Blue Ox Music Festival

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Ty Helbach

Pert Near Sandstone on stage at Blue Ox Music Festival.

Pert Near Sandstone

media release: Celebrating its monumental 10th anniversary, Blue Ox Music Festival announces the Backwoods Stage daytime artist lineup today. Including rising stars and regional favorites – Debutants, Mooncats, Stringdingers, Steam Machine, Valley Fox, Monica Rizzio, Red Hot Django Peppers, Carrie Sue & The Wood Burners, Said in Stone, and Emmy Woods & The Red Pine Ramblers.

Blue Ox Music Festival is thrilled to welcome artist Emmy Woods & The Red Pine Ramblers as the winner of the Virtual Band Competition. Born and raised on an old dirt road in rural North Dakota and currently resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota – Emmy Woods’ songs showcase her knack for storytelling, her strengths in musical artistry, and an impressive vocal range and ability.

Gracing the Blue Ox Backwoods Stage for the first time – Monica Rizzio is an award-winning songwriter who brings her alt-country original music inspired by her Texas upbringing and years spent in Nashville to the shores of Cape Cod. Monica Rizzio is a versatile musician who tours across the country with her band, the Round-Up. Appearing on his new album, Monica Rizzio plays fiddle and guitar with the legendary folk songwriter Tom Rush, and is currently opening for mandolin maestro, Sierra Hull on tour.

Taking place on June 27, 28, 29, 2024 – Blue Ox Music Festival welcomes back the early summer pilgrimage of bluegrass, Americana, roots, and folk artists, and their devoted music festival fans; returning to the tall trees and grassy rolling hills of The Pines Music Park in northern Wisconsin. In the course of a lifetime, a decade may seem like an eternity to some people, or the blink of an eye to others. Indeed, the latter being the case for the loyal fans, talented artists and dedicated Blue Ox team this past ten years. From its meager and muddy beginnings, to creatively blazing trails on how to support artists and produce events during the COVID pandemic, to being one of the top music festivals in the country – Blue Ox Music Festival’s journey exemplifies the commitment to the music, artists, and experience during this epoch.

Presenting three days of music and camping with a genre-weaving stacked lineup of heavy hitters including – Band of Horses, Sierra Ferrell, Watchhouse, Sam Bush Band, Leftover Salmon, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Del McCoury Band, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Horseshoes & Handgrenades, Lindsay Lou, The High Hawks, Kassi Valazza, Them Coulee Boys, Sicard Hollow, Opal Agafia, Tan & Sober Gentleman, Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins, Colby T. Helms & The Virginia Creepers, Mama Said String Band, Feed The Dog, Saltydog, Clay Street Unit, Glitterfox, Art Stevenson & Highwater, Pretend Friend, Andrew Wakefield, Maygen & The Birdwatcher, and Superior Siren.

Pert Near Sandstone will host the Blue Ox Music Festival for its tenth year, in addition to performing for two nights.

As is the heritage of the Blue Ox Music Festival, this year will again celebrate the extraordinary talent of traditional bluegrass and roots music legends, as well as progressive stars in the making. For the first time, Blue Ox welcomes to the main stage – GRAMMY Award nominee, Band of Horses, who made mainstream waves with their 2011 Infinite Arms. Full of profundity, truth, and sometimes just homespun advice on how to live, Band of Horses songs have become anthems and touchstones for fans. Emotionally intense, both on a personal and elemental level, the songs for Band of Horses’ sixth album, Things Are Great, finds lead singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell’s high-flying vocals more autobiographical than he’s ever been on record.

In her elegant blurring of musical boundaries, Sierra Ferrell brings her vast imagination to the Blue Ox main stage this summer. With her spellbinding voice and time-bending sensibilities, Sierra Ferrell makes music that's as fantastically vagabond as the artist herself. On the highly anticipated Concord Records label debut Long Time Coming, Ferrell shares a dozen songs beautifully unbound by genre or era, instantly transporting her audience to an enchanted world. A consummate musician's musician, on and off the stage, Ferrell found an easy camaraderie with the many luminaries who accompanied her on Long Time Coming. Blue Ox fans can look forward to Sierra Farrell and her full band’s sensational performance this June.

Blue Ox has been honored to have bluegrass legends Sam Bush Band and The Del McCoury Band on the lineup multiple years since the festival began. One of the most celebrated pioneers of progressive bluegrass, Sam Bush has continued to push boundaries since he began his career in the 1960s. The virtuoso mandolinist and fiddler has released seven albums and a live DVD over the past two decades. In 2009, the Americana Music Association awarded Sam Bush the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist. His performances are annual highlights of the festival circuit, with Bush’s joyous perennial appearances at the Colorado town’s famed bluegrass fest earning him the appelation “King of Telluride.” Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del McCoury is the living link to tradition and today’s Americana genre.

Blue Ox Music Festival welcomes back acclaimed Molly Tuttle and her band, Golden Highway. The Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, and musician released their latest album, City of Gold, this past July on Nonesuch Records. The Grammy-nominated City of Gold follows Tuttle’s acclaimed 2022 record, Crooked Tree, which won Best Bluegrass Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards and led NPR Music to call her “a female flat picker extraordinaire with agility, speed, and elegance who distinctively brings American roots music into the spotlight,” adding that the album “marries the improvisatory solos of traditional bluegrass with singer-songwriter sophistication.”

In addition, the anticipated return of Watchouse (formally Mandolin Orange) is a highlight of the Blue Ox Music Festival main stage performers. After the success of Mandolin Orange’s 2019 Tides of a Teardrop, and the birth of their daughter, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz reflected on a way to think about their new songs and established act. The self-titled Watchhouse, which would have been Mandolin Orange’s sixth album but is instead their first also under the name Watchhouse, a moniker inspired by Marlin’s place of childhood solace. The name, like the new record itself, represents their reinvention as a band at the regenerative edges of subtly experimental folk-rock. Challenging as they are charming, and an inspired search for personal and political goodness, these nine songs offer welcome lessons about what any of us might become when the night begins to break.

This year, attendance will be limited to 5000 tickets, to preserve the intimacy and magic that Blue Ox Music Festival was built upon.

Fans can stay tuned for updates about the 2024 Blue Ox Music Festival and The Pines Music Park, by subscribing to the newsletters at www.blueoxmusicfestival.com and www.pinesmusicpark.com

As artists and ambassadors for the festival – members of Pert Near Sandstone, Nate Sipe and Blue Ox MC – Justin Bruhn, produce and host the popular, Road to Blue Ox Podcast. In each episode leading up to the festival, Bruhn and Sipe interview performing artists on the Blue Ox lineup, as well as highlighting key information and updates about the festival. Tune in for new Road to Blue Ox Podcast episodes on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and Pocket Casts. Follow along on Spotify and be notified as soon as a new episode is released.

About Blue Ox Music Festival – Blue Ox creates and fosters an inclusive sense of artistic community and has become a cornerstone of the cultural renaissance movement in the Eau Claire area. Blue Ox Music Festival at The Pines Music Park boasts 155 acres of pristine forest, walkable trails and green landscaped lawn with music presented across three distinct stages – Main Stage, Saloon Stage, Backwoods Stage.

Since its premiere in the summer of 2015, Blue Ox Music Festival has consistently brought together a lineup of top level regional and national acts that have set the stage and standard of artists for the true music festival fan’s experience. With the vision of an intimate music and camping experience focused on bluegrass, folk, and Americana roots genres, the 3-day festival creates a unique experience with an impressive lineup of notable artists, in a familial and beautiful outdoor venue setting.

As a family friendly environment, an array of cultural events take place throughout the festival grounds, including music workshops, original commissioned art installations, morning yoga and meditation, eclectic arts and craft vendors, kids activity stages, as well as a nine hole disc golf course. The variety of quality food and beverages offers something delicious for everyone to enjoy. All ages are welcome. Children 13 and under are free with a paid adult.

Blue Ox Music Festival 2-day and 3-day General Admission Tickets are on sale now – which gives guests access to all entertainment and Unreserved Tent Camping. Car Camping Passes are available for guests who prefer their car at the camp site next to their tent. Blue Ox Music Festival Reserved RV / Tent sites are still available for purchase, but are in limited supply. Camping accommodations include spaces for RVs, Family and Quiet Camping.

Great restaurants, hotels, and the amenities of Eau Claire are just a few short miles away from The Pines Music Park.