A full Main Stage field is visible from the Shrine on the hillside overlooking The Farm at Hillberry 2017.
EUREKA SPRINGS, Arkansas (March 28, 2018) — Hillberry The Harvest Moon Festival 2018 has released the full lineup announcement for the October 11-14 event, and it includes a stellar lineup of internationally acclaimed bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, jam-grass, roots-rock, Americana, and funk acts, plus 2 nights (4 sets) from festival co-host Railroad Earth.
The following is the full lineup of bands scheduled to perform at this fall’s Hillberry. An asterisk (*) denotes that this will be the act’s debut at The Farm, home of Hillberry, near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Click here to watch our Hillberry 2018 YouTube playlist, with live performance videos from every Hillberry performer.
• Trampled By Turtles*, the award-winning Minnesota band that has made a habit of forging a place at the top of mainstream charts for its blazing-fast, edgy progressive bluegrass
• The “Father of Newgrass” Sam Bush*
• 7-piece international funk-masters and JamCruise veterans Lettuce
• Critically acclaimed Americana trio The Wood Brothers*, the subject of a new documentary film and rave reviews from the likes of NPR and The New York Times
• Recent Grammy winners and jam-grass masters The Infamous Stringdusters (Ryan Adams calls them “the Star Wars of Bluegrass”)
• The prog-grass scene’s newest huge star, Billy Strings*, proclaimed a “bluegrass prodigy” by Rolling Stone
Big Smith’s only 2 reunions since retiring in 2012 were sold-out New Year’s Eve shows at the Gillioz Theatre in Springfield; this photo was taken just after midnight at the 2016 NYE show.
• A rare reunion performance by longtime regional favorites Big Smith*, which hasn’t toured since officially retiring in 2012
• “Thrash-grass” pioneers Split Lip Rayfield
• Cincinnati-based psychedelic jam-grass act Rumpke Mountain Boys & Friends
• Shreveport-based, Cajun-spiced Dirtfoot, aka “Gypsy Punk Country Grumble Boogie”
• Arkansas’ leading prog-grass band Arkansauce (2 sets) (Read our interview with Arkansauce here.)
• Soulful roots-rock standout Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings of Eureka Springs (Read our interview with Opal Agafia here.)
• Northwest Arkansas’ favorite Grateful Dead-heavy jamband, Friends of the Phamily
• “Groove-grass” standouts The Mighty Pines
Opal Agafia nails it during a George’s Majestic Lounge show by Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings in 2017.
• Chicago-based up-and-comers Miles Over Mountains
• Groove-grass “you-can’t-not-dance” Fayetteville group The Squarshers
• Kansas flat-picking champion and America’s Got Talent 2016 alum Julian Davis
• Red Oak Ruse‘s Late Night All-Star Jam (Read about last year’s late-night Hillberry jam led by Red Oak Ruse here; or click here to read our interview with Red Oak Ruse.)
• Bluegrass/folk-rock string quartet Grassfed of Kansas City
• Energetic prog-grass five-piece Steamboat Bandits, based in Kansas City
• Five-man string band Drifters Mile of Springfield
• Bluegrass singer/picker Grace Stormont of Mountain View, Arkansas
ABOUT HILLBERRY FESTIVAL & THE VENUE
Hillberry The Harvest Moon Festival is hosted by Deadhead Productions, which has held various music festivals at numerous venues over the years and now is headquartered at The Farm near Eureka Springs.
Hillberry tickets are on sale now at Eventbrite. Ticket sales will be limited to 3,000 attendees, and the festival is projected to sell out.
The Farm is located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains just a few miles from historic Eureka Springs, amid rolling mountaintops on a largely wooded, privately owned, 160-acre property; it is 26 miles from Rogers/Bentonville and 50 miles from Fayetteville. The venue boasts beautiful 360-degree panoramic views from its perch atop 160 acres that back up to Mark Twain National Forest. Beaver Lake, Table Rock Lake, and the White River are all within 5 miles of The Farm, offering popular spots for floating, hiking, swimming, and picnicking.
But without ever leaving the property, Hillberry attendees can enjoy mountain biking and hiking, plus permanent and temporary art installations, artists, workshops, yoga, arts and crafts, and all sorts of children’s activities scheduled every day from morning till night. Shuttles are often available for transportation to nearby lakes as well as to downtown Eureka Springs.
The Farm also has an on-site general store selling snacks and light groceries, beverages, ice, and various sundries; the property also boasts a brand-new, 3-mile mountain bike trail for cycling and hiking and an 18-hole disc golf course available for use at no extra charge. Additionally, canoeing/kayaking opportunities abound with the White River and Kings River each just a few miles away with multiple river outfitters in the area. Table Rock Lake is less than 5 miles away, and boat rentals are available at the nearby Holiday Island Marina.
GET TO KNOW THE HILLBERRY FESTIVAL 2018 ACTS
RAILROAD EARTH
There’s a great scene in “The Last Waltz” – the documentary about The Band’s final concert – where director Martin Scorsese is discussing music with drummer/singer/mandolin player Levon Helm. Helm says, “If it mixes with rhythm, and if it dances, then you’ve got a great combination of all those different kinds of music: country, bluegrass, blues music, show music…” To which Scorsese, the inquisitive interviewer, asks, “What’s it called, then?”
“Rock & roll!” Helm answers.
Well, that’s the way it is sometimes: musicians play music, and don’t necessarily worry about where it gets filed. It’s the writers, record labels, managers, etc, who tend to fret about what “kind” of music it is.
And like The Band, the members of Railroad Earth aren’t losing sleep about what “kind” of music they play – they just play it. When they started out in 2001, they were a bunch of guys simply interested in playing acoustic instruments together. But as they played publicly more and more, the welcome they received from an explosive fan base pushed them onward and upward far faster than RRE’s members ever anticipated.
Railroad Earth is shown on stage during 2017’s Hillberry Festival.
Railroad Earth — which was a regular at the now-defunct Wakarusa and Yonder Mountain String Band Harvest festivals — can jam with the best of them, but they’re not a jam band. They’re bluegrass influenced, but they use drums and amplifiers (somewhat taboo in the bluegrass world).
What kind of music is it then? Mandolin/vocalist John Skehan offers this semi-descriptive term: “I always describe it as a string band, but an amplified string band with drums.” Violinist and vocalist Tim Carbone takes a swing: “We’re a Country & Eastern band! ” Frontman Todd Sheaffer offers: “A souped-up string band? I don’t know. I’m not good at this.” Or, as a great drummer/singer/mandolin player with an appreciation for Americana once said: “Rock & roll!”
Skehan told me years ago that Railroad Earth actually got its start as a festival band, being at the right place and playing the right kind of music at the right time, earning berths at Telluride Bluegrass Festival and High Sierra Music Festival within a few months of forming as a group.
“There’s something about our band’s music that works well in an outdoor setting when the weather is right — something about any acoustic-oriented music — it just sounds right outdoors,” he said.
This is RRE’s third year to co-host Hillberry. The band performs two full sets on two nights during the festival. Watch one of their shows from last year’s Hillberry here:
TRAMPLED BY TURTLES
Over 14 years, Duluth, Minnesota, natives Trampled By Turtles recorded 8 albums, 3 of which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass chart. The quintet has headlined at such major festivals as Bonnaroo, Coachella, and Lollapalooza, and they’ve sold out Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater 3 years in a row. Two appearances on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and one on “Conan” further bolstered the band’s devoted fan base.
Trampled By Turtles is shown in a Relix photo of one of their last shows before going on hiatus in 2016.
But 2 years ago, founding member and lead vocalist/guitarist Dave Simonett asked his bandmates for a favor: time off to work on his solo project, Dead Man Winter.
The band didn’t officially announce a hiatus, but several months later, with rumors swirling, TBT tweeted, “Going away for a little while. We love you all. Thanks for an amazing first chapter.”
A few weeks ago, TBT announced a return to touring this year and a new album, Life is Good on the Open Road, due out May 4, with dozens of tour dates May through early July.
The last time TBT performed in Arkansas was 2009, at YMSB Harvest Festival. A review of that performance, published by the Arkansas Times, said:
The band does not even come near the Natural State very often – though they have performed in Arkansas a few times, including helping inaugurate the new location of Juanita’s when it moved to the River Market a few years ago. (They sold out Juanita’s not long after it had re-opened, and then put on a helluva performance before a sweaty, overcrowded and understaffed room full of blown-away fans. It. Was. Astounding.)
TBT was in the mood to seriously light the Main Stage on fire at Harvest Festival. From the outset, nearly every song was played at lightning speed, and even a few of their “calmer” hit tracks that typically are not played so fast (“Victory”) seemed to fly more than usual. The crowd, me included, ate it up as the fiddle and banjo, in particular, soared at such speeds. (The acoustic guitarist showed off some pretty fancy fingerwork as well, even at blazing paces.)
SAM BUSH
Sam Bush – aka the “Father of Newgrass” and the “King of Telluride Bluegrass Festival” – began playing mandolin at age 11 and as a teen won 1st place 3 times in the junior division of the National Oldtime Fiddler’s Contest in Weiser, Idaho. In the fall of 1971, Bush and some bandmates reformed their previous group as New Grass Revival, which is considered the standard-bearer for progressive bluegrass or “newgrass” even now. Bush’s bandmates in New Grass Revival included banjo genius Bela Fleck; the group toured with Leon Russell, opening the shows and backing Russell during his headlining set.
When the New Grass Revival dissolved in 1989, Bush joined Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers, touring and recording with Harris for the next five years. In 1997, Bush and New Grass Revival reunited for an appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” as the backup band for Garth Brooks.
Bush was awarded the Lifetime Achievement for Instrumentalist award by the Americana Music Association, and the International Bluegrass Music Association has named him Mandolin Player of the Year four times. He’s won 3 Grammys and was nominated for a fourth; and since 2010, he is officially recognized by the Kentucky State Legislature as the Father of Newgrass.
Bush was the subject of the 2015 documentary “Revival: The Sam Bush Story,” which features commentary from Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck, David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, and The Avett Brothers, among others. Directed by Wayne Franklin and Kris Wheeler, the film was shown at various independent film festivals throughout 2015.
Watch Sam Bush at a Kansas City venue last year below:
LETTUCE
Lettuce is a New York-based funk band whose members have become individually successful as well with side projects such as Soulive, Break Science, and others. The collective’s driving, psychedelic-funk party music and magnetic live performances have wowed audiences on TV and radio programs, in clubs and concert halls, and on festival stages all over the globe.
Lettuce is shown during their 2013 performance at JamCruise.
Three of its founding members formed the groove trio Soulive, and one of the three is also a member of Break Science and has played with everyone from John Scofield and 50 Cent to Talib Kweli and Wyclef Jean. Another member is a noted producer and a touring bassist for Britney Spears and the Game. One of the now-departed founding members is a member with Dave Matthews Band.
Since performing with the Soul Rebels Brass Band on JamCruise 2013, Lettuce has earned a place at the headliners’ table at festivals around the globe and has released several notable and award-winning records. Crush featured a guest vocal appearance from Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Alecia Chakour on a wild update of Bobbie Gentry’s “He Made a Woman Out of Me,” offering the band’s first recorded nod to EDM. The rest of the set mixed bass-heavy funk and groove jazz, hip-hop beats, and guitar- and keyboard-heavy psychedelia. Crush was released in 2015 and hit the top spot on U.S. jazz album charts.
Watch the first half of Lettuce’s 2016 JamCruise set here:
THE WOOD BROTHERS
One of the headliners for last fall’s Fayetteville Roots Festival, The Wood Brothers are no strangers to Northwest Arkansas. They also have performed at Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers (with Tedeschi Trucks Band) and at Wakarusa near Ozark/Cass in past years.
The Wood Brothers have steadily climbed the ranks of not just major festival acts but also critical and even mainstream industry acclaim – not an easy feat for an Americana act whose genre-bending music is rarely, if ever, included on genre-cookie-cutter commercial radio playlists. Their 5th studio album, Paradise (2015), was their third to rank on U.S. Billboard charts and the first to hit the No. 1 spot (on the Billboard Heatseeker chart).
The Wood Brothers’ newest album, One Drop of Truth, was just released to much critical acclaim, as was a highly praised documentary about the trio and the making of the album.
Watch The Wood Brothers perform the opening night of Fayetteville Roots Fest 2017 below:
INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS
In a genre known for traditionalism, The Infamous Stringdusters have consistently covered new ground, inspired fans, and redefined what a bluegrass band can be. This year already has brought the quintet to new heights as the group took home a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Bluegrass Album” for their 2017 release Laws of Gravity.
The Infamous Stringdusters were lookin’ sharp while accepting their 2018 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
The group has continued to grow, moving markedly onward and upward since its inception 13 years ago; that forward motion includes a prolific output that rivals any act in music. In 2017 alone, the Stringdusters released 3 projects: Laws of Gravity, Laws of Gravity: Live, and Undercover Vol. 2. The former, which was the band’s 8th full-length record, earned a 2018 Grammy for “Best Bluegrass Album,” ranked in the Top 10 of the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, and marked the group’s 3rd debut at No. 1 on the Bluegrass Albums Chart (and immediately afterward, Undercover Vol. 2 became their 7th Top 10 entry on that chart). Praised by some of the top names in the music industry, the Stringdusters teamed up with Ryan Adams for performances of “Sweet Carolina” on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and at Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Newport Folk Festival. Phil Lesh also tapped them as his band for Phil and Friends at Lockn alongside members of Phish.
Along the way, the Stringdusters have strung together a solid list of industry accolades: 3 International Bluegrass Music Association awards in 2007 for their debut record, Fork in the Road; a nomination for “Instrumental Group of the Year” by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2010; and a 2011 Grammy nod for “Best Country Instrumental” for “Magic No. 9” off the album Things That Fly.
The Stringdusters absolutely blew away the crowd at 2017’s Hillberry, both during their own extended set and as the backing band for Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass – and several members also sat in with Railroad Earth later that same evening. They are prolific, astoundingly talented, and relentlessly energetic performers.
Watch the Stringdusters’ full set from Hillberry 2017 below, or click here to read our review and stream the audio!
BILLY STRINGS
Rolling Stone calls Billy Strings a “bluegrass prodigy” in a recent article about the breakthrough star and Michigan native now based in Nashville. “Billy Strings doesn’t have any trouble living up to his name. One of the latest breakneck guitar pickers to emerge in the bluegrass world,” RollingStone.com writes. The website named Strings one of 10 new country acts everyone should know.
Released last September, Strings’ debut LP Turmoil & Tinfoil reached No. 3 on the Billboard bluegrass chart, positioning Strings for a big 2018. Currently in the midst of a winter tour, he’ll be getting his two-month spring tour underway on March 23 at the Suwannee Spring Reunion in Live Oak, Florida, with other festival appearances along the way at Bender Jamboree in Las Vegas and Old Settlers Fest in Texas.
Strings, who played in a metal band as a teenager, still channels that high-voltage approach in his present-day live acoustic performances. “We jumped all over the stage and kicked each other and spit on people in the audience,” he told Rolling Stone Country last summer. “I don’t do that at my shows now, but I almost can’t help but move around like that. There’s so much energy there. When you go to a metal show and everyone’s jumping around and jumping off stage – man, there’s something really special going on there.”
Watch a rollicking Billy Strings set from late 2016 below:
BIG SMITH: Springfield-based legends Big Smith makes Ozarks hillbilly jam-grass music at its best, with some electronic instruments and drums thrown in – to great effect. Their songs are mostly original tunes such as “Burn Down the House” and “12-Inch, 3-Speed Oscillating Fan” – all well-loved by audiences, who typically sing every word along with them.
With traditional bluegrass and Gospel-music roots that expanded remarkably as the band toured around their home state of Missouri and then the Midwest for 15 years, Big Smith formed in 1996 and recorded 6 studio albums. After a 2005 documentary, “Homemade Hillbilly Jam,” put Big Smith in front of international audiences, the band went from being a labor of love to a full-time occupation, until members moved on to other projects in 2012.
During its heyday, Big Smith opened for acts including Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, The Avett Brothers and the Del McCoury Band; the group routinely sold out 2-night stands at venues all around the Midwest, including the infamous Chester’s on Dickson in Fayetteville, and, after it closed, at George’s Majestic Lounge.
Big Smith has reunited for only 3 performances since the band’s retirement: 2 shows on New Year’s Eve 2016 in Springfield and 1 show on New Year’s Eve 2017 in Springfield.
Watch the band perform their best-known hit, “12 Inch, 3 Speed Oscillating Fan” below:
SPLIT LIP RAYFIELD: Kansas-based “thrash-grass” or cowpunk stalwart Split Lip Rayfield helped pioneer what came to be known as the “Stage 5” sound, named for the notorious “unofficial” Stage 5 at the annual Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Bands like Split Lip faithfully use traditional acoustic bluegrass instruments but play songs more closely related stylistically to rock, punk, or heavy metal. SLR’s music is bluegrass worthy of being blasted out of the windows of a Plymouth Barracuda with a 426 Hemi V8 engine: metal- and jazz-like freakouts done acoustically.
SLR’s live shows are the stuff of legend. They whip crowds into a sweaty frenzy – Split Lip’s playing has long been fast, manic, insanely complex, and utterly unique. The band happily and improbably took the spirit and musical inventiveness of the Stanley Brothers, John Zorn, hell, even Rush. They almost single-handedly invented “thrash-grass,” and countless bands owe them a huge debt for not only defining a sound, but stretching the possibilities of the acoustic music world.
Since the tragic loss of founding guitarist and vocalist, Kirt Rundstrom, who succumbed to cancer in 2007, the remaining members have continued, though more deliberately perhaps – carrying on the sound and the fury of the band, though. The group last year released its first record since the 2008 farewell album released just after the loss of their bandmate; the new studio recording is dubbed “On My Way.”
As Eric always likes to say: “People should get ready to have their heads ripped off.”
Watch Split Lip perform one of their hits, “Used To Call Me Baby,” below:
RUMPKE MOUNTAIN BOYS & FRIENDS: The Rumpke Mountain Boys of Cincinnati combine signature vocals, a unique command of string instruments (acoustic guitar, mandolin, upright bass, and banjo) and dynamic special effects into a singular musical experience. Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans explains: “One of the things I love about the Rumpke Mountain Boys is that there’s a fundamental honesty in their presentation. This is something they share with my other heroes, Donna the Buffalo and the Grateful Dead. They don’t make set lists ahead of time, they don’t rehearse their songs to a fare-thee-well – they perform in real-time. All four of them write, which is very important, and they draw songs from a tremendous variety of sources. … Being a musician is a life-long learning experience, if you’re doing it right, and they are.”
Like playing around a campfire, the Boys take turns calling the next tune, distilling shows from a sea of infinite notes created from years of jamming. Drawing upon a growing catalog of originals and and an eclectic mix of covers, the Rumpke Mountain Boys blend music like a fine Irish whiskey – the result affectionately dubbed “Trashgrass.” The Boys titled their 2012 album release with the same name, followed by their 2013 release, Moon, which was recorded at the famed Royal Studios in Memphis, followed by their current studio release, High Time, Low Tide. The band plans to release a brand new live album this spring.
DIRTFOOT: Whether performing on big stages at festivals, or playing intimate settings in pubs and the finer venues all over the Midwest and the South, Dirtfoot puts on an uproarious show. The crowds come to take part in the fun and chaos, hollering and singing along, shaking beancans and tailfeathers to the infectious grooves. Featuring instruments ranging from an acoustic guitar, banjo, upright bass, pots ‘n’ pans, drums, bells, saxophone, xylophone and more, Dirtfoot has a truly engaging sound, a real dose of what it calls Gypsy Punk Country Grumble Boogie.
Their music is like a good gumbo: You start with some growling vocals, upright bass and percussion that makes a good, dark, dirty Louisiana roux, mixed heartily with some meaty rhythms, combined liberallywith fresh offerings from the guitar and banjo that are like okra and tomatoes picked from your backyard garden, topped with the hot ‘n’ sexy spice of the saxophone and jazz-style drums, and finally a little something magical and indescribable, and you have Dirtfoot – a delicious, spicy, dirty band that will make you stomp your feet, shake your rear and yell like a lunatic under a full moon.
Dirtfoot has an energy to their shows that is indescribable – and contagious. Watch Dirtfoot perform at Hillberry 2016 below:
ARKANSAUCE: Last year was, in many ways, a turning point for Fayetteville-based progressive bluegrass quartet Arkansauce. From an outside perspective, Arkansauce enjoyed a big 2017: the April release of its third album, If I Were You, which garnered great reviews from publications like GratefulWeb; a continuously expanding fan base with new tour stops in New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, Mississippi, and Kansas; two sets on the Main Stage at Fayetteville’s Bikes, Blues & BBQ (and once in between, at Bikes, Bluegrass & BBQ at The Farm, home of Hillberry); a sold-out show at George’s Majestic Lounge to close out the Saturday of Fayetteville Roots Fest; and their inclusion among just 11 U.S. bands invited to participate in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band competition.
From the band’s perspective, 2017 was a year of buckling down, they told Arkansounds.com in an interview. “Doing the Telluride competition elevated our drive and desire to play better and focus more on the details,” explains Collins. “Preparing for that competition, and a new commitment to paying attention to all the details in all the songs we do, spurred us to get on a new level of how serious we are taking all the details – merely playing these songs versus making them as good as we can possibly make them – searching for ways to make them better, and nailing the execution every single time.”
Here’s one of Arkansauce’s sets from Hillberry 2017:
OPAL AGAFIA & THE SWEET NOTHINGS: Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings, based in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, embodies the sounds of the Ozark Mountains: a little soul, a little roots, a little rock-and-roll, a little old-timey swing – and a lot of heart. Opal’s voice is packed with power and emotion; her lyrics are sophisticated yet accessible. The band, 4 seasoned, diverse musicians, provides a consistently tight backdrop that pushes every song forward, compelling listeners to pay close attention, lest they miss a single minute of this show. The result is music that’s irresistible, no matter the listener’s background.
Opal, already a skilled songwriter, holds nothing back – she couldn’t if she tried. Every Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings performance seems like their best of the year as the band’s commitment to their music shines. Watching them perform her dozens of originals – with a few covers and jams thrown in now and then – is riveting, as Opal soars at leading the gifted players, effortlessly displaying a commanding stage presence that is as rich as it is rare.
Drawing from many genres, Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings blends the best elements of soul, blues, jazz, gospel, country, swing, and traditional mountain music into a sound that captures the past and boldly pushes ahead. The band’s fan base is an eclectic and broad blend of folks from all walks of life, stretching from across the West, Midwest and the South, where they have established successful tour routes filled with enthusiastic fans and supporters.
Here’s one of our favorite songs from the group:
FRIENDS OF THE PHAMILY: “Finding new sounds through old” is just one way to describe Friends of the Phamily’s musical approach. Since the band’s formation during the summer of 2008, Friends of the Phamily has spent the past few years refining the Grateful Dead-meets-modern-jams sound that has come to define them, musically.
The band is an 8-member outfit including two guitars, keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, and vocals. FOTP’s focus is primarily on its members first musical love: the songs of the Grateful Dead. The exploratory nature that was intrinsic to the Dead’s music is the essence of the spirit at which FOTP aims. The band brings familiar sounds and beloved tunes to those who hold the Dead’s music dear, as it also opens hearts and minds for those who have not had the opportunity to embrace the Dead previously. Their shows are dynamic, engaging, and always surprising – just like their Grateful heroes.
THE MIGHTY PINES: The Mighty Pines is a fierce prog-grass band making music inspired by the wide rivers and red-brick streets of St. Louis. For the last 5 years they’ve been fashioning their distinctive heartland sound: bluegrass meets acoustic soul and rock & roll. Their music can at one moment be raucous and at the next hushed, with soaring harmonies keeping it sweet through every song.
The Pines formed in 2012 and since have released 3 records, played hundreds of live shows, and shared bills with such renowned acts as Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass, Sam Bush, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Fruition, and many more in venues across the country.
MILES OVER MOUNTAINS: Miles Over Mountains, a progressive bluegrass band based in McHenry, Illinois, will be returning to Eureka Springs for Hillberry; the group performed at January’s Ozark Mountain Music Festival in Eureka as well.
Their live shows are high-energy, featuring an arsenal of original material and a refreshing variety of cover songs served up in their own unique style. LiveForLiveMusic.com says MoM’s four members “provide the listener with a paradoxical calming, yet exciting experience. The band somehow has the power to ease one’s worries while also forcing the crowd into a frenzy of dance.”
Now entering their fifth year as a band, Miles Over Mountains continues to turn heads across the nation as their momentum, fan base and touring schedule continue to grow. Since their inception in early 2014, they’ve performed hundreds of shows at bars, clubs and music festivals with no signs of slowing down.
THE SQUARSHERS: From their hard-hitting stompy Southern grooves to their rollicking, in-your-face brand of string music, The Squarshers are ready to throw down. They are quite a spectacle, with a stage presence that matches their musical intensity. The Squarshers, based in Fayetteville, is a self-proclaimed “groove-grass” band, pulling heavily from funk and jam styles while fashioning their fancy licks in the traditional bluegrass pickin’ styles. Swooning melodies and breakneck banjo licks combine to make a musical storm that doesn’t let up. Get ready to dance!
ABOUT DEADHEAD PRODUCTIONS
Deadhead Productions formed out of a collaboration of musicians and event planners originally called Friends of the Phamily Productions. Deadhead Productions has organized and hosted more than a dozen music and camping festivals, including 8 multi-genre Highberry Music Festivals, 2 Phunkberry Music Festivals, the upcoming Spaceberry Festival debut and the second Bluegrass & BBQ event, as well as the bluegrass-heavy Hillberry Festival, now in its 4th year. Hillberry is headlined and co-hosted by international award-winning progressive bluegrass/folk-rock band Railroad Earth.
Deadhead Productions also has organized and hosted dozens of live music events at venues around the region such as Fayetteville’s George’s Majestic Lounge, the Northwest Arkansas live music staple now in its 90th year, and Eureka Springs’ infamous Chelsea’s Corner Cafe & Bar.
