musicreporterblog

Musings on folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and newgrass


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RockyGrass 2025 lineup includes The Infamous Stringdusters, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Sam Bush, Del McCoury Band, Rhonda Vincent, Mason Via, and many more

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.

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Volunteers are still needed! Join the awesome community of volunteers! Work three shifts in exchange for your Festival pass. 

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ROMP Festival ticket prices increase at midnight on Dec. 2

From the good folks at ROMP:

This year’s ROMP festival is headlined by a powerhouse roster of talent, featuring some of the biggest names in bluegrass and beyond, including Wynonna Judd, Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, The SteelDrivers, The Dillards, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Willie Watson, Mountain Grass Unit, and many more. With its blend of classic bluegrass, innovative Americana, and roots music, ROMP Festival is a celebration of both the legends and rising stars in the music industry.

ROMP offers a variety of camping options, including both tent camping and RV camping. The festival is also known for its family-friendly atmosphere, offering a blend of world-class music, spectacular outdoor settings, and a range of activities for festival-goers of all ages. In addition to the impressive music lineup, attendees can look forward to several artist-led workshops. 

Ticket prices will increase on Dec. 3. Four-day tickets are discounted at $185, and VIP tickets are available for $465 and include catered meals, air-conditioned restrooms, and prime stage views. Onsite tent and RV camping passes are also available. Children 12 & under are free for general admission.

For tickets and more information, visit ROMPFEST.COM


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6th annual Tuck Fest set for April 19-21 at U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte

Charlotte’s sixth annual Tuck Fest set for April 19-21, 2024, celebrates the outdoor lifestyle through competitions, exhibitions and demos at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, but also offers FREE live music interspersed with other activities Friday evening and Saturday and Sunday.

There is also a vendors’ village and the complex has several places to eat and drink. Competitions include trail running, kayaking, biking, climbing, stand-up paddle boarding, obstacle course and adventure racing. The name “Tuck Fest” comes from the Tuckaseegee Ford and Trail, a historical landmark located at the center.

Artists Lineup
Friday: Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, The Heavy Heavy.
Saturday: Margo Price, Dylan LeBlanc.
Sunday: Courtney Barnett, Rayland Baxter.

Music starts 7 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; activities start 10 a.m.

While tickets are free, parking costs $6 daily per standard car, $18 per larger vehicle.


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2024 Grammy predictions

If you are looking for predictions on the best Rap, Reggae or Jazz performances, you’ve come to the wrong place. But if you are interested in who I think will win versus who should win in categories including best Americana, Country and Bluegrass, you’re in the right place. My winner predictions are in bold while who should win has an asterisk in front of the nominee. Who do you think should win? I would love to hear your picks.

The toughest category in the list below for me was Best Bluegrass Album. While everyone in this category deserves a “W,” Billy Strings will continue to ride his current wave of popularity to earn this well-deserved Grammy despite the fact that I believe Molly Tuttle and her band put out a better album. Best Country Solo Performance category is another tough one with Dolly Parton going head to head with Luke Combs haunting version of “Fast Car,” but I think Brandy Clark should win this category. My money, if I was in Vegas, however, is on Chris Stapleton for obvious reasons. The same goes for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. While I think Dierks Bentley and Billy Strings “High Note” should win, I think Carly Pierce and Stapleton will edge out the crazy popular Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson.

Best Country Solo Performance

*Brandy Clark – Buried
Chris Stapleton – White Horse
Dolly Parton – The Last Thing on My Mind
Luke Combs – Fast Car
Tyler Childers – In Your Love

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

Brothers Osborne – Nobody’s Nobody
Carly Pearce Featuring Chris Stapleton – We Don’t Fight Anymore
*Dierks Bentley featuring Billy Strings – High Note
Jelly Roll With Lainey Wilson – Save Me
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin – Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)
Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves – I Remember Everything

Best Country Song

*Brandy Clark – Buried
Chris Stapleton – White Horse
Morgan Wallen – Last Night
Tyler Childers – In Your Love
Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves – I Remember Everything

Best Country Album

Brothers Osborne – Brothers Osborne
Kelsea Ballerini – Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
*Lainey Wilson – Bell Bottom Country
Tyler Childers – Rustin’ in the Rain
Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan

Best American Roots Performance

Allison Russell – Eve Was Black
Blind Boys of Alabama – Heaven Help Us All
Jon Batiste – Butterfly
Madison Cunningham – Inventing the Wheel
*Rhiannon Giddens – You Louisiana Man

Best Americana Performance

Allison Russell – The Returner
Blind Boys of Alabama – Friendship
*Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile – Dear Insecurity
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – King of Oklahoma
Tyler Childers – Help Me Make It Through the Night

Best American Roots Song

Allison Russell – The Returner
*Billy Strings Featuring Willie Nelson – California Sober
Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile – Dear Insecurity
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Cast Iron Skillet
The War and Treaty – Blank Page

Best Americana Album

Allison Russell – The Returner
Brandy Clark – Brandy Clark
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes
Rodney Crowell – The Chicago Sessions
*Rhiannon Giddens – You’re the One

Best Bluegrass Album

Billy Strings – Me/And/Dad
Michael Cleveland – Lovin’ of the Game
Mighty Poplar – Mighty Poplar
*Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – City of Gold
Sam Bush – Radio John: Songs of John Hartford
Willie Nelson – Bluegrass

Best Folk Album

Dom Flemons – Traveling Wildfire
Joni Mitchell – Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live)
The Milk Carton Kids – I Only See the Moon
Nickel Creek – Celebrants
*Old Crow Medicine Show – Jubilee
Paul Simon – Psalms
Rufus Wainwright – Folkocracy


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Bourbon & Beyond 2024 announces lineup for Sept. 19-22 in Louisville

Billed as the world’s largest music, food and bourbon festival, Bourbon & Beyond 2024 has announced its lineup and there is literally something for every musical taste on the menu. The event is planned for Sept. 19-22 at the Highlands Festival Grounds and Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

Tickets and packages can be purchased at this link.


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ROMP 2024 to feature Dierks Bentley, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Leftover Salmon and many more

Tickets are on sale now at https://www.rompfest.com/!


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N.C. Carolina Brewers and Music Festival set to return May 12-13 in Rural Hill

The North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival is set to return May 12 & 13, 2023, with headliners Steep Canyon Rangers, Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway and 49 Winchesters.

The festival combines a number of N.C. breweries and an exciting music lineup in the idyllic setting of Historic Rural Hill. Kick back for two days, with or without camping, and join the fun on the farm.

Tickets available at this link.


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IBMA moves indoors for second time in 10 years in anticipation of Hurricane Ian

In 2015, bands of rain from Hurricane Joachin came down on Raleigh, soaking artists, vendors and attendees of bluegrass music’s biggest week and leaving organizers scrambling to move the International Bluegrass Music Association’s IBMA Bluegrass Live! festivities indoors to the relative comfort of the city’s convention center.

Fast forward seven years and IBMA’s organizers announced today all of the outdoor festivities associated with this week’s IBMA Bluegrass Live! will move indoors, due to expected rain and wind from Hurricane Ian as it approaches the western shores of Florida.

“The music will go on,” said IBMA Executive Director Pat Morris at this afternoon’s IBMA welcome reception celebrating the festival’s 10th year in North Carolina’s capital city. “We have a fantastic week lined up.”

This year, however, will be different than 2015, when the ticketed festival and the free street events were all suddenly forced into the confines of the convention center. What won’t change is several days of bluegrass tunes ringing throughout the facility — some planned in ballrooms and convention rooms, others spontaneously erupting into  jam sessions filling up the facility’s not-so-hidden corners and even in hallways and on staircases.

One major difference will be the ticketed Main Stage performances, originally planned for the outdoor Red Hat Amphitheater adjacent to the convention center, will take the stage in the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Reserved seating bought in advance will be honored. Unfortunately, fans hoping for a free general admission ticket to see headliners such as the Infamous Stringdusters, Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway may be out of luck. Organizers are still working out details to try to make some free seating available.

On a positive note, there is still a lot of free entertainment to take in. All previously scheduled performances at the five free Street Stages are moving into the Raleigh Convention Center  along with all 115 vendors including the Art Market, Shop Local and Black Friday Market. Also on tap indoors will be the beer garden, PNC Porch, jam “tents” and other activities planned for this weekend.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said the resiliency of the organizers and the City of Raleigh is similar to that often sung about in bluegrass music as well as the genre itself, which celebrated its 75th anniversary during the height of the pandemic.

“Whether you have been here before or it’s your first time, you are in for great entertainment,” she told the crowd in the RCC ballroom. “We did this in 2015 and it turned out great, and it’s going to be great again.”

Baldwin added she hopes IBMA will return to Raleigh for another 10 years. “The best part of IBMA is you get to be part of this unique experience and community,” she said. “It’s about bringing people together.”For tickets and more information, visit https://worldofbluegrass.org.


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Performers announced for 33rd annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards show on Sept. 29

IBMA has announced performances by four of this year IBMA’s Entertainer of Year Nominees for this year’s Bluegrass Music Awards show on Sept. 29: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Sister Sadie and Del McCoury Band.

Also, a star-studded list of performances by Dan Tyminski Band, Ronnie Bowman and Bela Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart will be included in the show, with special Hall of Fame tributes and performances to honor Norman Blake, Peter Rowan and Paul “Moon” Mullins.

The awards will be held at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh.

For tickets and more information, visit https://ibma.org/.