Wide Open Bluegrass festival will take place October 3-4, 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The impressive lineup this year includes Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with Bruce Hornsby, Del McCoury Band with special guests, Hot Rize (with Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers), Gibson Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Sierra Hull, Yonder Mountain String Band; Jerry Douglas presents The Earls of Leicester with Shawn Camp, Tim O’Brien, Johnny Warren, Charlie Cushman and Barry Bales.
Also, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn; Balsam Range; Lonesome River Band; Chatham County Line; Noam Pikelny & Stuart Duncan; Della Mae; Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out; The Grascals; Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice; Special Consensus; Town Mountain; The Deadly Gentlemen; James King Band; Larry Stephenson Band; Mustered Courage; The Roys, The Davidson Brother, The Kruger Brothers with Kontras Quartet’s world premiere of new concerto “Lucid Dreamer” and the Wide Open Jam, featuring the superstar lineup of Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton and Stuart Duncan as the performers for the ticketed portion of the two-day music festival.
The festival also features two special acts: Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Jesse McReynolds, from Virginia, and Bobby Hicks, from North Carolina, a ten time Grammy award winning fiddler who recently received the prestigious North Carolina Heritage Award from the North Carolina Arts Council. For his concert, Hicks will be joined by musicians Tony Williamson, Ron Shuffler and other special guests.
“We’re so pleased that, once again, Wide Open Bluegrass will present such a diverse, acclaimed lineup of artists at both Red Hat Amphitheater and the Raleigh Convention Center this fall,” said William Lewis, Executive Director of PineCone (the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music) and Wide Open Bluegrass producer. “And, in the weeks to come, we may have an additional guest or two to add to this esteemed roster.”
Wide Open Bluegrass is part of International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass 2014 conference, which takes place September 30 – October 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
IBMA’s World of Bluegrass consists of four parts: the IBMA Business Conference, September 30 – October 2; the 25th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, October 2; Wide Open Bluegrass, October 3-4 (which includes both free stages and ticketed festival performances) and the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases, taking place September 30 – October 2 in downtown Raleigh and at the Raleigh Convention Center.
For tickets go to ibma.org