Blue Ox Music Festival to bring big bluegrass to Chippewa Valley in 2015
Well, the Chippewa Valley has yet another big time burgeoning music festival to call its own – and this time, it’s bluegrass.
You already know about Country Jam, the festival that’s been bringing country music’s shiniest stars to the Jam grounds since 1990, just southwest of Eau Claire.
You hopefully already know about the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival, a Justin Vernon-curated indie music and experiential art festival that’ll make its debut the weekend before Country Jam on the same grounds.
Now, welcome the brand new Blue Ox Music Festival – a three-day bluegrass festival on June 11-13 taking place solely in the Country Jam campgrounds.
The new festival, which is organized by the team behind Country Jam, will bring together huge acts like the Yonder Mountain String Band, Pert' Near Sandstone (the big name Minneapolis group is also co-curating the festival), The Del McCoury Band, Justin Townes Earle, Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, our very own Evergreen Grass Band, and more to give the Chippewa Valley a taste of the best in bluegrass, Americana and roots music.
A few $99 early bird pre-sale three-day general admission passes and a $199 three-day Perk Pass (which includes early entrance into the festival bowl for all shows, a commemorative Blue Ox cup and free unlimited VIP showers) are now on sale. All tickets include free unreserved camping and parking. There are also a limited number of electrical campsites on sale now for $175.
If not the biggest, it’s certainly going to be the premiere spot to get your bluegrass fix in all of the Midwest this summer. In fact, Country Jam President Jim Bischel compared the lineup to that of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, one of the biggest bluegrass festivals in the country.
“With a lineup that rivals what Telluride would bring through or something like that, this is definitely unique,” Bischel said. “There’s a pretty strong local bluegrass scene, but as far as getting national acts coming through here, not quite so. If you want to see a strong national act, you don’t have to go far for country, you don’t have to go far for indie. But for bluegrass, you might be able to see an act or two go through Minneapolis, but to bring together 20 acts like we’re doing on par with what we’re doing with Country Jam is rather unique for this area.”
Bischel said the decision to go put the festival solely in the campground (called Whispering Pines) was an easy decision to make; Blue Ox is only trying to roundup about 6,000-8,000 festivalgoers. The campground is over 75 acres of fields and pines and oak trees, ideal for a relaxing, down-to-earth celebration of bluegrass music.
“The campground is just an absolutely beautiful, perfect setting for an event like this,” Bischel said. “In fact, the people that we’re working with described it as every little bit what Telluride is, except you don’t have the Rocky Mountains. You got trees, ponds, green and grass … just a beautiful setting for that. So we’re excited.”
Included in the lineup is, of course, the Evergreen Grass Band, a Chippewa Valley favorite who’s been performing locally for years. Bischel said having a local act like Evergreen on the bill is a no-brainer and it helps that they’re very good at what they do.
“There is a lot of talent in the Chippewa Valley,” Bischel said. “To give some of these bands the opportunity to perform on the same stage as Del McCoury or Yonder Mountain, I think is cool for them, but it’s neat for us too to give well-deserving musicians in the area an opportunity to play on a stage like that.”
So brace yourself, Chippewa Valley. This might be our most musical summer yet.
Once the pre-sale sells out, regular tickets will go sale soon after. For more information on the Blue Ox Music Festival and ticket updates, visit blueoxmusicfestival.com or Facebook
