdale, Kruger Brothers, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, S.G. Goodman, New Dangerfield, Chatham County Line, Chatham Rabbits, John McEuen, Willie Carlisle, Adeem the Artist, The Last Revel, Twisted Pine, The Sensational Barnes Brothers, The Waybacks, Nefesh Mountain, Them Coulee Boys, Buffalo Nichols, Evan Honer, Jake Kohn, Wyatt Ellis, Colby T. Helms & the Virginia Creepers, Palmyra, Alexa Rose, Andy May, Arkansauce, Ashes & Arrows, “B” Townes, Banknotes, Bob Margolin, Carol Rifkin, Carolina Detour, Charles Welch, Corey Harris, Ettore Buzzini, Falling Timber Band, Goldpine, Gravity Check Juggling, The Harris Brothers, The InterACTtive Theater of Jef, Into the Fog, Jack Lawrence, Jeff Little Trio, JigJam, Joe Smothers, Josh Goforth, Kyshona, The Langan Band, Laura Boosinger, Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road, The Local Boys, Mark Bumgarner, Missy Raines & Allegheny, Mitch Greenhill & Mitch’s Kitchen, New Found Gap, Pete & Joan Wernick, Pixie & The Partygrass Boys, Presley Barker, Roan Street Ramblers, Roy Book Binder, The Silent Comedy, The Sullivan Sisters, T. Michael Coleman, The Tan & Sober Gentlemen, Tony Williamson, Uwade, and Wayne Henderson.”
MerleFest 2024 tickets are available now. For general admission passes, as well as patio seating, reserved seating, camping, parking, and more, please visit merlefest.org/purchase.
MerleFest volunteer applications are now open. As a volunteer, participants will receive free entry to the festival for the entire day of their shift, free parking and shuttle, and 10% off camping at River’s Edge Campground. Most importantly, volunteers will be supporting a major fundraiser for Wilkes Community College. Please visit merlefest.org/volunteer to sign up before the April 13th deadline.
Apply to be a MerleFest vendor! Vendors are carefully selected to provide a variety of quality and unique goods for every MerleFest fan. Included in the vendor fee is the cost of your tent, tent setup, fire extinguisher, gutters, table, chairs, lightbulb for night time illumination, on-campus security, as well as general admission passes for the entire festival and one on-campus parking pass. Simply put, it’s a great deal! Please visit merlefest.org/vendors to apply now before the application window closes on January 15th.
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