Many, many thanks to everyone (and you know who you are) who helped make this Americana, southern-rock driven music party a success. We could NOT have done it without you. Here's to FESTUS the FIRST!
"Once FESTUS got going, it was fantastic – great venue, short beer and bathroom lines, plenty of merch, great sound and, above all, a killer line up.
I really appreciated your decision to allow us to head to our cars during breaks. Great job by you guys and I really appreciate it. Thanks!"
~ Ed Humphreys...Cincinnati, OH
"Once FESTUS got going, it was fantastic – great venue, short beer and bathroom lines, plenty of merch, great sound and, above all, a killer line up.
I really appreciated your decision to allow us to head to our cars during breaks. Great job by you guys and I really appreciate it. Thanks!"
~ Ed Humphreys...Cincinnati, OH
FESTUS: Latin for “joyous, festive, holiday, steadfast” and which about sums up the focus of this Americana, southern-rock driven music party coming to Louisville this June...
The Sound & Spirit: To get it straight right off the bat, though it should be obvious to any and all who have been listening over the last decade or so: Festus headliners CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED are a rock’n’roll band. “They may be the last great Southern rock band still stomping the boards,” says All Music Guide. At the heart of Ragweed is a spirit and sound that the Arizona Daily Star hails as “simple, driving rock...common-man’s poetry set to music.” This is no secret to Ragweed’s legion of fans across the nation, especially those in the Texas/Oklahoma area who have supported the “Kings of the Red Dirt/Texas music scene” band from the start. Fine stuff for a group of guys who’ve known each other since kindergarten...
The Songwriting: Southern rock conjures up rebel flags, drinking songs, and dudes yelling "Free Bird!" During his five-plus years with Drive-By Truckers, singer-guitarist Jason Isbell learned to embrace some of those clichés yet impressively gained a songwriting reputation on par with the band's longtime principals. Isbell left the band, regrouped, and JASON ISBELL & The 400 Unit was born and the rest is on its way to becoming history. An Alabama native, Isbell was weaned on the mid-1960‘s powerhouse American music renaissance coming out of nearby Muscle Shoals: tough, hard, passionate, unflinching songs, unrepentant in their sense of place and direct in their stubborn Southernness. The influence is clear. Vintage Guitar magazine declares "Jason Isbell is on a course to be one of his generation's best songwriters."
The Voice: A superb entertainer with the unique and distinctive voice of a man who has walked a long, hot span over dusty country roads...not merely the voice of a poet but also of a merciful prophet, a summation not unjustified. Those who follow the career of PAUL THORN, one of the most uncompromising in American music, believe he is both. Prophets are called and poets are born so it’s no surprise that Paul Thorn is from Tupelo, Mississippi, the same music-drenched region that gave us Elvis. A genuine Southern paradox and bona fide tough guy with a feeling for the social fugitive, his songs are filled with a demented optimism that says each life still counts. Catching a Paul Thorn show is a revelation. "Hook after hook, cut after memorable cut, until it becomes undeniable that you are in the hands of a master," says The Boston Herald.
The Conviction: The most dramatic, pugnacious songwriter thrown down by the Americana scene, CHRIS KNIGHT's 10-year song stockpile ranges from raw, raging rockers to gentle balladry: simple songs that carry the weight of the common man, inviting comparison to Steve Earle and John Prine with a bit of twangified Bruce Springsteen in the mix. In short, Americana at its finest. A former strip-mine inspector, Knight still lives in the tiny coal town of Slaughters, KY, (population 200+) where he was born and raised, yet due to his particular fame in the Lone Star State, has been named an "Honorary Texan" by Texas Governor Rick Perry. An artist of fierce instinct and uncommon paradox, he’s forged a reputation for stark and ofter-ferocious honesty that led to one writer to call his music “where Cormac McCarthy meets Copperhead Road.”
The Place: An historic outdoor performance space nestled in the natural, woodlands setting of Iroquois Park in Louisville, IROQUOIS AMPHITHEATER is a state-of-the-art, handicapped-accessible theater with seating for 2,407 with the flexibility to stage a variety of performing arts and cultural programs. Originally built in 1938 by 275 employees from the Works Progress Administration, the Amphitheater underwent an $8.9 million renovation while carefully preserving portions of the original structure. The Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky partnered to fund the renovation, which was completed in 2003. Iroquois Amphitheater is the official amphitheater for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The Sound & Spirit: To get it straight right off the bat, though it should be obvious to any and all who have been listening over the last decade or so: Festus headliners CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED are a rock’n’roll band. “They may be the last great Southern rock band still stomping the boards,” says All Music Guide. At the heart of Ragweed is a spirit and sound that the Arizona Daily Star hails as “simple, driving rock...common-man’s poetry set to music.” This is no secret to Ragweed’s legion of fans across the nation, especially those in the Texas/Oklahoma area who have supported the “Kings of the Red Dirt/Texas music scene” band from the start. Fine stuff for a group of guys who’ve known each other since kindergarten...
The Songwriting: Southern rock conjures up rebel flags, drinking songs, and dudes yelling "Free Bird!" During his five-plus years with Drive-By Truckers, singer-guitarist Jason Isbell learned to embrace some of those clichés yet impressively gained a songwriting reputation on par with the band's longtime principals. Isbell left the band, regrouped, and JASON ISBELL & The 400 Unit was born and the rest is on its way to becoming history. An Alabama native, Isbell was weaned on the mid-1960‘s powerhouse American music renaissance coming out of nearby Muscle Shoals: tough, hard, passionate, unflinching songs, unrepentant in their sense of place and direct in their stubborn Southernness. The influence is clear. Vintage Guitar magazine declares "Jason Isbell is on a course to be one of his generation's best songwriters."
The Voice: A superb entertainer with the unique and distinctive voice of a man who has walked a long, hot span over dusty country roads...not merely the voice of a poet but also of a merciful prophet, a summation not unjustified. Those who follow the career of PAUL THORN, one of the most uncompromising in American music, believe he is both. Prophets are called and poets are born so it’s no surprise that Paul Thorn is from Tupelo, Mississippi, the same music-drenched region that gave us Elvis. A genuine Southern paradox and bona fide tough guy with a feeling for the social fugitive, his songs are filled with a demented optimism that says each life still counts. Catching a Paul Thorn show is a revelation. "Hook after hook, cut after memorable cut, until it becomes undeniable that you are in the hands of a master," says The Boston Herald.
The Conviction: The most dramatic, pugnacious songwriter thrown down by the Americana scene, CHRIS KNIGHT's 10-year song stockpile ranges from raw, raging rockers to gentle balladry: simple songs that carry the weight of the common man, inviting comparison to Steve Earle and John Prine with a bit of twangified Bruce Springsteen in the mix. In short, Americana at its finest. A former strip-mine inspector, Knight still lives in the tiny coal town of Slaughters, KY, (population 200+) where he was born and raised, yet due to his particular fame in the Lone Star State, has been named an "Honorary Texan" by Texas Governor Rick Perry. An artist of fierce instinct and uncommon paradox, he’s forged a reputation for stark and ofter-ferocious honesty that led to one writer to call his music “where Cormac McCarthy meets Copperhead Road.”
The Place: An historic outdoor performance space nestled in the natural, woodlands setting of Iroquois Park in Louisville, IROQUOIS AMPHITHEATER is a state-of-the-art, handicapped-accessible theater with seating for 2,407 with the flexibility to stage a variety of performing arts and cultural programs. Originally built in 1938 by 275 employees from the Works Progress Administration, the Amphitheater underwent an $8.9 million renovation while carefully preserving portions of the original structure. The Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky partnered to fund the renovation, which was completed in 2003. Iroquois Amphitheater is the official amphitheater for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Free parking, upscale festival fare, brew, BBC beer with bourbon & vodka bar, lots of artist merch, out in the woods in the great outdoors...
...it's time to get yer FESTUS on!
...it's time to get yer FESTUS on!
