The North Mississippi Allstars, an internationally touring blues band known for its energetically rollicking shows, top the third and final list of bands joining the 14th annual Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival lineup. The NMAs, making their RW debut, have been nominated for four Grammys over a 25-year career that has produced 12 albums and countless sold-out shows. Big Something will also join the RW14 lineup. The North Carolina-based jam band has played nearly half a dozen Rooster Walks over the years. The six-piece band is known for its big sound of soaring guitar solos, synth, horns, and soulful vocals. They will bring their much-loved sound to Pop’s Farm in Martinsville, Va., which will host RW14 from May 23-26, 2024.
Other bands getting added to the lineup include Jim Lauderdale & The Game Changers (roots rock, iconic songwriter from Nashville, TN); The Seldom Scene (internationally celebrated pioneers of progressive bluegrass); The Rooster Walk House Band (an all-star collective featuring Ron Holloway, Jeff Sipe, Josh Shilling, Wallace Mullinax, Florencia Rusinol, Jake Dempsey, and friends); Myron Elkins (swamp rock, Otsego, MI); The Collection (Indie Rock, Saxapahaw, NC); Kaira Ba (world music, North Carolina); Holler Choir (old-time, Asheville, NC); Lillie Mae (singer/songwriter, Nashville, TN); Kind Hearted Strangers (rock, Colorado); Florencia & The Feeling (R&B/soul, Johnson City, TN); The Shoaldiggers (horny swampgrass, North Carolina); Sela Campbell (country, Northern Virginia); Raffi Kids’ Set (a Raffi tribute by Miles Andrews and full band; Saxapahaw, NC); Sugarbush (rock/blues, Virginia).
Bands that had been previously announced for the RW14 lineup include Emmylou Harris (Country Music Hall of Fame inductee with five No. 1 singles on the Billboard country music charts, Nashville, TN); Cory Wong (funk/rock/pop, Minneapolis, MN); Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band (a Colorado supergroup featuring members of Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, Jon Stickley Trio, and more); two nights of Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country (Nashville, Tenn., jam twang); TAUK Moore (a funk collaboration between Doom Flamingo’s Kanika Moore and TAUK); Dogs in a Pile (a New Jersey-based funk/jazz/rock jam band); Couch (Boston, Mass. – funk/rock/soul); Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast (Asheville, N.C. – rock); Yarn (NC/NY roots rockers who will once again perform an original set and a festival-finishing tribute set); Arkansauce (progressive bluegrass from northwest Arkansas); Sneezy (high-energy party music from Chicago, Ill.); The Mountain Grass Unit (up-and-coming bluegrass shredders from Alabama); Isaac Hadden Organ Trio (masterful musicianship from a North Carolina power trio); Sol Driven Train (upbeat, horn-driven rock’n’roll beach vibes from Charleston, SC); J & The Causeways (a New Orleans-based soul powerhouse reminiscent of St. Paul & The Broken Bones); Sticks N Thorns (a bluegrass duo featuring Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon and Jon Stickley); Travis Book & Friends (an Asheville, N.C., Americana/rock band led by The Infamous Stringdusters’ Travis Book); Colby T. Helms & The Virginia Creepers (bluegrass from nearby Franklin County, Va.); Clay Street Unit (Colorado-based honky tonk/roots rock); The Jared Stout Band (southern rock, New River Valley, VA); and Mighty Joshua (authentic reggae from central Virginia); TC Carter Band (blues, Martinsville, Va.); Lua Flora (beach folk, Asheville, N.C.); Big Fat Gap (bluegrass, Chapel Hill, N.C.); Jules & The Agreeables (rock, Key West, Fla.); DJ What (Martinsville, Va. – DJ); Pirates of the Piedmont (pirate shanties, Martinsville, Va.).
Many ticket types have sold out or are in low inventory, but Rooster Walk 14 admission tickets remain available and can be purchased at www.roosterwalk.com, which also features all the information needed to plan for an amazing experience. Primitive festival camping is included with all admission tickets. Children aged 12 and under are admitted for free.
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 40+ bands 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' programming, family fun, craft beer, great food, arts, and numerous opportunities to enjoy Virginia's great outdoors with kayak river floats, pedal boats, 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 and listed as one of the Best Family-Friendly Festivals by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. 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 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting music, arts, and education in its home of Martinsville-Henry County. Since 2009, Rooster Walk Inc. has donated more than $320,000 to local and regional charities.
