Internationally touring purveyors of psychedelic funk, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, top a list of 19 bands added to the 13th annual Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival lineup, festival organizers announced today. These additions finalize the band lineup for the multi-genre, family-friendly festival which will take place May 25-28, 2023 at Pop’s Farm in Martinsville, Va.
Also joining Pigeons Playing Ping Pong in Rooster Walk’s third, and final, band announcement are: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears (blues/funk/soul), The Lil Smokies (progressive bluegrass), Orgōne (funk), Dangermuffin (beach roots rock), Kelsey Waldon (vintage country), Erin & The Wildfire (rock), The Judy Chops (roots rock), Songs From The Road Band (bluegrass), Dave Eggar Band (jazz/folk), The Jared Stout Band (southern rock), Cristina Vane (Americana), Empire Strikes Brass (brass band), Into The Fog (bluegrass), Blue Cactus (Americana), Rob Cheatham and Co. (rock), Oh, Christopher (singer songwriter), P&HCC Jazz (jazz band), and the Junior Appalachian Musicians (youth bluegrass consortium), which will bring some of the region’s most talented young bluegrass pickers to the stages of RW13.
Those nineteen artists will meld with the 24 acts that have already been announced as part of Rooster Walk’s lineup: overall festival headliner Greensky Bluegrass (progressive bluegrass), St. Paul & The Broken Bones (soul), The Marshall Tucker Band (southern rock icons), Neal Francis (neo-soul), Kitchen Dwellers (progressive bluegrass), Doom Flamingo (a six-piece synthwave beast), Trouble No More (all-star collective paying tribute to The Allman Brothers Band), Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer (rock/blues), Yarn (roots rock), Neighbor (jam), Mike & The Moonpies (neotraditional country), The Stews (southern rock), Crawford & Power (red-clay country), Jon Stickley Trio (jazzgrass), Sol Driven Train (rock), Sneezy (R&B/Soul/Jam), The Wilson Springs Hotel (country/western/swing/bluegrass), Isaac Hadden Organ Trio (rock/funk), TC Carter Band (blues/rock), Sanctum Sully (rock), Big Fat Gap (bluegrass), Jules & The Agreeables (rock), and Pirates of the Piedmont (musical marauders).
In addition, the festival recently unveiled its roster of Artists at Large: Ron Holloway (saxophone, Dizzy Gillespie/Allman Bros.), Jeff Sipe (drums, Apt. Q258/Aquarium Rescue Unit), Josh Shilling (vocals/keys/organ, Mountain Heart), Erin Lunsford (vocals/guitar, Erin & The Wildfire), Wallace Mullinax (guitar, Dead 27s), Robby Carden (harmonica, Jared Stout Band), and Jake Dempsey (bass, The Dead Reckoning). These seven artists will form the “Rooster Walk House Band” for one set of improv magic on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, while also sitting in as guest musicians with different bands at the festival all weekend.
Tickets for Rooster Walk 13 are now on sale and going fast at the newly redesigned website, www.roosterwalk.com, which also features all the information needed to plan for an amazing experience: band bios and music, ticket descriptions, festival experiences, frequently asked questions, a venue map and more.
The festival will take place Thursday-Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in the rolling foothills surrounding Martinsville, Va. Rooster Walk is a 4-day festival celebrating music, art, and the great outdoors at the idyllic Pop's Farm venue. With roughly 50 acts performing on 6 different stages, an amazing roster of stellar music steers the Rooster Walk experience.
In addition to approximately 80 sets of live music, the family-friendly Rooster Walk will offer a wide variety of kids' activities, craft beer, great food, arts and numerous opportunities to enjoy Virginia's great outdoors with kayak river floats, bike rides, yoga, a disc golf course and beautiful on-site camping.
Rooster Walk has been named one of the Top 5 festivals in the state by the Richmond-Times Dispatch. It also was voted the region’s Most Creative Charitable Event by readers of Virginia Living Magazine for three consecutive years. The festival was created in memory of late Martinsville natives Edwin “The Rooster” Penn and Walker Shank, who graduated from Martinsville High School in 2000.
A portion of proceeds from the festival will be donated to local and regional charities, including Rooster Walk’s own Penn-Shank Memorial Endowment Scholarship Fund for students at Martinsville High School, and the Rooster Walk Music Instrument Program for public band programs in the local city and county school systems.
The festival is produced by Rooster Walk Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting music, arts and education in its home of Martinsville-Henry County. Since 2009, Rooster Walk Inc. has donated more than $270,000 to local and regional charities.
