Tucked deep down in a holler in rural Virginia, along a dirt road just off Route 221, and cradled by tall bull pines amid the Blue Ridge foothills, the annual FloydFest roared to life.
And it sounded a whole lot like Maggie Rose.
On Saturday, Rose soared through a sunny late-afternoon set that veered wildly and joyously from mood-lifting R&B melodies to soul-stirring rock ballads off her latest album, No One Gets Out Alive, delivering each with a confident, commanding stage presence.
“I’ve gotten to explore my voice and my music thoroughly, and I feel like the soul sound is just what’s most authentic to me,” Rose tells Rolling Stone backstage. “I don’t have the elevator pitch down in terms of what my music is, but if we can get you to a show, we’re able to take people on that journey with us.”
For FloydFest 24, the five-day extravaganza included marquee names like Charley Crockett, Sierra Ferrell, Black Pumas, and Sierra Hull; rising stars including S.G. Goodman, Vincent Neil Emerson, Grace Bowers, and Eggy; and regional acts deserving of the spotlight, from Caitlin Krisko & the Broadcast to Mackenzie Roark & the Hotpants.
Since launching in 2002, FloydFest has evolved from a word-of-mouth independent music bash in Floyd County, Virginia, into one of the most anticipated musical weekends each summer in Southern Appalachia.
“This festival belongs to patrons — they’re the ones who come back and support it every year,” says Sam Calhoun, COO of Across the Way Productions, the company behind the festival. “If they didn’t believe in FloydFest, we would not be where we are today.”
This go-round, FloydFest left its original 80-acre mountaintop property in favor of a 200-acre rural parcel just up the road from the former site. Capping its attendance at around 11,000, the festival now has ample space to expand the comfortability and overall experience for concertgoers, vendors, and performers alike.
Along with the always superb Rose, here’s the best of what we saw.
The Wilder Blue steal the weekend.
The stunner set of the weekend came at the hands of the Wilder Blue, who performed on the Main Stage early Saturday afternoon and later on the intimate Workshop Porch Stage.
With five-part vocal harmonies layered over country gold, the quintet wedges itself between the likes of Alabama and the Eagles when it comes to swagger and style. They often toss in a cover by the latter band too. On their latest album, Super Natural, passionate supporter Luke Combs joins them on Steve Young’s “Seven Bridges Road,” made famous by the Eagles.
“There’s an authenticity and kind of an independence to being a Texas troubadour,” says the group’s frontman Zane Williams. “But you also have to be really good because of all the people that have come before. You’ve got to work hard at your craft and live up to that legacy — it’s craft and independent spirit in my book.”
The Nude Party bring back the garage vibes.
Formed just across the state line over a decade ago at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, the Nude Party hopped onto the Oasis Stage Sunday afternoon for set of garage rock, including their breakout tune “Chevrolet Van.” “Spend half your life in that Chevrolet/Driving up and down the freeway/Someday when you’re too old to play/Then, you’ll wish you got a job,” guitarist Patton Magee sang in the irresistible tune off the band’s 2018 debut.
“After 12 years [together], you notice the hot spots and the cold spots,” Magee says of the band’s trajectory, which includes recently being freed of its longtime record contract. (They’re currently working on a new album.) “But for the first time in 10 years, we’re open and able to pretty much land whenever we want.”
Buffalo Mountain Jam serves up powerhouse collabs.
Nearing the midnight hour Saturday, the Buffalo Mountain Jam — the pinnacle of each FloydFest — kicked off with guitar guru Keller Williams and jam-grass stalwarts Leftover Salmon. The bonanza of guest stars and surprise covers hit its stride early with a rendition of War’s “The Cisco Kid.”
“Floyd County has a lot of history making moonshine,” says Salmon guitarist Vince Herman, summing up the vibe of the festival, “and that just leads to people who like to have fun.”
For Herman, this year has also been one of reflection on the band’s 35 years together, formed when Herman and multi-instrumentalist Drew Emmitt met by happenstance in a Colorado bar in the late 1980s. “The band has kind of become who we are personally,” Herman says. “[Drew] and I, we’re really different and really similar characters, and it makes for a good stew.”
During the undulating jam, Nashville guitarist Grace Bowers made a lasting impression on fans, many of whom were seeing the teenage powerhouse for the first time. Rose also returned to join in, pairing up with Krisko for a duet of Bonnie Raitt’s sorrowful and sultry “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Krisko has played FloydFest several times. From a fresh face on the roster to an annual featured act, Krisko is arguably one of the best-kept vocal secrets in the southeast with her band the Broadcast. The group is currently readying themselves for a European tour next month in preparation for their next album, Blueprints.
“We wanted to do something feminine and cover a female artist,” Krisko says of “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” “And Bonnie Raitt is obviously a huge inspiration for Maggie and I — it was a beautiful moment of harmonization.”
Drayton Farley gives voice to the working class.
Alabama singer-songwriter Drayton Farley delivered poignant, purposeful tales of his native state and beyond, adding to his growing reputation as one of country music’s most vital new voices. His latest album, 2023’s Twenty on High, is a revelatory collection of hard-luck stories and working-class resilience.
“The days are all long and the years they’re short, homes down South I’m stuck up North,” Farley crooned during “Norfolk Blues.” “Working on a living for the family, wishing I could give them all a fantasy.”
“A lot of my songs revolve around blue-collar life and there’s imagery of the south, where it kind of encapsulates a Southern story overall,” Farley says backstage. “There’s a lot of folklore in this region. Being from the south and being a writer, you can’t avoid that. If I’m truthful, then I can bet on those stories to tell my own truth.”
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