Bootheel Bluegrass Festival slated for Jan. 24 to 26

American roots music will make its presence known through nine bands — with fiddles, guitars and banjos in hand — during the 12th annual Bootheel Bluegrass Festival, Jan. 24 to 26 at Bavarian Halle in Fruitland.

Event co-promoter Tammy Harman said planning the festival has been a yearlong process and expects roughly 400 people to attend.

“There are people who come and stay for the weekend from the St. Louis area,” she said. “We even have some couples from Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas.”

Jan. 24 is all-gospel night, Harman said, and will showcase a band from RFD-TV visiting from Mississippi: Allen Sibley and the Magnolia Ramblers.

“We will also have The Family Sowell; they’re a band from Texas and they recently moved to the Nashville area and got a record deal,” she said.

All of the bands at this year’s event are traveling, except for The Gipsons, from Marquand, Missouri, she said.

On Jan. 25, The Harmans from Illinois will perform along with the “really popular” The Bakers. People “just insist that they are there,” she said. “It’s a mom and her three kids that are really entertaining with dancing and trick fiddling,” Harman said.

The Bakers — from Birch Tree, Missouri — will perform Jan. 25 and 26. The group is full-time on the road, she said, and are currently performing in Texas.

“Friday night (Jan. 25), we will have the same bands, but there is a dinner break in between,” Harman said. “We have catering from Country Mart, then the show starts up again at 7 p.m.”

Harman is one of the members of Bull Harman & Bull’s Eye, she said, along with her son and husband. They serve as the “host band” for the event.

At 4 p.m. Jan. 26, the popular Fiddler’s Frolic takes place and caters to younger children and families, she said. Harvey Johnson, fiddle player from Arkansas, welcomes crowd participation for others to perform alongside him.

“That’s real popular with a lot of the kids because if they’re just learning or starting out, they get an opportunity to get on the stage,” Harman said.

The Harmans have coordinated the event for seven years, she said, following the relocation of the group that initiated the event and is now full time on the road. The Harmans took it over to keep from losing it, she said, and “fine tuned some things.”

“It seemed to be something in the area people really wanted,” Harman said. “A lot of locals come out.”

Performances begin at 7 p.m. Jan. 24, 2 p.m. Jan. 25 and 1 p.m. Jan. 26.

Daily ticket prices range from $10 to $15; a weekend pass is $30; ages 16 and younger are free.

Tickets are only available at the door. More information can be found online at www.bootheelbluegrass.com.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

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2019 Bootheel Bluegrass Festival band Lineup

Jan. 24

• The Gipsons
• The Magnolia Ramblers
• The Family Sowell

Jan. 25

• The Gipsons
• The Magnolia Ramblers
• The Family Sowell
• The Harmans
• The Bakers

Jan. 26

• The Bakers
• That Dalton Gang
• Riverbend
• Bull Harman & Bull’s Eye
• Herbie Johnston & Fiddlers Frolic