The 18th festival in August will be the last staged under the Cowpie moniker, with a new arts and music festival set to replace it in 2021. See who’s playing this year.
One Final Cowpie: The festival will be rebranded next year. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The 2020 Cowpie Music Festival on Shagbark Farm outside Caledonia will star Spafford, Tunde Olaniran, Dixon’s Violin, Desmond Jones, Mungion, Lady Ace Boogie, Motor City Josh, Sophistafunk, ClusterPluck and a “mystery headliner.”
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The Aug. 6-8 festival will also sport a Beatles theme, with performers covering various songs from the Fab Four under the “Come together right now” motto.
Organizers also announced today that this is the last music festival to be staged under the Cowpie moniker, with a new and “rebranded” arts and music festival set to replace it in 2021.
Cowpie Debut: Tunde Olaniran is one of this year’s headliners. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
“After nearly 18 seasons, Cowpie Music Festival will host its last festival this Aug. 6-8,” organizers announced via Facebook.
“But don’t be sad. At 18, we’re growing up and reinventing how we will continue to support regional musicians in the future. Stay tuned.”
The festival, which “Farmer” John Crissman first started on his working cattle farm as a blues event, has shifted over the years to showcase a more diverse lineup of artists – local, regional and national – representing a wide range of genres.
The 2020 lineup reflects that approach with rock, hip hop, jam bands, blues, folk, bluegrass, funk, soul and more represented in the artists announced for the festival. That lineup features popular returnees as well as new Cowpie acts.
Headliners such as Spafford, an Arizona-based jam band, and Tunde Olaniran, a dynamic Flint R&B, hip hop and pop star, have cultivated a national following for their music.
Hannah Rose Graves and Desmond Jones (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Others on the initial bill – which reflects mostly regional acts – include Hyryder, Melophobix, Chirp, Lazer Lloyd, Hannah Rose & The GravesTones, Fauxgrass, Earth Radio, The Scott Pellegrom Trio, Jimmie Stagger, Biomassive, Cosmic Knot, The Bootstrap Boys, Elijah Russ, House with a Yard, The Gasoline Gypsies, Galactic Sherpas, Susie Parr Trio, Flexadecibel, The Legal Immigrants and Megan Dooley.
The festival in southern Kent County once again plans to choose another Michigan performer via its Pathway to the Pasture band contest that will be announced in the near future.
Earlybird tickets — $100 adults, with discounts for teens and kids – as well as RV and camping passes are now available online here.
As for the future, organizer Travis Compton said they’re “working on a rebrand to Shagbark Music and Arts Festival. We feel like it represents us better, is more appealing to people that have not heard of us and also pays tribute to the farm and the Crissman family.”
Check out Local Spins’ extensive coverage of last year’s Cowpie here: Cowpie 2019 Revisited
The main stage at night. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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