Why I Have Mixed Feelings About The Born & Raised Festival
Jaws dropped, and the calendars of true country fans got shuffled on Wednesday morning when the lineup for the inaugural Born & Raised Music Festival was announced for June 5th, 6th, and 7th in Pryor, Oklahoma, just north and west of Tulsa. With Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. headlining the event, and an incredible undercard that includes Jamey Johnson, Blackberry Smoke, Margo Price, and Mike & The Moonpies (see full lineup below), it immediately rocketed to the top of the festival food chain in middle America when it comes to music in the independent, traditional, Southern rock, and Outlaw country realm.
“Born & Raised Music Festival came to life with an idea to celebrate Outlaw, Texas, and Red Dirt country music. To us, there is no better place to have it than deep in the heart of Oklahoma, the birthplace of Red Dirt,” says festival producer Mike DuCharme. “These genres are showing a resurgence right now on the music scene. People want to celebrate their roots and listen to music that reminds them where they were born and raised. When looking to kick off year one of this event we could think of nobody better than Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. to headline each day.”
Undoubtedly, the lineup is impressive, fans in the region and beyond are in for a real treat, and it’s a great opportunity for some bands to be able to play a festival like this right in the heart of Red Dirt country. Yet at the risk of being a buzzkill, I would be lying if I didn’t say that my heart sank when I saw the event was being promoted by mega festival concern, AEG.
I get it, as a music fan, you could give a shit who the money men are behind an event, and I’m sure there will be ample comments from people saying the same thing who have no desire to read a 15 paragraph article about anything. You just want to have a good time, and the last thing I want to do is rain on anyone’s parade. But this event is the absolute last thing the local and regional independent promoters in this area or anyone else needed to happen in a time of major strain and contraction.
Less than two weeks ago, Saving Country Music reported on the cancellation of the Tumbleweed Festival for 2020, which would have transpired the week before Born & Raised, and in the same region south of Kansas City. “It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing Tumbleweed 2020 has officially been canceled,” the promoter Borda Productions said in a statement on January 24th. “To maintain the integrity of the Tumbleweed experience, we were unable to obtain the proper artists to meet the expectations of our fans.”
Why couldn’t they obtain the proper artists? Because a massive company like AEG can move into the region, throw mad money around, take a loss for five years if necessary just to get their footprint in place, and enact radius clauses on all the artists they book that disallow them from performing at festivals like Tumbleweed. To take that concern even further, basically Born & Raised is Tumbleweed, just with deeper pockets, and less of an emphasis on the independent artists that depend on local and regional festivals for their initial opportunities in front of bigger audiences. Looking at the lineup, AEG took the business concept of Tumbleweed and other regional promoters, and ran with it. AEG wants to bankrupt or buy out those promoters so they can be the big dog.
“It’s great that AEG acknowledges the fanbase that exists in the authentic country music scene,” Borda Productions said in a statement to Saving Country Music on Wednesday. “As an independent festival in 2016, Tumbleweed identified that same potential surge of fan support and worked to build a grass-roots festival with the fans in the forefront of every decision we made. We did the hard work of establishing trusting relationships with fan groups, artists and management companies to organize the energy surrounding the authentic country music scene. In 2019, we regained momentum and the festival had the best year of five years in it. When we headlined [Cody] Jinks, he was selling 750 tickets in big cities. Childers was doing 500 cap rooms. We’ve hosted hundreds of national musicians who receive no love from AEG or ‘big business’. The authentic/independent music scene had a home with Tumbleweed and we’ll look to regain that status in 2021.”
And this isn’t just about the greater Oklahoma/Kansas/Missouri region where Born & Raised will draw heavily from, along with being a destination festival for fans from all around the United States and beyond. AEG getting into the Texas/Red Dirt scene will only jack talent prices up for local and regional promoters all across the country, like the Wild Hare Country Festival near Portland, OR, which also announced they will be unable to produce a 2020 festival, and specifically because of the skyrocketing prices for talent.
“There is an industry perception that festivals are ‘cash cows,’ and the booking fees that agencies quote reflect that,” says Jason Fellman of Wild Hare. “Often times, the cost to book an act is 3-5 times (or more) what they would earn at a one-off ticketed show in the same market. It’s a bit of a catch 22 because on the one hand, it’s the artists that MAKE the festival! On the other hand, it’s not economically sustainable if the fees aren’t aligned with the realities of the market.”
However huge corporations such as AEG don’t have to deal with these concerns like local and regional promoters, and are specifically the reason all festivals are seen as “cash cows.” AEG can absorb the talent costs for an inaugural event just to establish a foothold in a region, while artists and bands often want to get on the good side of these huge promoters to put themselves in line for future opportunities. It’s not the fault of these artists and bands, or their booking agents who are simply trying to get the most money they can. But rarely does anyone look at the bigger picture of what’s going on behind-the-scenes in the festival space, which is the monopolization of it by LiveNation and AEG. Meanwhile if Born & Raised never turns a profit, they’ll just cancel it. But the damage is already done, because the other festivals had to cancel because of Born & Raised, leaving the area underserved.
There’s another problem with the Born & Raised festival, and that’s the lack of women on the lineup. Only two of the 25 announced acts are female. Ironically though, many of the same Twitter trolls who have doggedly hounded festivals such as Tumbleweed, Mile 0 Fest, and others are curiously mute on Born & Raised, and outlets that have pledged to not promote festivals with such lopsided gender disparities such as Rolling Stone Country are completely on board with the festival. Why is that? First, they want access due to the festivals incredible roster. Second, Margo Price is on board, which AEG is betting on being their trump card to deflect any criticism about this issue.
Margo Price has been one of the most outspoken critics of gender disparity in country music, and specifically with festivals. On May 15th, 2019, she tweeted, “I just turned down playing a pretty reputable festival this summer not only because their offer was a joke but because there was only ONE other woman on the line up. Come on people, we can do better. 13 men and 1 woman. SMDH … Oh and everyone was white too.”
The gender disparity for Born & Raised is even worse, while all the performers are white as well. Meanwhile Tumbleweed had five female performers out of 23 total acts, yet still got dragged in 2019 for not having enough women, as did Mile 0 Fest and others.
What we’re seeing with Born & Raised dovetails with the issues many local and regional promoters face when attempting to book women acts. While some want to characterize the issue as solely being about old white men wanting to exclude women from these events, when you talk to the promoters themselves, they are frustrated about the issue as well, often because the few top-level female acts in independent country such as Margo Price turn them down, or demand significantly more money than their live draw. AEG can afford to pay Margo Price an inflated rate. Local promoters can’t. And when Margo Price and other women refuse to play, it exacerbates the issue, it doesn’t help solve it. Then Margo Price and others take to social media to drag these festivals, making it almost more advantageous for local promoters to not make offers to performers like Margo Price at all as opposed to having activist Stans and artists attacking them on Twitter.
In fairness, this difficulty in booking women is probably one of the reasons Born & Raised only has two women on their lineup. The truth of the matter is, there’s an inventory issue when it comes to women in country, especially in the Texas/Red Dirt scene, as well as economic concerns that often the people who criticize festivals for not having enough women don’t want to address. Last year, the LakeShake Festival earned high praise for putting on a woman-only day during the event. On Monday, LakeShake announced the festival would be canceled for 2020. It is promoted by LiveNation, who did not give a reason for the cancellation.
All that said, at the end of the day, it’s still all about the music, and Born & Raised has definitely assembled an excellent lineup. Music fans should attend completely guilt free, as should the performers. With their experience in this space, there is no doubt AEG will put on an excellent event, and it also is worth pointing out that it will be located on the same grounds of the annual Rocklahoma Festival, which is owned by Dave and Sharon Giencke, who are big supporters of the regional Oklahoma music scene, meaning they will benefit from this event as well.
It’s also a positive sign that big promotional companies are now recognizing the major economic power of traditional country, Southern rock, and Texas/Red Dirt. The fact that AEG wants to get in this space means these artists who call their own shots are now competing with the big boys (and girls) in the mainstream space more than ever.
But we also need to make sure our eyes are wide open, the greater economic impacts on up-and-coming bands that a booking concern like AEG would never touch are addressed, and the local and regional promoters who also often work hand in hand with local venues to bring good music talent to your town all year don’t get squeezed out of business by huge companies like AEG and LiveNation, which is already happening to the tune of many canceled festivals, and many sold and shuttered venues.
In short, if you want to go to Born & Raised, go. And guilt free. It’s an amazing lineup. And even though I disavowed going to such corporate-promoted events years ago, perhaps I’ll even make an exception. But I had to say my peace.
February 5, 2020 @ 12:29 pm
And yes, I know I’m being a wet blanket here, but I would be a flaming hypocrite if I didn’t point out the dilemma here.
February 5, 2020 @ 8:17 pm
Maybe you should find the facts out before posting the wet blanket?
February 5, 2020 @ 10:02 pm
It’s pathetic to sit there pouting while Willie is walking off the stage and Blackberry Smoke is walking on
February 8, 2020 @ 3:25 pm
We drove over Donner pass in a snowstorm, from Reno to Napa CA, almost exactly a year ago, to see Blackberry Smoke in an 800 seat theater. In a word, WOW. They’ll damn sure be worth seeing, as well as everybody on that ticket. But to get those great venues and feel good shows, I think ya gotta shop. The record industry has muffed it so badly, an artist has to get it while, and where, the getting is good. I understand they make the majority of their profit from merch tables. Chet Atkins must be rolling. Can’t blame the artist, they gotta make their call. But I think once the big time promoters get their little claws into it, well, let’s just say it’s hard to get the genie back in the bottle. And we the consumer are ultimately to blame. No one makes us spend the money at gunpoint and besides, I’m going to this show if I can get the necessaries.
February 5, 2020 @ 12:36 pm
As a roots rocker & C&W success story many moons ago, I could not agree with you more… Nashville left me long ago: I was too quirky, or political or old fashioned in music & business… @AEGworldwide & @LiveNation will buy up all venues and Kill Music if they can… Why? #GREED
February 5, 2020 @ 1:24 pm
People need to understand that AEG and LiveNation are not in the music business, they are in the money business with music as the commodity. Thus, it is their objective to bankrupt any and all of their competitors and take over. About the only think standing in the way of this laready happening is AEG checking the much bigger LiveNation. If they merge (which is coming), it will be dire.
February 6, 2020 @ 8:28 am
What else is new? This “Creed of Greed” has gone virtually unchecked in pretty much every industry since the Reagan years. Until recently it was questioned very little.
February 5, 2020 @ 12:45 pm
Yeah, but damn that lineup is good.
February 5, 2020 @ 12:47 pm
I’ll be making the trip from California just like I had for Tumbleweed. This lineup is too good to pass up. It sucks that I have to travel that far to see good music when I live so close to the Stagecoach Festival, which will only book acts that purely suck.
February 5, 2020 @ 1:26 pm
Stagecoach is also booked by AEG. For years I touted their lineups despite the pop country names in big fonts. They’re still one of the few festivals that books up-and-comers right beside the big mainstream names, but with them focusing more on Diplo and Lil Nas X over the years, and the hip names instead of the good ones, I see very little use for it.
February 5, 2020 @ 2:40 pm
June 7-11 there is another good lineup in Cabo (https://www.bigcabofest.com/)…why not there?
February 5, 2020 @ 2:52 pm
That looks like a place I’d want to take my shirt off and nobody deserves to be subjected to that! Seriously though, that’s a pretty good lineup but it doesn’t compare to the one Born and Raised has put together. Plus, no need for a passport or to take as many days off work.
February 5, 2020 @ 12:49 pm
Fair enough, Trigger, I appreciate you posting this. You do raise some very valid points that I really wasn’t aware of. I won’t be able to make this, as it falls on the wife’s birthday (and while she does like the country music, no way in hell I would pull this off), but if I could, I don’t think what you bring up would dissuade from attending, given the end product is so very damn attractive.
February 5, 2020 @ 1:29 pm
I don’t want to throw Born & Raised as an event under the bus. They’ve got an excellent lineup and I hope them the best. I have to check my calendar, but perhaps I’ll even make an effort to attend, and will cover it with the same enthusiasm I cover all festivals. But I do think a deeper discussion was needed with how wowed everyone was with the lineup.
February 5, 2020 @ 3:17 pm
Just to play devils advocate, and with all due respect, what’s the point of caring or even discussing, if even people like you who do care aren’t willing to sacrifice anything?
More thinking out loud than a direct criticism.I understand multiple sides to this issue. I appreciate you discussing this, but not sure what the point is if it’s just a once discussed side note and then supported by all, with enthusiasm. I mean, there’s not much chance of effecting change anyway, but really zero chance if nobody is willing to put their money where there mouth is. Then again, I’m not sure what not going in protest would accomplish either.
February 5, 2020 @ 4:24 pm
Ultimately, it’s about the music. And if you’re a country music fan who lives in the area and your mouth is watering over this lineup and it’s your one opportunity to go to a music festival, I don’t want to make you feel guilty for making that decision. There are some great bands playing, and they deserve to be supported as well. I’m just not the kind to demand boycotts (at least these days). People should do what they want. But really this was my reaction to all the super excitement everyone had this morning to the lineup announcement. I just wanted to zoom out to the bigger picture so everyone can make their own decisions, informed.
February 5, 2020 @ 4:58 pm
Understand…I see both sides.
I’m just the kind of person who notices people complaining about the loss of mom and pop stores and downtown middle America, while shopping on Amazon and at Walmart. Most of us are full of shit. It’s the “human condition.”
February 5, 2020 @ 2:11 pm
Born & Raised is one of 2-3 festivals within driving distance that fall on my birthday as well. I’m single though so I think I could get away with going if I decide to go.
February 5, 2020 @ 8:38 pm
That’s one hell of a birthday you’ll have this year, jb!!!
February 6, 2020 @ 12:23 am
I had my 30th at a festival, best decision a single guy can make.
February 5, 2020 @ 1:10 pm
Gotta side with Trig on this one. Simply put, there are too many music festivals nationwide. I’ve seen the problems the independent promoters are facing firsthand due to the sheer amount of festivals all competing for the same acts, and the bullying tactics the big corporations use to attempt to ruin these independents. It’s nasty business, make no mistake, and it’s very calculated.
I like to think of myself as a supporter of local businesses around me first, before I throw my dollars at a titan. So, I’ve largely sworn off the mega-fests and instead am supporting the little guys as much as I can. Yeah, you don’t get the rosters of huge names at these, but you do get smaller crowds, more relaxed settings and opportunities to learn about regional and local artists you might have otherwise never found at a corporate mega-fest. And you get to meet and interact with the artists.
That said, this lineup is killer, I agree.
February 5, 2020 @ 1:15 pm
What are the odds Willie (health) and Hank Jr (pitches a hissy) even makes it to this event. I’d take the odds that neither do. I love Willie to death and travel the county seeing him, but this event needed stable headlines.
February 5, 2020 @ 4:46 pm
Hank jr makes all his dates as long as he is paid and that’s not going to be a issue with AEG they have money
February 5, 2020 @ 5:32 pm
He canceled one last year in West Virginia at the very last moment because he said he was promised a helicopter not a limo from the airport.
He has a long history of hissy fits and erratic behavior.
February 5, 2020 @ 5:35 pm
https://wchstv.com/news/local/hank-williams-jr-no-longer-performing-at-peck-fest-in-pt-pleasant
February 5, 2020 @ 5:57 pm
The helicopter story is a rumor the truth is the money wasn’t there you should do some research on the promotor of that festival he has a multitude of lawsuits against him that’s not Hanks fault. I worked on hanks road crew from 2005-2017 yes indeed hank can be moody but he is good for what he says he will do and is very reliable that is why he is still headlining shows and gets paid very after almost 6 decades. Not liking him is fine hes not for everyone most people either love or hate him but to insinuate he is a unreliable headliner is fiction not fact
February 5, 2020 @ 6:23 pm
I really like Jr. It’s just my perception of him. You know better than me. I’ll take Jr. not showing off the board.
February 5, 2020 @ 1:39 pm
Such an excellent post, Trigger! When I saw this line up, I first thought it would be an amazing festival… and probably it will be. But I read your post and I understand your preoccupation. What most worries me is the lack of female artists, with nobody pointing out this problem, you apart. After reading you, I’m sure that the cancellation of Tumbleweed and Wild Hare festivals are not a coincidence but the result of the creation of this new festival. I hope that independent artists and female artists will be well-represented in this festival in the future. If not, it will mean that your fear was justified. Thank you, Trigger, for all this information.
February 5, 2020 @ 1:47 pm
This is well written and I wouldn’t consider it wet blanket at all. The effects of what you’re describing will have (and already have had) an actual real world effect. We can’t all live up to some crazy ideal when it comes to what we support, but IMO we should try at least somewhat not to be blind consumers. The hypocrisy you mention regarding the gender issue is not surprising at all. Most of the things activists (especially in the media) pretend to care about are more about helping themselves than other people. This is just one example.
February 5, 2020 @ 2:00 pm
It may be that AEG with their marketing data decided that the female genre couldn’t draw the appropriate crowd.
“Last year, the LakeShake Festival earned high praise for putting on a woman-only day during the event. On Monday, LakeShake announced the festival would be canceled for 2020. It is promoted by LiveNation, who did not give a reason for the cancellation.”
My assumption on LakeShake is the same though I have no empirical data to back that up.
February 5, 2020 @ 11:39 pm
Female is not a genre, dude.
February 6, 2020 @ 7:16 am
True. Misapplied the term but the statement still stands, lady.
February 6, 2020 @ 5:27 am
Well, there’s always Sheryl Crow, right? I’m sure she’s on every promoters speed dial.
February 5, 2020 @ 2:25 pm
As a side note, I was on John Anderson’s website and just watched his new video “Years”. Quite moving. Just wanted to get the word out.
February 5, 2020 @ 2:36 pm
Understand the point completely, but ain’t missing out… I’d pay the pope to see me sum Blackberry Smoke brotha ????
February 5, 2020 @ 2:50 pm
Zach Bryan??? For real.. damn.
February 5, 2020 @ 3:01 pm
As a gender count equalizer, how about a couples fest? Or, maybe a couples night at a larger fest?There’s a few quality candidates, such as Patton & Eady, Porter Union, Leigh & Mckay, the Stapletons, Willis & Robison, Buddy & Julie Miller, …and I expect I’m missing a few.
February 5, 2020 @ 4:25 pm
I’d go to that fest.
February 5, 2020 @ 6:08 pm
We need gender count equalizing at festivals now? I generally prefer listening to men sing. That is an aesthetic preference in the art I consume. I don’t give a fig about any of this when considering the art/music I like. Simply put, I like what I like. No shame in my game.
February 5, 2020 @ 6:12 pm
There are simply less women than men making country music at the moment, and so the idea that the only reason there isn’t 50/50 men/women at festivals and on the radio is due to sexism is shortsighted. That said, when you field a lineup of 25 artists and only two are women, especially when you claim it is representing a style of music that has many women performers in it, there’s a problem.
February 6, 2020 @ 7:15 am
You would certainly know better than I, but do women in general draw as many concert goers? Do they sell as much music? I would assume a massive promoter like this would follow the money, in their booking choices, no? In other words, if women sold the tickets we’d be talking about the dearth of men. I don’t know. Just postulating here…
February 6, 2020 @ 8:32 am
There’s kind of a stupid catch-22 going on here, in which women don’t draw as well as men because they don’t receive the same amount of label/promoter/industry support, but they don’t receive the same amount of support because they don’t draw as well. . .
February 6, 2020 @ 8:54 am
No doubt there is an economic factor to all of this that the, “JUST BOOK MORE WOMEN!” crowd fail to acknowledge or understand. But like Cackalack said, this is also due to how the industry systematically supports women less with promotional tools. This is a VERY complex issue that both sides love to oversimplify. All I’m saying is that if at the worst, women artists make up 18% of a music scene, and you’ve only booked 8%, then you’re REALLY behind the curve, especially when this has been such a hot button topic over the last few years.
February 6, 2020 @ 2:08 am
You prefer men singing? Sorry but that just makes me laugh.
February 6, 2020 @ 7:11 am
Why? Not just the singing, but typically subject matter and general relatability as well.
February 5, 2020 @ 6:25 pm
Swingers night?
February 5, 2020 @ 11:55 pm
How about just try booking some of those women? Really 2 out of 25 is pathetic. Women do not make up 50% of the successful country music artists out there, but there’s a hell of a lot more than 8% who would play great sets at festivals like this if given the chance.
I know from experience that a lot of these festivals don’t reach out to nearly as many women as they could, get turned down by a few, and claim they couldn’t find them. If festivals and clubs would just start booking more women, and giving them decent slots, we will see more ladies on stage down the line.
We have every right to call out fests who don’t give female artists (and non-white artists) a fair representation on their stages. I have had many promoters complain that they can’t find women to play their stages, and I provide them with a list of great female artists. There have been a few instances where someone I’ve given that list to has committed to booking 50% women, and noticed elevated attendance. We have valid voices that need to be heard. Its how change happens. Deal with it.
February 6, 2020 @ 8:54 am
No one pays to see women in the genre (for the most part). I don’t get it either. I think largely women don’t support women and don’t want their men going to see a woman headliner. Look at the J-Lo/ Shakira Super Bowl backlash. It’s all women tearing down other women.
February 5, 2020 @ 3:08 pm
I see why you have mixed feelings. Thanks for this information. I would have never known all these details. That said I’m probably still going since it’s only three hours away and too good of a lineup
February 5, 2020 @ 3:48 pm
[leaving aside the two headlining icons] mile 0 fest’s line-up was every bit as good and in some ways better and included many excellent up & comers playing around town for five days in multiple cool settings. as well as more women. trigger, i think you were at mile 0 and would probably agree.
February 5, 2020 @ 4:21 pm
I would agree. Independent festivals like Mile 0 Fest feature a ton of up-and-coming artists that offer little to no draw on their own, but give fans something to discover that they didn’t know about before. An AEG or LiveNation-produced event is very rarely going to do this.
I think Mile 0 Fest will be in good shape moving forward now that they are established and many of the artists will want to play it. However, they are a destination festival and you need a lot of money to pull off a 5 days festival in Key West. These regional festivals really are the lifeblood of developing talent.
There were some people cheering when Tumbleweed announced it wouldn’t be coming back because they feel like they didn’t book enough women. Well now look what you get. You couldn’t turn around at Mile 0 Fest and not see Jamie Lin Wilson, or Courtney Patton, or Bri Bagwell, or Kaitlin Butts.
February 5, 2020 @ 3:55 pm
All of this.
TRUTH.
February 5, 2020 @ 6:29 pm
Look at all those Texas country/ red dirt women!! Fuck this trash and shame on those involved. And Margo’s fake feminist ass she mills for likes.
February 5, 2020 @ 7:11 pm
Well heres the deal. Irving Azoff will wind up like Steve Jobs did. Eventually dead, and like iTunes, AEG and Live Nation will be in the toilet after Azoff is gone. Mark my word. Then its open season on who can provide the best entertainment without the limp sausage fest so called country singers! Yeah I said that and will repeat it.
February 5, 2020 @ 7:14 pm
I have to agree that AEG and LIVE NATION are corporate mongarals and are killing the little man and turning it into a monopoly
February 5, 2020 @ 8:06 pm
Well I have to disagree with all of this. Before posting these kind of comments some research should have been done. The event is not all AEG. There is a story to tell I can tell you that. So before throwing rocks do your home work.
February 5, 2020 @ 8:39 pm
Hello David,
I can totally understand how you might be frustrated or disappointed in this article, but I can assure you research was done for this article. I find it hard to believe you disagree with this paragraph:
“All that said, at the end of the day, it’s still all about the music, and Born & Raised has definitely assembled an excellent lineup. Music fans should attend completely guilt free, as should the performers. With their experience in this space, there is no doubt AEG will put on an excellent event, and it also is worth pointing out that it will be located on the same grounds of the annual Rocklahoma Festival, which is owned by Dave and Sharon Giencke, who are big supporters of the regional Oklahoma music scene, meaning they will benefit from this event as well.”
And for the record, this is not information I received in a press release, which mentions nothing and nobody aside from AEG behind the festival. I found this information from communicating with sources within the industry. I specifically went out of my way to mention it wasn’t only AEG behind the festival. If further names need to be added, feel free to reach out, and I will make sure they are mentioned as well.
I feel I was very fair and judicious about this matter, still think it’s a stellar lineup. I wish you the best with the event.
February 6, 2020 @ 6:02 am
Trigger, thank you for the positive posts you gave.
My wife and I just returned from Mile 0 fest last night tired and your posts took me wrong. 3 years of building Mile 0 and the event is now getting on its feet, year 1 took much criticism and doubts from many that it would even happen, Just a note Mile 0 fest year 1 also lacked female artists, this is not done intentionally and its not easy to fit all the players you would love to have on 1 event. AEG is a giant but the people running it our good people. Ever want to talk you have my e-mail.
February 6, 2020 @ 12:38 am
You do your best to find something to complain about on this website, don’t you?
February 6, 2020 @ 2:12 am
Ok lineup but I wouldn’t go unless I lived nearby. Hank Williams Jr? I’d much rather see Hank III. Blackberry Smoke are as overrated as it gets. And yes, they need WAY more women.
February 6, 2020 @ 2:57 am
Saving Country Music was one of the first to write an article about one of the artists and while everyone thought they were too hard on him, Zach was happy to know someone cared enough to remind him of a man’s need to stay humble. I must say that seeing the corporate taking of small town ability is hard to swallow at times; but, I will attend without guilt as I get to see my son who may be one of the youngest in the line up and I’m fairly certain the only one who will be taking leave to perform. Thanks for your objective article and for supporting Zach Bryan and so many other talented artists around the country.
February 7, 2020 @ 5:39 am
I’m always glad to read your comments here, sir. Your son seems to be an outstanding person, in addition to being a talented singer and songwriter. Best of luck to all of you in the future.
February 6, 2020 @ 4:32 am
The industry must be seeing that country music as a whole is worth putting money behind because even here in Montreal, where there’s almost never country shows, we’re getting a country festival this year. Mind you it’s probably going to be very mainstream as the only headliner announced so far is Luke Bryan, but it’s still odd to be seeing one coming.
February 6, 2020 @ 8:10 am
As someone still coming down from a Mile 0 Fest high, it’s good to be reminded that everything in the world actually sucks when you really look closely at it.
February 6, 2020 @ 8:58 am
Bottle Rockets, Shane Smith and Band of Heathens?? Good lord Lorrie
February 6, 2020 @ 11:41 am
So Price becomes a hypocrite when a big paycheck shows up. Typical.
February 9, 2020 @ 8:13 pm
Margo Price is the most self absorbed, hypocritical “musician” in Nashville. The list of people choosing not to work with her (or her creepy husband) grows longer every week.
February 7, 2020 @ 11:15 am
After all the bitching Margo does about not being fair to women, has anyone, say like someone who identifies as a journalist, asked her WHY she seems just fine with being only one of two women playing at THIS fest? Trig? Wanna take a stab at that?
You may wanna ask Elizabeth Cook too. Seems like I’ve seen her bitching about the same shit before.
February 8, 2020 @ 12:50 pm
Bottom line Trig I hear you and I get it. However as a small promoter 13 year ago now I lost my ass as most small promoters eventually do. Most fun I ever had working hard because the artists were all great to work with. Much respect to folks like David Card (poor David’s Pub) The Minick family (Billy Bobs Texas) that make it. At least the artists will get a payday and the fans will get a good show and some local promoter won’t go bankrupt if things don’t work out. Trust me the ship has sailed Live Nation and AEG are too deep pocketed to stop.
September 15, 2021 @ 12:19 pm
Heading to Born & Raised 2021. Hoping its worth the cost this year. Using our tickets from last year, except the line up isn’t even close to the 2020 line up. I feel duped.