The top of the bill at the forthcoming Pilgrimage Festival in Tennessee looks a little like a reprise of the recent Grammy Awards telecast, with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile and Grammy king Jon Batiste all set to perform this September.
From there, the festival takes a more decided skew toward Americana than it has in past years, although it also leans into other genres. The Avett Brothers are also among the headliners, on a lineup that includes Lake Street Dive, Celisse, Elle King, Dawes, Adia Victoria, Marty Stuart, Molly Tuttle, Butch Walker and Trampled by Turtles.
Pilgrimage takes place Sept. 24-25 at the Park at Harlinsdale in Franklin, about a half-hour south of Nashville.
Better Than Ezra is one of the outliers on the bill, as a more straight-ahead rock band, and there’s a good reason the band is there: Frontman Kevin Griffin is one of Pilgrimage’s co-founders. He owned up to aiming the festival in a certain direction for 2022 that befits the area where it’s held, so there are no all-out rock ‘n’ roll headliners, a la the presence of the Foo Fighters, Weezer and the Killers in the past. It’s also had appearances from pop stars like Justin Timberlake, who is a partner in the festival.
“This is a real focused lineup this year,” Grffin told the Tennessean. “We wanted it to be about one thing, and it’s country and Americana. It just feels really concise, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. … A lot of the festivals around us, Bonnaroo and (others) this year were wanting to be everything to everybody, to greater or lesser success. We looked at what our fans have asked for – the artists – and we’re like, ‘Wow, this feels more Americana, with a leaning towards a bit of country.’ And so that’s what we went for.”
The Pilgrimage Festival follows very close on the hells of another nearby festival that actually has Americana in its name, AmericanaFest, taking place Sept. 13-18 in Nashville, although that gathering is a mix of industry panels and public showcases.
Two-day passes go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m., starting at $219, at PilgrimageFestival.
Additional Pilgrimage acts include Brittney Spencer, Lennon Stella, Black Joe Lewis, Bones Owens, Brittney Spencer, Jensen McRae, Yasmin Williams, Tigirlily, the Brummies, Marc Scibilia, Bexar, Allie Crow Buckley, Zach Person, Eiljah Wolf, Desure, Garrett T. Capps, Rosie Flores, Santiago Jimenez Jr., Hog Slop String Band, the Peterson Brothers, Texas Hill, the FBR and People on the Porch.
