Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival announces first names

Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival has announced the first round of acts to grace its 2024 posters. This first lineup release includes some well-known names from the international folk and bluegrass circuits, and a few of them are making their first-ever appearance in Europe.

The Kody Norris Show, The Dirty Grass Players, Annie Bartholomew, and The Slocan Ramblers are all making their European debuts at the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival 2024. Headline acts Dom Flemons and Seth Mulder & Midnight Run are considered exceptional performers of American roots music, known for both their instrumental prowess and their ability to entertain audiences from the first note to the last. The complete lineup, which will be announced nearer to the festival dates, consists of more than thirty acts from the Netherlands and beyond, plus an extensive fringe program.

For initiator, director and programmer Guido de Groot, the announcement is a special moment: “It’s always exciting to see how the first round is received. With just these six names we’re already presenting a great cross-section of the total program, with both established names and rising stars, and from traditional to innovative bluegrass and folk,” he says.

The established names include American folk, country and blues performer and multi- instrumentalist Dom Flemons, whose repertoire spans a hundred years of American music history, as well as Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, also a familiar name in Rotterdam. The latter are more on the traditional end of the bluegrass spectrum, like the promising new ensemble The Kody Norris Show, whose spectacular showmanship and stage presence virtually guarantee they’ll be audience favorites. An equally lively show is The Slocan Ramblers, who brilliantly combine innovation and tradition in their bluegrass. Things get a little more progressive with The Dirty Grass Players and their almost-psychedelic newgrass, while Alaska native Annie Bartholomew’s original folk music transports you back to a bygone era in her home state.

Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival will take place on June 28, 29, and 30, 2024. Early-bird ticket sales begin Thursday, February 29 at 12:00.