Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury Band, More Set For Earl Scruggs Music Festival

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Emmylou Harris, Greensky Bluegrass, Del McCoury Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, and dozens more are set to perform at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival Sept. 1-3 in Mill Spring, North Carolina this Labor Day Weekend.

The festival has revealed its full 2023 schedule, which includes a newly-minted lineup of exclusive workshops featuring members of Della Mae, The Earls of Leicester, and others. Five free festival workshops taking place on the intimate Legends Stage offer fans a chance to hear stories and deep background from top stars, as well as some grassroots figures.

A biographer of Earl Scruggs, journalist and musician Thomas Goldsmith has assembled a docket of discussion topics, including “Secrets of Scruggs Style,” featuring Tony Trischka, top-rank five-string men Charlie Cushman of The Earls of Leicester, and Pete Wernick, co-founder of Hot Rize; “High Lonesome and Beyond: The Evolution of Bluegrass Songwriting,” accompanied by songwriter and educator Louisa Branscomb, featuring Grammy-winning songwriter Jon Weisberger and Della Mae’s Grammy-nominated vocalist and songwriter Celia Woodsmith; plus more.

Last year, Earl Scruggs Music Festival debuted the first-ever Earl Scruggs Revue tribute set, hosted by Fireside Collective. Presented by The Bluegrass Situation, the 2023 installment will feature Tony Trischka Band & Friends delivering The Earl Scruggs Revue’s 1977 Live! From Austin City Limits recording, alongside festival host and artist-in-residence Jerry Douglas, plus a slew of surprise cameos. The not-to-be-missed event takes place at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon (Sept. 2) on the Foggy Mountain Stage.

Produced in collaboration with the Earl Scruggs Center, WNCW 88.7, and Isothermal Community College, the event supports a two-fold mission to underwrite educational programming and community outreach in Scruggs’ home region while carrying his legacy into the context of modern culture.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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