Mavis Staples, Cat Power and More Join Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Lineup

Update, Aug. 21, 2024:

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass announced a third update to the lineup for the annual, free festival coming to Golden Gate Park Oct. 4–6. Joining rock heavy-hitters Sleater-Kinney is soul, R&B and gospel powerhouse Mavis Staples, as well as Cat Power, who will perform a Bob Dylan tribute set in homage to his famed 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” concert.

Psychedelic cumbia band Combo Tezeta, folk singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt, Hardly Strictly mainstay Steve Earle, Cunningham Bird, Wonder Women of Country, Matt the Electrician, John Cooper Clarke, Carlene Carter and Wreckless Strangers have also been added to the bill.

Update, Aug. 7, 2024:

Sleater-Kinney will perform at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. The concert, now in its 24th year, announced new additions to its lineup today.

The influential group — whose guitarist, Carrie Brownstein, has another claim to fame as the co-creator of Portlandia — emerged from the riot grrrl scene of the ’90s in Olympia, Washington and went on to become a force of indie rock in the 2000s. The band is still going strong in 2024 with their new album, Little Rope, full of punchy grooves that invite listeners to dance and mosh out grief and other heavy emotions.

Venezuelan American singer Devendra Banhart also joins Hardly Strictly this year. He began his career busking on the streets of the Castro after dropping out of the San Francisco Art Institute, and became a star of the freak-folk movement of the aughts.

The 2024 lineup also offers a few standout international acts. London’s Ibibio Sound Machine will bring the dance party with their high-energy electronic pop, which draws heavily from West African music. And Kyiv’s Dakhabrakha promises to mesmerize with an experimental sound that builds upon Ukrainian folk music to create something completely new and surreal.

The lineup also features AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Emmylou Harris, Sean McConnell, Levitation Room, Jobi Riccio and Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam. More artists will be announced as the festival approaches.

Original story, July 24, 2024:

San Francisco is on a hot streak of free concerts this summer, but Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was always ahead of the curve. The annual festival has brought admission-free live music to Golden Gate Park every October for the past 24 years, and it just announced the first phase of the lineup for this year’s event, Oct. 4–6.

The intergenerational lineup of roots musicians ranges from millennials to nonagenarians. Expect foot-stomping Americana from Greensky Bluegrass; power pop band Big Star celebrating the 50th anniversary of their influential album Radio City; original bluesman and 2024 Grammy winner Bobby Rush; harmonizing folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Alice Gerrard; folk bands The Wood Brothers and Fruition; English singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock; introspective lyricist Haley Heynderickx; folk-meets-art pop singer The Bones of J.R. Jones; and Glen Hansard, who’s currently on a sold-out tour with Pearl Jam.

Hardly Strictly will announce even more artists in the coming weeks.