Five-String Fest Announces Full Line-Up on Earl Scruggs Birthday!

The Five-String Fest will be held in Lawndale, N.C. on May 1st – 4th, 2014 and it is only fitting that their first annual lineup would be announced  today on the Birthday of Earl Scruggs.

"After much consideration and Inquiring, we feel we have put together some of the greatest banjo players, and bands that will make this inaugural event an immediate classic festival," said festival director, John Lockaby.

The festival is staged to highlight the banjo in all aspects, which will be the first of its kind. Very few festivals highlight the banjo at all, but the Five String Fest desires to make the banjo the centerpiece of the festival.

"With our rich banjo heritage, here in this part of the country, Snuffy Jenkins, Don Reno, and Earl Scruggs, it only made since to have such a festival in this part of the country," said Lockaby.

The lineup is:

J D Crowe – One of the most Influential banjoist of our generation

Tony Furtado – Award winning banjoist that has fused many genres together

The Boxcars – Grammy nominated band with exceptional banjoist Ron Stewart

Dan Levenson – Old Time Award winning Banjoist

Charlie Cushman & Johnny Warren – Legendary Nashville Banjoist

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer – Two time Grammy winners of Old Time Folk Music

The Travelin McCourys – Ronnie and Rob McCoury carrying on the McCoury name

Ryan Cavanaugh - Has won multiple competitions and plays different genres with the banjo

Mountain Heart – Award winning band with a unique style

Willow Osborne w/ Col Isaac Moore – Country Tonite Star and a new duet in the making

Tony Trischka Band – One of the most Innovative banjo players of our time

Willie Watson – Formerly of Old Crowe Medicine Show

Songs of the Fall – Stetson Adkisson and Cia Cherryholmes

Terry Baucom & The Dukes of Drive – Banjo leader with award winning album

The Grascals – Four time IBMA Award winning banjoist- Kristen Scott Benson

Ron Block & Friends – Alison Krauss sideman and award winning banjoist

Reno & Harrell – Mitch Harrell, Don Wayne and Dale Reno, carrying on the legacy

As well as:

Hammertowne, Shannon Slaughter & County Clare, John Bowman, James McKinney, The Rigneys, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, Big Daddy Love, Moore Brothers, Freight Hoppers, Phillip Steinmetz & His Sunny Tennesseans, Jack Hatfield & Friends, Night Travelers, and more!!

Expect many surprises and collaborations, but the highlight of the weekend will be the Banjo Finale with JD Crowe, Kristen-Scott Benson, Ron Stewart, Terry Baucom, and Charlie Cushman leading a banjo jam and dedication.

With over 50 banjo vendors in the banjo tent, the Kids banjoland hosted by Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Teen Club hosted by IBMA Youth Council Chairperson, Andrew Rigney, VIP After Hours Party hosted by Shannon Slaughter and Friends, Smoky Mountain Banjo Academy, The Eastern USA Banjo Championship with categories: Old Time, Bluegrass Band w/ Banjo, and Bluegrass Banjo, Banjo Seminars and Demonstrations, Two Stages of Entertainment, Over 40 bands, tours of the nearby, newly opened, Earl Scruggs Center, Banjo Bingo and other giveaways, this is bound to be the “Banjo Mecca” of the World.

For more information contact John Lockaby at johnlockaby@gmail.com and be on the lookout for our new website going live within the next week. www.fivestringfest.com