4th Annual Bear Shadow Spring Music Festival Features Lineup Jam-packed with Acclaimed Talent

Issue: Whats News

Highlands Festivals, Inc. announces a stellar lineup for the 4^th annual Bear Shadow spring music festival, set to be held May 11-12, 2024 in Scaly Mountain, North Carolina. The two-day festival will feature headlining performances by seven-time GRAMMY®-nominated duo Black Pumas and JJ Grey & Mofro. The full lineup will also feature performances by American Aquarium, Futurebirds, Grace Bowers, North Mississippi Allstars, The Record Company, and White Denim.

“As we gear up for the fourth annual Bear Shadow festival, the allure of the Highlands area continues to be our muse, as evidenced in this year’s lineup,” shared Casey Reid, partner of Eleven Events and Festival Director. “We’re elated to present this stellar assembly of top-tiered artists this coming May, where the Highlands Plateau will once again play host to an extraordinary weekend of music and revelry, set against the majestic embrace of the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

Bear Shadow, produced by Highlands Festivals, Inc. and Eleven Events, is a music festival named in honor of the bear-like shadow that appears behind the region’s Whiteside Mountain in the fall and spring. The festival features a variety of live musical acts for nearly any musical taste.

Bear Shadow 2024 Lineup

Saturday, May 11, 2024

North Mississippi Allstars: After 25 years, twelve albums, four GRAMMY® Award nominations, and sold out shows everywhere, the American blues and southern rock band, North Mississippi Allstars, opened up their world once again on their thirteenth album, Set Sail [New West Records], welcoming other family (by blood and by the road) into the fold. The Dickinson brothers have recorded and toured with Mavis Staples, Charlie Musslewhite, John Hiatt, Robert Plant and Patty Griffin, G Love, Jon Spencer, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Los Lobos, and the Black Crowes. Their seminal debut, Shake hands with Shorty (2000), earned the band the first of four GRAMMY® nominations, and changed the Dickinson brothers’ lives forever.

American Aquarium: With a name plucked from a Wilco lyric, American Aquarium picked up the trail blazed by bands like Whiskeytown and Drive-By Truckers, adding their own distinctive palette and point of view. The alt-country band was originally formed in 2006 in Raleigh, North Carolina, by singer, guitarist and songwriter B.J. Barham, and rose to prominence with a sound that mixed twang, grit, and some straight-ahead rock and roll. The band’s ninth and most recent studio album, Chicamacomico, is named after a former life-saving station built in 1874 on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Far from that early blend of Southern and punk rock, the orchestration here is dialed back leaving the lyrics to stand naked front and center.

Futurebirds: The Athens, Georgia-based rock juggernaut Futurebirds’ newest release – a 22-track, 3-LP live compilation titled ‘…Thanks Y’all’ – is a benchmark that not only celebrates 14 years together, it’s also a testament to the sheer iron will of a group of musicians hungry for the fruits of its labor. The camaraderie between founding members Carter King, Daniel Womack, Thomas Johnson, and Brannen Miles began when they were college students at the University of Georgia. In recent years, the quartet has added pedal steel player Kiffy Myers, keyboardist Spencer Thomas and drummer Tom Myers.

JJ Grey & Mofro: From his early days playing cover music behind chicken wire at a west side Jacksonville, Florida juke joint, to playing sold-out shows at some of the largest venues and music festivals in the world, JJ Grey has been releasing deeply moving, masterfully written, funkified rock and front porch Southern soul music. Over the course of his career, JJ Grey has shared stages with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, B.B. King, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Los Lobos, Jeff Beck, Ben Harper, Booker T. Jones, Mavis Staples, and many others.

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Grace Bowers: Clenching a red Gibson SG, Nashville-based Grace Bowers expresses emotion through fluid fretwork and raw riff-craft. Instead of resorting to mere words, chords and leads evoke feelings for the 17-year-old guitarist and band leader. It’s why she’s quietly emerged as not only a phenomenon on her instrument of choice but also as an enigmatic musical presence. It’s why she’s been sought after by everyone from Devon Allman, Margo Price, Tyler Childers, Gaslight Anthem, Susan Tedeschi, and earned acclaim courtesy of Rolling Stone and more.

White Denim: Based out of Austin, White Denim has carefully and continuously studied the greatest records ever made, but they write songs just dumb enough to drink, dance, and fight to. Theirs is a music that aims for the whole body, while equally satisfying the mind. While it has morphed, expanded, and even burst apart, White Denim’s sincere and human drive and ability to spark true rock & roll exhilaration have been unerring constants of the band’s 10-year existence.

 The Record Company: When GRAMMY® Award-nominated trio, The Record Company, pick up their instruments, the members — Chris Vos, Alex Stiff, and Marc Cazorla — participate in a musical back-and-forth akin to a formative and supportive conversation among siblings. The nuances of their personalities seep through loose, bluesy guitar leads, airtight drum grooves, thick bass, and vividly evocative lyrics.

Black Pumas: When Black Pumas made their self-titled debut in 2019, the Austin-bred duo set off a reaction almost as combustible and rapturous as their music itself. Along with earning a career total of seven GRAMMY® Award nominations (including Album Of The Year), singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada achieved massive success as a live act, touring large theaters all over Europe and North and South America and delivering a transcendent show Burton aptly refers to as “electric church.” Produced by Quesada and co-produced by Burton, their massively anticipated sophomore album Chronicles of a Diamond finds Black Pumas bringing their singular vision to life with more power, passion, and daring originality than ever before.

Single Day and 2-Day Weekend Tickets on Sale Jan. 18^th, 2022, at 9 a.m. EST

‘Early Bear’ discounts will transition to regular-priced tickets on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 9 a.m. EST and will be available at bearshadownc.com/. General Admission tickets will be available for $300 for a two-day pass and $175 for single day tickets. VIP tickets will be available for $600 for a two-day pass and $325 for a single day ticket. Platinum packages are available for groups up to six people.

The Platinum VIP package includes admittance to Bear Shadow Base Camp for both days with a reserved Cove for up to six people complete with premium stage sight lines and soft seating. Platinum VIP ticket holders will have a dedicated Bear Shadow server to assist with exclusive food selections, as well as complimentary beverages from the VIP Lounge Bar, which feature made-to-order and signature cocktails, beer, seltzers, wine, and premium non-alcoholic beverages. Platinum VIP packages also include two Platinum VIP parking passes each day, priority entrance into the festival, VIP bathrooms, access to all VIP and GA areas, complimentary shuttles to and from downtown highlands, and an exclusive festival gift bag and credential.

VIP tickets include admittance to Bear Shadow Base Camp live performances for the specified days, access to prime viewing areas, exclusive VIP bar with complimentary top-tier wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverage brands, complimentary small plates by local and regional food partners, priority entrance into the festival, VIP bathrooms, access to all GA areas, access to additional food, sponsors and craft vendors on-site and complimentary shuttles to and from downtown Highlands.

General Admission tickets include admittance to Bear Shadow Base Camp live performances for the specified days, complimentary beer, wine and premium non-alcoholic beverages, and coffee, access to a variety of food, sponsors and retail vendors on-site, and complimentary shuttles to and from downtown Highlands.

Base Camp performances are scheduled for Saturday, May 11 from 2:30 – 9:30 p.m., with gates opening at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 12 from 1:30 – 8:30 p.m., with gates opening at 12:30 p.m.

Winfield Farm is located about 7 miles from Main Street in Highlands, in Scaly Mountain, and organizers plan to provide continuous, complimentary shuttles from the Town of Highlands.

All musical acts are rain or shine. However, in the event of severe inclement weather, event organizers reserve the right to cancel individual performances in order to maintain optimal safety for all attendees, crew, talent, and vendors. For more information, visit bearshadownc.com/information/.