Wilco, Jon Batiste and Bleachers Headlining Roots N Blues Festival in Central Missouri
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Wilco, Jon Batiste and Bleachers lead the lineup for this year’s Roots N Blues Festival, the three-day multi-genre event that takes over Columbia, MO every fall. After pulling off an ambitious women-led lineup for 2021, organizers are widening the palette for 2022 with a slate that includes straight-up legends Tanya Tucker and Chaka Khan, as well as string-folk faves Old Crow Medicine Show and The SteelDrivers.
Roots N Blues is set for Oct. 7 through Oct. 9 and will span two stages in Stephens Lake Park, about a 20 minute walk from the University of Missouri (Mizzou) campus.
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Hippo Campus, Tank and the Bangas, Brittney Spencer, Larkin Poe, The Heavy Heavy, Cautious Clay, Jackie Venson and more will also perform at the festival.
Owned and produced locally by Tracy Lane and Shay Jasper of Trio Presents (they bought out a third partner last spring), the festival planned an all-female lineup for its 2020 edition but, like just about every other live event that year, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, nearly all the artists booked for 2020 were still available for a 2021 re-boot, which took place in September and featured Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, Mickey Guton, Mavis Staples, Betty Who and Nikki Lane, along with local sibling group The Burney Sisters and others.
According to Lane and Jasper, the 2021 edition had more fans in the 18-34 age range than in any previous year, and its female-focused lineup resulted in women making up 60% of all festival goers.
“The central focus of our vision for the future of this festival is equity – both on and off the stage,” says Lane. “We strive to remove the barriers around live music – gender, age, race, ability, and income – for our artists, staff, and audience.”
Roots N Blues launched in 2007 (back when it had an extra ’N BBQ’ in its name) and over the years has featured artists ranging from Maren Morris, Fitz and the Tantrums, Dwight Yoakum, Robert Cray, Jason Isbell, The Black Crowes, Margo Price, John Prine, The Avett Brothers, Los Lobos, Band of Horses and Al Green, among dozens more. Trio Presents purchased the festival at the end of 2019, so this will be their second installment as co-owners given the 2020 cancellation.
Tickets are on sale now, though VIP packages are no longer a thing at the festival. Instead, fans can snag VIP-like perks by making a $200 donation to Friends of the Festival, a nonprofit formed by organizers during the pandemic in order to help keep the event alive and financially healthy.
Roots N Blues 2022 Line-up
Wilco
Jon Batiste
Chaka Khan
Bleachers
Tanya Tucker
Old Crow Medicine Show
Hippo Campus
Larkin Poe
Tank and the Bangas
Houndmouth
Cautious Clay
Jackie Venson
The SteelDrivers
Jaime Wyatt
The Dip
Brittney Spencer
Liz Cooper
Kassi Ashton
The Heavy Heavy
The Kay Brothers
Sifa
J.ARTiz & the MO’ Soul Collective
Meredith Shaw
Jen Norman
