2024 Lovegrass Music Festival Line Up
It is rare for there to exist a defining moment that changes the trajectory of four lives at once. But, clear as a lightning bolt in an open field, so electric was the moment The Fretliners first played together around a single microphone in the Cloverlick banjo shop barn one fateful evening, they knew they would be inseparable from that moment on.
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The Fretliners are a genuine and powerful bluegrass quartet recognized for their songwriting and undeniable chemistry. Their newfound camaraderie produces an energy that is as infectious on stage as it is on record. So much so that in the summer of 2023, they won both band competitions at Telluride Bluegrass and Rockygrass Festivals—a feat that had only been accomplished once before. That September, they released their debut eponymous album to acclaim and adoration.
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With one eye on the rear-view, inspired by that traditional high lonesome sound, The Fretliners navigate a road less traveled into the peaks of Rocky Mountain original bluegrass.
In the summer of 2006, Alex Thoele and Jon Pickett met while playing guitars around a campfire, high on a mountaintop in Estes Park, CO. The two have been entertaining and writing music since. In 2010, they were joined by mandolin player and fellow midwesterner Jarett Mason.
Chain Station is a 4-piece, high-energy, get ‘em out on the dance floor string band from Denver, Colorado. Their music is well-steeped in Americana roots, with vocal harmonies that are high, lonesome, and tight. Their picking ranges from lightning-fast to mountain mellow. They are a bluegrass band that would satisfy a picky old-timer and delight fans of newgrass, a delicate balance indeed.
They've become known for winning over crowds with creative, fun original songs that flow from the mountains, through them and right back to you. Pure Mountain Music! It's obvious these guys love what they do, engaging their growing fan base with energy and stage antics that guarantee one hell of a night out.
The band’s highly anticipated new album “Backroads” went public May 11, 2019. The album “Where I want To Be” was released October, 2016.
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Foot stomping clawhammer banjo, powerful vocal harmonies, and ripping mandolin and fiddle melodies to energetic rhythms. Front Porch returns to the Lovegrass stage with a musical mastery that borders on unbelievable! Each incredible musicians in their own right Alex, Cameron, Petey, and John Henry come together to make a whole that is greater than their individual parts, blending contemporary folk songwriting styles with an old time mountain sound rooted in Ozark tradition - Front Porch is here to make you hoot and holler. Front Porch will also host a workshop Saturday morning at the Midland Railroad Hotel. If you haven't listened to their new album, make sure to add it to your playlist, we've had it on repeat since it dropped and is definitely one of the best releases of 2023; give it a spin, you'll be glad you did!
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“Front Porch performs with all the usual ingredients of bluegrass and folk but bakes them up into a post-punk old-time acid jazz barn-burning bluegrass fusion that will have you jumping” - Ozark Highlands Radio
They say "make hay while the sun is shining!" If you want a show with the power of the sun, look no further than Haymakers! Returning to the Lovegrass stage, these guys bring a mix of bluegrass, blues, folk, Americana and more that truly entertains. Led by the vocal and harmonica stylings of Dustin Arbuckle, this Wichita, Kansas jam-band brings a genre-bending show that will have you out of your seat. They'll also be offering a workshop at the Midland Railroad Hotel on Saturday morning.
High-energy, virtuosic (and, on occasion, hilarious) music, made in Kansas – The Matchsellers are coming to Lovegrass and this is one show you won't want to miss! Andrew Morris returns to the Lovegrass stage with the band, offering spectacular musical style, insightful lyrics, and a performance that is truly unique. In addition to their performance they'll also be offering a workshop Friday morning.
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The core musical partnership of Andrew Morris (Guitar/Vocals) and Julie Bates (Fiddle/Vocals) began when the two met in Leipzig, Germany. They were two American Midwesterners on Fulbright Scholarships working as Cultural Ambassadors to Germany. Now, more than ten years later, they are true folk trailblazers creating entire universes with their music.
Morris and Bates are joined on Mandolin by Brian McCarty (Greg Blake Band, the Bluegrass Missourians) and on Bass by Brandon Day (Kansas City Jazz Bassist). With the addition of McCarty and Day, the Matchsellers’ newest iteration is as free, joyful and powerful as ever. The band is at the apex of its songwriting and musicianship.
MAW is a rowdy string band made up of Kansas women who like to play and sing songs about murder, mules, mining, and morphine. MAW took the stage for the first time in late 2006 and has playing shows around the Midwest ever since. Set lists combine traditional and original songs that are sung and played around a single condenser mic.
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Our first CD, Advice for the Young and Foolish, was released in 2009 to enthusiastic reviews locally as well as on Bluegrass Unlimited and in the Old Time Herald. Our second CD, Pit of Desire, was released in 2012, and our last CD, Bought the Farm, was released in the fall of 2015. Our music has been played on radio stations around the U.S. and in Europe.
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MAW is
Kit Cole, fiddle, vocals;
Katie Conrad, mandolin, assorted stringed instruments, vocals;
Tracy Floreani, guitar, tenor guitar, vocals;
Julie Schwarting, upright bass, vocals;
Jeanie Wells, clawhammer banjo, guitar, vocals.
Pon-tunes are one of the major highlights of the festival every year, and our pals Old Fangled are coming back to rock the boat once again!
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Lawrence (KS) area music veterans of the last 20 years that perform a forthright cross section of American music including bluegrass, old time, honky-tonk and western swing.
​You can find us on sunny days playing in the yard or park while the smoker smokes and the kids run and yell. We enjoy playing weddings, local community events, parties, fund-raisers, down on Mass Street and just about any place people gather to relax and have fun.
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Doug Byers: Mandolin
Dave Learned: Guitar
Paul Schmidt: Dobro
Greg Yother: Bass
Chris Millspaugh: Harmonicas