Organizers for the inaugural Thunder on the Mountain country music festival have announced the artists who will perform at the three-day event. Among the musicians who will make an appearance at the festival, which takes place June 6-8 on Mulberry Mountain in Franklin County, are Toby Keith, Luke Bryan, Big & Rich and Justin Moore.
Brett Mosiman of presenting organization Pipeline Productions, which also is responsible for the Wakarusa and Yonder Mountain String Band Harvest Music Festival events on the same site, expects Thunder on the Mountain will be bigger than Wakarusa. That means Thunder on the Mountain is expected to draw in excess of 25,000 fans.
Wakarusa moved to the remote Mulberry Mountain site in 2009 after several years in Kansas. Upon his arrival at the mountainside venue, which is surrounded by national forest, Mosiman immediately began thinking about a country music festival. Mosiman and colleagues at Pipeline, a Lawrence, Kan.-based production company, have been working on the premise of a country festival for about five years and in earnest on the upcoming festival for about a year and a half.
Even if the site presents itself beautifully, as Mosiman believes it does, it needs a product that will interest fans as well. Mosiman thinks country music is the ticket.
“As we did research, we found there really isn’t a camping country music festival in Texas, Oklahomaor Arkansas. ... There are a lot of country fans out there,” he says. And even as Wakarusa hosts about 20,000 fans and additional security, vendors and support staff, it does so without a radio station that plays much of the music that can be found on the stages there. That’s why Mosiman thinks the radio-friendlysounds of Thunder on the Mountain artists will draw a massive crowd.
“Hopefully, we’ve tapped into a lineup that will spur their imagination,” he says.
Mosiman expects a large walk-up crowd for the festival, which also will feature camping arrangements similar to those offeredat Wakarusa.
Ticket prices begin at $131 for a three-day pass and will increase as the festival nears.
Parking is $25 per day or up to $79 for a main venue camping pass.
A full lineup and ticket information can be found at thunderonthemountain.com.
Whats Up, Pages 10 on 12/07/2012