YORK, Pa. — Acclaimed country music singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson and legendary live performer Grace Potter will headline the first-ever White Rose Music Fest on Oct. 7-8, organizing partners the York Revolution and York College of Pennsylvania announced Monday.
The festival's debut will also feature performances by The Wood Brothers, Margo Price, Lucero, Drew Holcombe & The Neighbors, Langhorne Slim, Brittney Spencer, and Madeline Edwards.
It will be held at PeoplesBank Park in downtown York.
Tickets for the White Rose Music Fest go on sale to the general public on Friday through the event’s website: www.whiterosemusicfest.com.
“I am beyond thrilled that we can create another world-class music event for York,” said Revolution President Eric Menzer said in a press release. “We are committed to making PeoplesBank Park a true center of community activity way beyond baseball, and this is another major step in that direction.”
The event furthers the growing presence of York College of Pennsylvania as a cultural and economic force in the York community, according to President Pamela Gunter-Smith.
“The relationship between York College of Pennsylvania and the community is essential to the success of both,” Gunter-Smith said. “With our community partners, we have built, and will continue to build, robust pathways between the campus on Country Club Road and the city, the county, and the region. The White Rose Music Fest is another important step toward ensuring this relationship stays strong.”
About the Artists:
Jamey Johnson: Eleven-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson is “one of the greatest country singers of our time,” according to The Washington Post. He is one of only a few people in the history of country music to win two Song of the Year Awards from both the CMA and ACMs. His 2008 album, That Lonesome Song, was certified platinum for 1 million in sales, and his 2010 ambitious double album, The Guitar Song, received a gold certification.
In addition, he won two Song of the Year Trophies, for “Give It Away” and “In Color,” both from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. He has received tremendous praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications, many of which have hailed his albums as masterpieces.
Grace Potter: Described by Spin as “one of the greatest living voices in rock today,” Grace Potter has not only played every major music festival from Coachella and Lollapalooza to Bonnaroo and Rock in Rio, she’s created her own thriving music festival, Burlington, VT’s Grand Point North. Additionally, she’s shared a stage with artists such as The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, the Allman Brothers, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples, and The Roots, to name just a few.
A three-time Grammy-nominated artist (two for 2019’s Daylight, one for her multiplatinum duet with Kenny Chesney, “You & Tequila”), Potter has also collaborated with the Flaming Lips for a Tim Burton film and written and produced music for film and TV, including Disney’s animated feature Tangled and Naughty vs. Nice.
The Wood Brothers: Dubbed “masters of soulful folk” by Paste, The Wood Brothers formed after brothers Chris and Oliver Wood pursued separate musical careers for 15 years. Chris already had legions of devoted fans for his work as one-third of Medeski Martin &Wood, while Oliver toured with Tinsley Ellis before releasing a half-dozen albums with his band King Johnson.
With drummer Jano Rix added as a permanent third member, it's become quite clear that The Wood Brothers is indeed the main act. Blue Note released their debut Ways Not to Lose in 2006 and Loaded in 2008. The band moved to Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Artists for Smoke Ring Halo with The Muse to follow in 2013. After relocating to Nashville, The Wood Brothers released Paradise in 2015 recorded at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye studio.
In 2016, the band returned to Levon Helm's famed Woodstock Barn and recorded Live At The Barn, which captured their sold-out performance that night and showcased the kind of singularly eclectic and electrifying performance style that's earned them devoted legions of fans around the world. The Wood Brothers released their sixth album, One Drop of Truth, in 2018; it received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Americana Album.”
Margo Price: Far from overnight, Margo Price’s recent meteoric rise is the product of more than a decade of hard work and sacrifice. While she’d long been one of East Nashville’s best-kept-secrets, she burst onto the international scene with the 2016 release of her first solo album, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter. The record debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart and graced Best-of lists everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to NPR Music, who called it "the hard-won arrival of an artist who feels like she's always been here.”
Vulture described Price as “one of the most compelling country talents to come out of Nashville in recent memory,” while Pitchfork hailed the album as “a potential classic,” and Rolling Stone praised its “amazingly vivid songcraft.” Price solidified her next-big-thing status with stellar performances on Saturday Night Live, Colbert, Fallon, CBS This Morning, Seth Meyers, A Prairie Home Companion, and more, in addition to taking home Emerging Artist of the Year honors at the Americana Music Awards and winning The American Music Prize for the year’s best debut album.
Lucero: Like the great river that flows through Memphis, the music of Lucero keeps rolling on, twisting and turning through the years, the same dark and brooding steadiness always at work.
Since forming in late the ’90s, this group of Memphis road-dogs has mixed heartfelt lyrics with the sounds of early rock and roll, classic punk, country-folk, and deep-fried Southern soul. It’s a sound that stands on the pillars of American music, born more of feeling than technique, delivered night after night to legions of fans in dive bars and theaters and on stages as august as Red Rocks Amphitheater and the Ryman. In short, it’s music that is built to last, impervious to trends. The band’s latest output, When You Found Me, is their 10th studio album.
Drew Holcomb: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors is an Americana act hailing from Nashville. Drawing influence from Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, Drew Holcomb has found his place in today’s landscape of singer/songwriter Americana. He and his band have developed their sound through extensive touring, performing alongside Amos Lee, Willie Nelson, John Hiatt, NEEDTOBREATHE, Don Henley, and more.
The band has sold over 150,000 albums to date and played over 2,000 concert dates in seven countries. Their songs have received over 60 TV placements, appearing on How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, Parenthood, Nashville, HOUSE, Justified, and more.
Langhorne Slim: Strawberry Mansion is singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim’s seventh full-length album. He released his first record, Electric Love Letter, back in 2004. Since then, he has graced the stages of Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and The Conan O'Brien Show, winning fans over with his heart-on-a-sleeve sincerity and rousing live shows.
Born Sean Scolnick in 1980, Slim took part of his artistic moniker from his hometown of Langhorne, Pa., a place he's still very much connected to despite making his home in Nashville. The title Strawberry Mansion refers to the neighborhood in Philadelphia where both of his grandfathers grew up, a place he calls "dirty but sweet, tough but full of love, where giants roamed the earth and had names like Whistle and Curly." That idea of a mythical wonderland informs the new album from head to toe.
Brittney Spencer: Brittney Spencer is paving her own path in the country music genre and making major waves in the process. A PEOPLE Magazine One to Watch, 2021 Spotify Hot Country Artist to Watch, Pandora 2021 Artist to Watch, and member of CMT Next Women of Country, the Baltimore native is known for her free spirit and standout ability to mold life, truth, and wild imagination into songs.
Her recent single “Sober & Skinny” has garnered praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and more, as well as an in-depth interview with CBS Mornings’ Anthony Mason. Lauded as one of “12 Black Artists Shaping Country Music’s Future” by USA Today and named one of “5 Black Artists Rewriting Country Music” by The Recording Academy, Spencer has grown a robust fan base on the road. She recently headlined BottleRock as a member of The Highwomen, and she’s serving as direct support on tour with Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, as well as opening for Brett Eldredge’s “Good Day Tour” and opening for Reba McEntire. Spencer will release additional new music in 2022.
Madeline Edwards: California-born,Texas-raised singer/songwriter Madeline Edwards has transcended musical boundaries, incorporating her jazz, soul, gospel, and country influences into her unique sound “through vulnerability and passion” (NPR). Edwards has already caught the attention of the industry, listed as a Hot Country Spotify Artist to Watch 2022 and CMT Next Women of Country Class of 2022.
Currently working on her debut album, Edwards has performed on Lady Gaga's Born This Way tribute record with The Highwomen and NPR's Tiny Desk Concert and earned opening slots for Jordin Sparks and Grammy award-winner Raphael Saadiq. Named a Top 20 Breaker artist on NPR, she first made her national radio debut on Sirius XM, and her latest single, "The Road" has garnered over 1 million streams. Madeline made her national television debut at the 2021 CMA Awards, where she sang with CMA nominee Mickey Guyton and Brittney Spencer.
