Organizers of Bristol’s Rhythm & Roots Reunion unveiled yet another wave of artists signed to perform at the Sept. 9-11 event, and, like previous announcements, the festival includes something for every taste: from the Grammy Award-nominated The Wood Brothers — no, not the NASCAR variety — Fantastic Negrito, Jade Bird and Ian Noe to festival alumni Aaron Lee Tasjan, Andrew Scotchie & the River Rats and the ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band.
They will join a lineup that already includes Rosanne Cash, Tanya Tucker, Del McCoury Band, Asleep at the Wheel, JJ Grey and Mofro, Jerry Douglas Band, Donna The Buffalo, Briston Maroney, Ralph Stanley II & Clinch Mountain Boys and Missy Raines & Alleghany, along with festival favorites 49 Winchester, Dave Eggar and Carson Peters.
“The Wood Brothers are very popular on the festival scene, and Fantastic Negrito is someone I think people will really enjoy and get people dancing in the streets,” Leah Ross, executive director of advancement for the Birthplace of Country Music, said Thursday.
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“Our music committee has worked very hard,” Ross said. “Our festival has that reputation of artists on our lineup that nobody has ever heard of, but they know when they get here they will find at least one they’ve never heard of but will start following them.”
Ross said acts like St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Old Crow Medicine Show were relative unknowns when they first played Bristol but have gone on to attract massive, international followings.
“Our depth and variety of artists and music is strong. If you can’t find something here that you like, I don’t know that you listen to too much music,” she said.
Other artists announced Thursday include Arlo McKinley, Jamie McLean Band, Mo Lowda & the Humble, Ashley Heath and Her Heathens, West King String Band, Paleface, Tan & Sober Gentlemen, Dimestore Cowboys and Virginia Hollow.
The festival plans to unveil the balance of its lineup at the end of April, when it will also unveil this year’s poster, Ross said.
Once complete, it will include about 100 artists set to perform on 13 outdoor and indoor stages throughout downtown Bristol that weekend.
The specific schedule will be announced at a later date, Ross said.
Three-day adult admission tickets currently sell for $100 but will increase to $115 on May 1 and be more at the gate in September. Individual day tickets are not yet on sale, Ross said.
This year’s festival will observe the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions recordings — two weeks of recordings in Bristol, Tennessee that helped lay the foundation for the commercial country music industry and introduced the world to acts like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.
For more information, visit BristolRhythm.com.