The ninth iteration of Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival will be held over Memorial Day weekend, May 25 – 28, 2017, at the idyllic Pop’s Farm, overlooking a lake in the countryside of Martinsville, Virginia. Rooster Walk was named one of the Top 5 Music Festivals in Virginia by the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2016 and it’s one of my personal favorites.
Greensky Bluegrass will headline Rooster Walk 9 with a two-hour set on Saturday night. The Wailers (Reunited!), Anders Osborne, Anderson East, Mandolin Orange, The Motet, Pimps of Joytime, the Marcus King Band and many more will perform over the four-day festival.
The hourly stage schedules for RW9 are set. Check out the Band Schedule Page to see exactly when each of your favorite bands will perform.
MerleFest fan-favorite Scythian is launching its “Board Scramble Tour” this week just in time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2017. When you’re a Celtic rock band, St. Patrick’s Day is your Super Bowl and this year is no exception for the Washington, D.C.-based group.
Martinsville, VA – Rooster Walk 9 announces final lineup today. Mandolin Orange, Pimps of Joytime, Mountain Heart and more than 20 other bands have been added, completing the Memorial Day weekend festival’s band lineup. Progressive stringband Greensky Bluegrass and legendary reunited reggae band The Wailers were announced in early January as overall headliners of the festival.
Rooster Walk, scheduled for May 25-28, 2017 at the idyllic Pop’s Farm festival venue just outside of Martinsville, Va., was named one of the Top 5 festivals in Virginia by the Richmond-Times Dispatch last year.
With more than 40 bands performing on five different stages, an eclectic roster of great music guides the Rooster Walk experience. In addition to four days of amazing music, the family-friendly festival offers a wide variety of kids’ activities, craft beer, great food, arts and numerous opportunities to enjoy Virginia’s great outdoors with a 5k trail race, yoga, a disc golf course and beautiful on-site camping.
Once again, Spirithaven Farm in Stuart, Virginia, will be filled with sweet sounds of music Labor Day weekend. The ninth Front Porch Fest will take place Aug. 31 – Sept. 3, 2017. This family-friendly weekend celebrates music and art on the front porch to the Blue Ridge mountains, thus the name.
HoustonFest celebrates the life of young banjo picker, Houston Caldwell (more info here) with two days of stellar bluegrass, oldtime and country music artists. Held annually the second weekend in June, the 2017 festival is set for June 9-10 at Felts Park, 601 South Main St., in Galax, Virginia. The gates open at 10 a.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.
This year’s impressive lineup includes the Earls of Leicester with Jerry Douglas, John Berry, Flatt Lonesome, the Church Sisters, Emi Sunshine, Shadowgrass and the Snyder Family Band, among many others
The Seldom Scene is bringing its unique blend of progressive bluegrass on Friday, March 10, to the historic Rives Theatre in uptown Martinsville, Virginia. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door and day of show. Doors open at 8 p.m. with music starting at 9 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online here.
If you are a fan of Classic Country 98.1 WBRF, you may have noticed a recent heavy rotation of “Rose-Colored Glasses,” “Backside of Thirty,” “Old School” and my personal favorite, “I Don’t Remember Loving You.”
That’s because the Galax, Virginia, radio station is bringing ’70s and ’80s country hitmaker John Conlee to the historicRex Theater in downtown Galax at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 4. Tickets are available at the Galax Visitors Center, online at http://www.itickets.com or call 800-965-9324.
Harrisonburg, Va. – The Steel Wheels and the Red Wing Roots Music Festival are pleased to announce a fifth consecutive year of great music and great fun at Natural Chimneys Park in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. This year’s music festival will be held from July 14-16, 2017.
Festival hosts and hometown favorites The Steel Wheels will be joined by dozens of other artists, including Steve Earle & The Dukes, Lake Street Dive, Tim O’Brien, Sarah Jarosz, Mandolin Orange, Pokey Lafarge, The Cactus Blossoms, Darlingside, and many more! The full lineup can be viewed at http://www.redwingroots.com/2017-line-up/
The Trongone Band will open for Anders Osborne and his full band beginning at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, at the historic Rives Theatre in uptown Martinsville, Virginia.
The following announcement is from the good folks at MerleFest, which is slated for April 27-30, 2017. Early bird tickets are on sale now here. I am particularly excited to see Mountain Heart, Front Country, Chatham County Line, Scythian and Swift Creek in the lineup. Here’s hoping subsequent lineup announcements include Mipso, Flatt Lonesome, Will Overman Band, Dead Horses, Mandolin Orange, Zoe and Cloyd, Dori Freeman, The Church Sisters, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sarah Siskind, Sierra Hull, Yarn, American Aquarium, Mike Farris, Rhonda Vincent, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Annabelle’s Curse, Town Mountain, Little Hill Trio, The Genuine, The Honeycutters, The Steel Wheels, Elephant Revival, Balsam Range, Mason Via, The Judy Chops, Swampcandy, Chamomile and Whiskey and Billy Strings, among others.
From the release: “2017 will be a celebration of 30 years of MerleFest! The annual homecoming of musicians and music fans returns to the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The star-packed lineup for MerleFest 2017 will be announced over the next few months; today MerleFest made its first announcement for the 2017 lineup, including Zac Brown Band with a very special acoustic set, Del McCoury Band, Jim Lauderdale, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Peter Rowan, Mountain Heart and many more.”
