Tumbleweed Festival Announces 2018 Lineup
For years the fans of real country have been waiting for that one festival that represents all of their needs and desires, without having to sift through the scores of names they don’t want to be bugged with at the big corporate festivals, or the rag tag lineups of more regional affairs that don’t really embody what the true country movement is all about. In 2017, the Tumbleweed Festival in Kansas City emerged as that festival, merging the best of true country from Texas, Outlaw music from all over the country, and underground country that was still true to the roots, and putting them all on one site.
Now they have released their 2018 lineup, and it is more of the same with Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, Texas music legend Robert Earl Keen, and Texas country’s Cody Johnson comprising the headliners, with an undercard that includes Saving Country Music’s 2017 Album of the Year winner Tyler Childers, and three other nominees for the award in Zephaniah OHora, Joseph Huber, and Lilly Hiatt.
“Above all, we are a fan-created festival,” says promoter Doug Bordegon. “We privately poll our fans and start the booking process at the top – who our fans ask to perform, we go after. The improvements they request – we make them. We’re emotionally connected to our fans and strive to create the most unforgettable happy-to-be-alive moments of their lives. From the musicians’ perspective, Tumbleweed looks to provide a blank canvass where musicians can draw outside the lines. We book artists who are connected professionally and personally… Tumbleweed becomes a true family reunion where they can make the festival their own. For artists, we allow them to go against the formal boundaries of a generic festival. This your home; be who you are.”
This year’s Tumbleweed festival will take place June 14th-16th, and has moved to a new and improved site at the 2,600 acre La Cygne (“Lay-Seen”) watershed just south of Kansas City. Along with 40 national acts, the festival will include hot air balloon rides, a zip-line, rock climbing wall, canoe trips, fishing, archery, fully equipped cabins, forest camping, and VIP experiences. There will also be a pre-party Thursday night of the fest.
Though like many of these festivals, it would still be good to see more women represented on the lineup, Tumbleweed did show an increased commitment this year by booking Texas songwriter Jamie Lin Wilson who has a new album on the way, Lilly Hiatt whose album Trinity Lane topped many critics polls in 2017, Sara Morgan who just released a record of her own called Average Jane, Savanna Chestnut from Kansas, as well as returning the duo Porter Union for a second year.
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to TumbleweedCountry.com
2018 Tumbleweed Lineup:
• Cody Johnson • Robert Earl Keen • Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives• Tyler Childers • Ward Davis • Ray Wylie Hubbard • Shooter Jennings • Dale Watson • James Carothers • Dustin James Clark • Craig Gerdes • Lilly Hiatt • Bryan James • Mickey Lamantia • Austin Lee • Tony Martinez • Zephaniah Ohora • The Rhyolite Sound • Shane Smith and the Saints • Josh Morningstar • Porter Union • Justin Wells • Alex Williams • Jamie Lin Wilson • The Steel Woods • Jericho Woods • Blake Berglund • Savanna Chesnutt • Erik Dylan • MoonDawg Hall • Joseph Huber • Outlaw Jim & the Whiskey Benders • Lloyd McCarter & the Honkytonk Revival • Sarah Morgan • Evan Webb
February 6, 2018 @ 8:20 am
2nd year festival announcements (though officially this is Tumbleweed’s 3rd) are always a bloodletting due to the expectations built by the first year. But I think Tumbleweed did a really good job scrambling together a great lineup, especially after it appears Cody Jinks has moved on to bigger pastures.
February 6, 2018 @ 8:46 am
There is no Jackson Taylor and the Sinners in the lineup btw.
February 6, 2018 @ 10:01 am
Fyi, “from nearby Kansas”…the festival is in Kansas
February 6, 2018 @ 10:38 am
Isn’t Kansas City in Missouri?
February 6, 2018 @ 10:46 am
It’s in both states.
February 6, 2018 @ 12:07 pm
Just saying where the actual festival is…Kansas
February 6, 2018 @ 6:03 pm
There’s a separate Kansas City, MO, and a Kansas City, KS, though KCMO is dominate. I live in a suburb on the southern edge of the metro on the Kansas side, and it’s about 45 minutes to La Cyne.
February 6, 2018 @ 10:16 am
sounds like a great festival. … also i thought cody johnson was more popular than cody jinks, is that not true?
February 6, 2018 @ 3:04 pm
Both Cody Johnson and Cody Jinks are pretty damn big. But it’s also kind of two different worlds. A little hard to compare the two, but they probably both sell as many tickets.
February 6, 2018 @ 6:06 pm
Cody Johnson is bigger in Texas country, but nationally Jinks is easily more popular.
February 6, 2018 @ 12:00 pm
Not gonna lie, a bit underwhelming vs the stunning 2017 bill. I was hoping for a Troubadours, Wade Bowen, Moonpies, Chestnutt, Ashley McBryde. That said, anytime Marty Stuart, Zephaniah, Childers & Ward Davis play on a stage its worthy.
February 6, 2018 @ 12:13 pm
Why is it that you mention every artist-including one that’s not even on the festival (Jackson Taylor)-but not a word about Josh Morningstar? What’s your problem with him? He’s playing tumbleweed, touring with Colter Wall, has a song on Cody Jinks new record, but not a word anywhere on this site about him. His new record was on several year end best of lists last year, but there’s never anything on this site that supposedly shines a spotlight on unknown artists. There is not one “underground” artist (other than maybe Dallas Moore and Matt Woods) who are on the road more than him-still, nothing on this site. What’s the deal?
February 6, 2018 @ 3:23 pm
He gets paid to mention certain artists. Josh Morningstar needs a publicist that has connects with Trigger. It’s how the game works.
February 6, 2018 @ 3:24 pm
Thanks for the heads up on the Josh Morningstar exclusion. I literally cut and pasted the lineup from a press release directly from Tumbleweed into this article so that I would not overlook any name by transcribing it over from the poster. Apparently there was an error in that press release that was corrected in a press release sent out later. Obviously I did not exclude Josh Morningstar for any reason, and I think it would be pretty absurd for me to purposely leave any artist out of the lineup as an attempt to take a dig at them and act like it would just slide under everyone’s noses. Still, my apologies to Josh Morningstar for the oversight.
Also, it’s not true there is “nothing” on this site about Josh Morningstar. A simple search of the site shows that I have mentioned and featured him on the site many times. Just because I don’t review a record or feature an artist does not mean I have a problem with them. There are thousands of artists, and only one of me. I try to feature as many artists as I can.
February 6, 2018 @ 12:19 pm
Thrilled to see Lloyd McCarter as part of the lineup. Great honky-tonk singer from Lincoln, NE.
February 6, 2018 @ 12:24 pm
not a lot of drawing power
February 6, 2018 @ 5:37 pm
Great line-up. Can’t wait to go this year.
February 6, 2018 @ 7:31 pm
I like using the list of artists for this festival to discover new music. Craig Gerdes sounds really good to me. I’m hoping he adds some tour dates near Chicago.
February 6, 2018 @ 9:10 pm
Yes, festival posters are an important part of music well beyond people who may attend. I pay close attention to them as well. Great barometer of music and discovery tool.
February 7, 2018 @ 3:23 pm
Been listening to the 2017 Blake Berglund album since seeing him on the poster. Interesting approach, and an album that really grows on you. Definitely worth checking out.
February 7, 2018 @ 4:21 pm
What a phenomenal line up Tumbleweed has assembled for 2018. This is one of the best lineups of critically acclaimed artists that I have ever seen for a music festival, outside of Nashville, for the genre. With that being said, I don’t know if it was good idea to replace the headlining spot(s) of Johnson, Morgan, and Jinks with Stuart and Keen (Cody Johnson was a good choice). I think they missed the mark on this one. May be wrong, but I think you put Childers as a headliner you can’t go wrong. I love Marty Stuart and REK a lot, but I’m in my 30’s and at the end of the night at Tumbleweed I want to hear / see someone closer to my generation perform and tear the roof off! I hope it works out for them, but like Mo said, not a lot of drawing power.
February 7, 2018 @ 11:01 pm
Marty Stuart has more “roof tearing” power as a live act as just about anyone on the lineup. I would recommend going if you can. I am also in my 30s and saw both Childers and Stuart live last year. I love Childers, but if tearing the roof off is what you are after, Stuart and the Superlatives are hard to match.
February 8, 2018 @ 7:50 am
Marty Stuart should be on anyone’s short list of live acts to see in country. Definitely an apex predator live, regardless of what you think about his records. So many folks think he’s an old fuddy duddy from RFD-TV, but him and the Superlatives have an energy and attack like few others, even a lot of crunch in the guitar tone. They just look classy while doing it.