The 53rd annual RockyGrass Festival 2025 is set for July 25-27. Very limited tickets and camping are still available! Located in Lyons, Colorado, RockyGrass is traditional bluegrass at its finest. Red rock cliffs and ottonwoods peer down over the property as the North St. Vrain River flows through the festival grounds just feet from the main stage.
Volunteers are still needed! Join the awesome community of volunteers! Work three shifts in exchange for your Festival pass.
Continue readingAnnouncing the return of the Late Night Jam hosted by Sam Bush with special guests Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka, Woody Platt, T. Michael Coleman, and more
 From the good folks over at MerleFest: MerleFest, presented by Window World, has added I’m With Her, Leftover Salmon, Stephen Wilson Jr., The Steel Wheels, Tami Neilson, Becky Buller, and more to its 2025 lineup. Taking place April 24-27, 2025, on the campus of Wilkes Community College, the annual celebration of founding legend, Doc Watson, will play host to both legendary names and exciting up and comers, including fast-rising honky-tonk starlet Emily Nenni, Colorado-rooted newgrass ensemble The Fretliners, blues-drenched guitar virtuoso Cristina Vane, and dozens of others. View the complete lineup below. Making a surprise return in 2025, the Late Night Jam hosted by Sam Bush promises an unforgettable super-set featuring “only at MerleFest” collaborations. Among those joining in on the fun will be East Nash Grass, Jack Lawrence, Joe Smothers, Peter Rowan, T. Michael Coleman, Tony Trischka, and Woody Platt, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. Lindsay Craven, MerleFest Artist Relations Manager, shares, “The Late Night Jam was always a unique and fun bonus set of music where you never knew who would show up or what you might hear. We took a pause on this offering so that we could revamp and revitalize it for our fans and bring it back bigger and better than ever. Late Night Jam with Sam Bush and Friends will embody the spirit of MerleFest with unique collaborations that you can only see here and the highest quality musical performances in the roots scene.” MerleFest 2025 is shaping up to be another outstanding celebration of music and community, honoring the timeless legacy of its founding legend, Doc Watson. Tickets for the highly anticipated Late Night Jam with Sam Bush and Friends are on sale now. Jam enthusiasts must have a Friday or equivalent wristband to purchase a late night jam ticket. Secure your spot and explore the full festival lineup at merlefest.org/purchase. The 2025 MerleFest Mobile App, is available now for Apple and Android devices. Start planning your weekend with performance schedules, reminders, and artist discovery through the official MerleFest 2025 Spotify playlist. MerleFest 2025 will welcome The Avett Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, The Dead South, Watchhouse, Wyatt Flores, I’m With Her, Leftover Salmon, The War And Treaty, The SteelDrivers, Sam Bush, Asleep at the Wheel, The Lil Smokies, Brent Cobb, Stephen Wilson Jr., Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam, Alison Brown, Della Mae, Thee Sinseers, The Altons, Peter Rowan, Scythian, Donna the Buffalo, Jim Lauderdale, Kruger Brothers, The Steel Wheels, William Prince, The Cleverlys, TopHouse, Big Richard, John R. Miller, Emily Nenni, Woody Platt and the Bluegrass Gentlemen, John McEuen & The Circle Band, The Secret Sisters, Tami Neilson, The Waybacks, Andy May, “B” Townes, Banknotes, The Barefoot Movement, Becky Buller, Carol Mallett Rifkin, Carolina Detour, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian From China to Appalachia, Charles Welch, Cristina Vane, Dale Ann Bradley, Damn Tall Buildings, Denitia, East Nash Grass, Fancy Hagood, Flattop, Florencia & The Feeling, Fog Holler, The Fretliners, Full Cord, Gravity Check Juggling, The Hooten Hallers, Humbird, The InterACTive Theater of Jef, Jack Lawrence, Jeff Little Trio, Joe Smothers, Josh Goforth, Ken Crouse, Laura Boosinger, The Local Boys, Mark Bumgarner, Mattie Schell, Mitch Greenhill & Mitch’s Kitchen, Muireann Bradley, Paul McDonald, Pete & Joan Wernick, Presley Barker, The Resonant Rogues, Rev. Robert Jones, Roy Book Binder, Six String Soldiers, T. Michael Coleman, Theo Lawrence, Todd Albright, Tony Williamson, Wayne Henderson, and The Wilder Flower. For artist performance dates, visit merlefest.org/lineup. MerleFest 2025 tickets are available now. For general admission passes, as well as covered patio seating, reserved seating, camping, parking, and more, please visit merlefest.org/purchase. For media inquiries, contact Danielle Dror (danielle@teamvictorylap.com), Karaline Bailey (karaline@teamvictorylap.com) or Sarah Wilson (sarah@teamvictorylap.com) at Victory Lap Media. To apply for media credentials to MerleFest 2025, please click here. 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 15th 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 nighttime 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. Apply to be a MerleFest food vendor! MerleFest is looking for a few select non-profit organizations to fill availability in the main food tent! If your civic organization or local non-profit has food service experience and would like to participate, please visit merlefest.org/vendors to apply. The application window closes on January 15th. Apply to be a food truck vendor! MerleFest will now be accepting applications for food trucks. Starting in 2025, a select number of food trucks will be placed in the shoppes at MerleFest. These vendors will be hand picked in order to bring only the best offerings and service to our fans. Please visit merlefest.org/vendors to apply now before the application window closes on January 15th. The WCC Foundation is pleased to announce that we’ve added a new twist to our Silent Auction! This year’s Silent Auction offers mobile bidding so that festival guests and supporters can view items and place bids even before the festival begins. During the festival, you will be able to place bids from the comfort of your seats. New for this year, MerleFest fans will have the opportunity to take part in a 50/50 Raffle which will take place during the festival. Stay tuned for more details at merlefest.org/silent-auction. |
Bluegrass is back in Raleigh beginning Tuesday with IBMA’s World of Bluegrass featuring the annual Business Conference, award shows, showcases, the Ramble, free music on stages spread across downtown on Friday and Saturday and of course, the headliners at Red Hat Amphitheatre.
Beginning Tuesday, the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Official Showcases are the premier platform for introducing talent and new music to the bluegrass community during IBMA World of Bluegrass®. Each selected showcase act will perform at least twice during the week — typically once during the IBMA Business Conference and once at an IBMA Bluegrass Ramble venue.
All emerging bluegrass bands, as well as established bands with new music or new personnel, are encouraged to apply. Thousands of bluegrass fans fill six venues throughout Downtown Raleigh over three nights to catch the newest in bluegrass music!I
Continue readingIf bluegrass music was a sport, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s annual awards night would be considered the industry’s All-Star game.
Held Thursday, Sept. 27, as part of IBMA’s 2018 annual weeklong business conference and Wide Open Bluegrass, the party celebrating the best in individual and band achievement for the year was hosted by Hot Rize, the first group to ever win the coveted entertainer of the year award. Continue reading
In 2017, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Hall of Fame. With the exception of women who were part of a band, and usually a family band, ie. the famous Carter Family, who were inducted in 2001, only one other woman — Louise Scruggs in 2010 — has received solo recognition by the hall of fame organizers since 1991. And this week, songwriter Dixie Hall will be inducted as the fourth.
Let’s face it. Bluegrass has been a good old boys genre since Bill Monroe picked up a mandolin, Louise’s husband Earl Scruggs met Lester Flatt and the Stanley Brothers became the Clinch Mountain Boys. But as Bob Dylan once wrote, “the times they are a changin.'”
Fast forward to 2016, when Sierra Hull and Becky Buller became the first women to win Instrumental Performers of the Year awards for mandolin and fiddle, respectively. Hull came out on top in the same category in 2017, and Molly Tuttle, who appears poised to be among the next female superstars of bluegrass, won Instrumental Performer of the Year for her guitar picking prowess — the first woman to ever top that particular chart. Continue reading
After Molly Tuttle’s impressive win at the 2017 International Bluegrass Music (IBMA) Awards as the first female IBMA guitarist, Becky Buller leads the field for the 2018 International Bluegrass Music Awards with eight nominations followed by Tuttle’s six. Close behind with five nominations each are Special Consensus, and The Del McCoury Band/The Travelin’ McCourys, with strong showings by Rhonda Vincent, The Earls of Leicester, Balsam Range, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Results of the balloting will be revealed at the International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, Sept. 27, at the Duke Energy Performing Arts Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Founded in June 2004 by the International Bluegrass Music Museum, ROMP Festival has been celebrating the roots and branches of bluegrass ever since and this year is no exception.
Scheduled for June 21-24, 2017, in Owensboro, Kentucky, ROMP’s impressive lineup includes: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Punch Brothers, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, Los Lobos, Rhiannon Giddens, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jerry Douglas Band, Peter Rowan, The SteelDrivers, Pokey LaFarge, Dailey & Vincent, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, We Banjo 3, Billy Strings, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Scythian, Becky Buller, Dustbowl Revival, Kelsey Waldon, The Wooks, Driftwood, Snyder Family Band, High Fidelity, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys and Hogslop String Band.
I am particularly excited to see Scythian, We Banjo 3, Rhiannon Giddens, The SteelDrivers and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are on tap to be there. Would love to hear who you are interested in seeing and hearing at this festival that is sure to be a good time.
To purchase tickets visit: www.rompfest.com or call (270) 926-7891.
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