Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Lineup

Golden Gate Park hosts popular annual fest

San Francisco, CA – For the past 18 years, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has brought hundreds of thousands of die-hard live music fans from around the world to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park each October.

This year, on October 4-6, Hardly Strictly will celebrate its 19th year with performances by celebrated acoustic duo The Milk Carton Kids, the unique collaboration of Calexico and Iron & Wine, Ukraine’s heralded folk-music group Dakhabrakha, Texas troubadour Hayes Carll, Bay Area golden boy Jackie Greene, cowpunk heroes Meat Puppets, powerhouse soul spirit Bettye LaVette, country-music renaissance woman Margo Price, songwriting legend Steve Earle, and British-Irish folk-rockers The Waterboys.

Summer Fun Starts Here!

Summer Fun Starts Here!

Summer Fun Starts Here!

Summer Fun Starts Here!

“To me, this lineup reflects our event’s legacy while looking ahead to the future. Steve Earle has been celebrating with us since 2002 and artists like Margo Price and Dahkabrahka are making their first Hardly Strictly Bluegrass appearances.”

Chris Porter (festival talent buyer)

This first round of artists was announced today after Hardly Strictly fans were treated to what the festival calls an “artist medley”-a sneak-peak audio clip of soon to be announced artists-on the festival’s social media accounts. The first lineup announce coincides with the 85th birthday of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass founder Warren Hellman who created the festival in 2001 as a gift to the people of San Francisco and the world, celebrating American “roots” music and its many outgrowths.

Several of recently announced performers are also participating in Hardly Strictly Out of the Park-a series of evening shows at a number of local venues in which $1.00 per ticket goes to Music in the Schools Today. Jackie Greene, Meat Puppets, Hayes Carll, Calexico and Iron & Wine, and The Waterboys will each perform one of these Out of the Park shows surrounding Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

Lineup Additions (Round 2)

• Dry Branch Fire Squad
• Tanya Tucker
• Daniel Norgren
• Buddy Miller & Dirk Powell with Stuart Duncan
• John Craigie
• Hot Buttered Rum
• Mdou Moctar’s Tuareg
• Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
• Sierra Hull
• Nikki Lane

Lineup additions (Round 3)

• Mandolin Orange
• Emmylou Harris
• Flor De Toloache
• Whiskerman
• Kurt Vile & The Violators
• Mary Gauthier
• Pimps of Joytime
• Robert Plant
• The Wild Reeds
• Yola

Lineup additions (Round 4)

• Caitlin Canty
• Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express
• Bedouine
• Hot Tuna
• The Infamous Stringduster
• Kronos Quartet’s Pete Seeger @ 100 with special guests
• The Long Ryders
• Hiss Golden Messenger
• Poor Man’s Whiskey
• Tank & The Bangas

Lineup additions (Final Round)

• Adia Victoria
• Bill Frisell : HARMONY F: Petra Haden
• Hank Roberts & Luke Bergman
• Bill Kirchen
• Bobby Braddock
• Brothers Gibb
• The Budos Band
• Chastity Brown
• Fantastic Negrito
• The Flatlanders
• The Go To Hell Man Band
• Ismay Presents: Songs and Stories from Sonoma Mountain
• Joan Osborne
• Joan Shelley
• John Kay
• Jon Langford and the Skull Orchard Welsh Male Voice Choir
• Judy Collins
• Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands
• Lebo & Friends featuring George Porter Jr.
• John Molo
• Wally Ingram
• Adam MacDougall & Jenniffer Hartswick
• Live From Here with Chris Thile with Grace Potter and J.S. Ondara
• Mapache
• Marco & The Polos
• Mercury Rev & Beth Orton Perform Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete
• Michael Nesmith & The First National Band
• Moonalice
• Moshe Vilozny
• Nancy & The Lambchops
• The New Pornographers
• Parsonsfield
• Punch Brothers
• Rayland Baxter
• Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
• Robert Earl Keen
• Robert Ellis
• Shooter Jennings
• St. Paul & the Broken Bones
• Travis Meadows
• Will Kimbrough
• Wood & Wire
• Y La Bamba

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass takes place within Golden Gate Park in Hellman Hollow, Lindley Meadow, and Marx Meadow. All meadows open for entry at 10 am with music starting at noon on Friday and 11 am on Saturday and Sunday. Food and non-alcoholic beverage vendors will be stationed around the park. No alcoholic beverages will be sold during the festival, but patrons are allowed to bring beer and wine as long as it is not in glass containers. Hard alcohol is prohibited. In addition, coolers, blankets, and short-back chairs are allowed. Cameras are allowed, but not tripods or other intrusive equipment.

Due to limited parking surrounding Golden Gate Park, attendees are highly encouraged to use public transit, ride-share, bike, or walk instead of driving. Long-time festival-goers will also be happy to know that for the first time in years, Hardly Strictly will not coincide with San Francisco Fleet Week. Patrons will be able to enjoy the intimacy of acoustic sets without noisy jets overhead.

Please visit www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com for more information.