Grammy Award-winning folk singer Patty Griffin will headline the 9th annual Red Ants Pants Music Festival in Montana's White Sulphur Springs in July.
Sarah Calhoun, the owner of Red Ants Pants, announced this year's lineup Friday during a block party in White Sulphur Springs that also was shown on Facebook live. “This year’s lineup includes incredible depth and diversity including Grammy-award winning stars and up-and-coming artists with new sounds that might help you find your next new favorite musician," Calhoun said in a news release.
With a reputation for pairing Grammy award-winning superstars with festival producer Calhoun’s hand-picked rising stars, the festival has grown from 6,000 attendees in its first year to 18,000 in 2018.
Griffin, this year's headliner, is one of the most consequential singer-songwriters of her era, Calhoun said of Griffin at the block party event. Patty Griffin is the headliner of the 2019 Red Ants Pants Festival. (Photo: Michael Wilson Square). Griffin, 55, is known for stripped-down song writing and pure vocals, Calhoun said.
Her album, "Downtown Church," won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album in 2011. "Servant of Love" was nominated for a Grammy Award for best folk album in 2016.
Her songs have been covered by Harris, Sugarland, Dixie Chicks, Linda Ronstadt, Bette Midler, Ellis Paul, Rory Block and Dave Hause.Calhoun also announced that country legend Bobby Bare will perform.
Bare, 83, had nearly five dozen top 40 hits from 1962 to 1983, including "Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home." His literate, cross-cultural appeal earned him the sobriquet “the Springsteen of country," according to the festival. Shakey Graves, born Alejandro Rose-Garcia, was named 2015 Americana Music Awards Best Emerging Artist winner. He also will perform. Graves' most recent album, "Can’t Wake Up," has been called his most ambitious and audacious work yet.
Other performers at this year's festival include: Colter Wall, Valerie June, Suzy Boggus, The White Buffalo, Darrell Scott, Mipso, The Steel Wheels, The Waifs, Dustbowl Rivival, The East Pointers, William Prince, Lilly Hiatt, Bo Depena, Tris Munsick and the Innocents. Calhoun founded White Sulphur Springs-based Red Ants Pants, a company dedicated to making work clothes for women.The festival, held every July in a working sweet clover cow pasture three miles outside of town, was launched as a way to bring people together. This year's music festival is July 25-28.