Rock, Roots & Country

Music festivals grow in attendance and number

Thousands gathered in 2012 for the annual Wakarusa festival, which takes place on Mulberry Mountain north of Ozark on Arkansas 23. The festival site is also home to Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival and a newly announced event, a country music festival scheduled for June 6-8.

Thousands gathered in 2012 for the annual Wakarusa festival, which takes place on Mulberry Mountain north of Ozark on Arkansas 23. The festival site is also home to Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival and a newly announced event, a country music festival scheduled for June 6-8.

Friday, December 28, 2012

As major music events such as Wakarusa and Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Festival keep steady or slightly elevated attendance when compared to years past, another newly announced festival is expected to surpass them all.

That’s the word from the folks at Pipeline Productions, who coordinate both festivals at the Mulberry Mountain site in rural Franklin County.

This fall, Pipeline officials announced Thunder on the Mountain, a country music festival expected to draw more fans than Wakarusa, will be June 6-8. That would mean some 25,000 or more festivalgoers are expected to converge on the mountainside north of Ozark on Arkansas 23.

Brett Mosiman of Pipeline Productions told What’s Up! in early December that country radio stations, which play music by Thunder headliners such as Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry, Luke Bryan, Big & Rich and more, will be the key to the festival’s success. Although some of the artists at Harvest and Wakarusa get radio play, their airtime comes far short of rivaling that experienced by country artists.

With different genres, attendees and concepts, festivals are prospering in Northwest Arkansas.

“You’ve got each festival carving out a niche,” says Bryan Hembree, who along with his bandmates in 3 Penny Acre organized the Fayetteville Roots Festival.

The Roots festival caters to lovers of Americana, roots and folk genres with an emphasis on songwriting. And this year proved to be its best year by far, attendance wise. With the addition of a fourth day of music and big-name headliners such asDavid Grisman and John Prine, festival attendance doubled over last year, Hembree says.

“The size of the crowd was astonishing.”

Hembree says festivals are successful in NorthwestArkansas because of the cadre of local musicians using this area as a home base. Trent Waglerof The Steel Wheels, one of the groups that performed at this year’s Roots festival, told What’sUp! earlier in the year that Fayetteville - and specifically the Roots Festival - is earning a national reputation as a friendly environment.

Hembree agrees.

“Northwest Arkansas, musically, is a hidden gem.

… There’s a perfect fit for showcasing the community,” he says.

Work has already begun on the 2013 edition of the Roots festival. Likewise, officials with Pipeline Productions are already busy preparing for the next Wakarusa, which will take place May 30 through June 2. The lineup for the annual festival, which this year will be celebrating its 10th birthday, will be announced in three parts starting on Jan. 3.

Whats Up, Pages 15 on 12/28/2012