The first Thunder on the
Mountain music festival had good talent from the beginning. And it just keeps getting better, says festival director Brett Mosiman.
Friday night headliner Luke Bryan earlier this year earned the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year award several months after he confirmed his appearance here. At the same ceremony, Thompson Square collected its second consecutive Vocal Duo of the Year award.
“I think the country fans are really going to be amazed at the depth of the festival,” Mosiman says.
Mosiman believes the first Thunder on the Mountain is the only country music festival in the state of Arkansas and knows it’s one of only a few in the region. Local fans have responded, and about 80 percent of those attending the first festival will come from Arkansas and Oklahoma, Mosiman says.
Thunder on the Mountain takes place just days after the conclusion of the Wakarusa festival, which happens on the same event grounds and comes from the same production group, the Kansas-based Pipeline Productions company. But Thunder differs in many significant ways, primarily in its principal genre - country, in all its permutations.
Toby Keith is the Saturday night headliner. The Oklahoma-born songwriter has recorded dozens of hits, from “How Do You Like Me Now” to “Red Solo Cup,” a party anthem released in 2011.
Bryan, who headlines the mainstage on Friday night, is newer to the scene but has an impressive number of hits himself, including “Rain is a Good Thing” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.
Thursday’s headliner is Big and Rich, known for “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).” Underneath those three headliners are a diverse group of about three dozen support acts, from the country rock of Shooter Jennings, to the Texassounds of Pat Green to the party rock
anthems of Gretchen Wilson.
The first Thunder on the Mountain will start as a smaller festival, but Mosiman expects it will soon rivalWakarusa in size and scope. It already
reaches a different - and more diverse - demographic. Wakarusa is a young person’s game, for the most part, while Thunder demographics trend olderand more female.
More so than at Wakarusa - and as a more regional festival - Mosiman believes that more festivalgoers will travel back and forth from the festival site. In preparation, more day parking areas will exist than during the same venue’s other festivals.
Whats Up, Pages 10 on 05/31/2013