Mavis Staples, CAAMP, and Sierra Ferrell to Headline Third Annual FreshGrass Festival in Bentonville

No Depression‘s parent organization, the nonprofit FreshGrass Foundation, has announced the initial lineup for its third event in the Arkansas Ozarks. Soul legend Mavis Staples, folk-jam start-ups CAAMP, and cross-genre phenom Sierra Ferrell are slated to headline the two-day event taking place May 19-20, 2023.

Mavis Staples at the 2019 FreshGrass Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts (photo by Hilary Saunders)

FreshGrass Festival | Bentonville, which launched in October 2021 after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a celebrated collaborative event with The Momentary, the newest contemporary art museum in the region. The follow-up festival, which took place earlier this year, set the pace for its springtime timeline.

Like previous FreshGrass Festivals in both Bentonville and North Adams, the 2023 edition at The Momentary will feature FreshGrass commissions (world premieres of original compositions), FreshScores (instrumental soundtracks set to silent films), and FreshSongs (new songs co-written among members of The House of Songs). More information about The House of Songs, a collaborative initiative among songwriters across many geographies and disciplines, can be found in this No Depression feature.

Additional musicians set to perform at FreshGrass | Bentonville include The Del McCoury Band, Tank and The Bangas, Cimafunk, The Lil Smokies, Alison Brown, Miko Marks, Willie Watson, Arkensauce, Combo Chimbita, The Jacob Jolliff Band, Melissa Carper, and Willi Carlisle. More lineup additions will be announced soon.

Two-day tickets are now available through the FreshGrass Festival and The Momentary. Single-day tickets will be available closer to the event.