Whether you're trekking out to Manchester for Bonnaroo or hanging out in town for CMA Fest, this weekend is gonna be a busy one, but you don't have to face it alone! We've got everything you need to know about both festivals. Click here for links to all of our Bonnaroo and CMA previews. And be sure to visit Nashville Cream through the weekend, too — we'll be posting tons of photos and updates from the farm.
In honor of this being Bonnaroo's 15th year, here are our picks for 15 artists to watch. Catch 'em on the ground floor before they move up to the main stages.
1. Waxahatchee
You cannot miss Waxahatchee. And don't linger in the back, hoping to make a quick escape to the Splash-a-Roo as the last notes still hang in the air, either. To really experience Waxahatchee's (aka Katie Crutchfield's) efforts, you need to abandon the music-fest urge to see as much as possible and immerse yourself in her poignant, revealing indie rock that can shift from being bright and confident ("La Loose") to delicate, with nuanced chirps of a synthesizer ("Breathless"). Get close, get comfortable, go down the giant slip-and-slide later. 5:45 p.m. Thursday at This Tent MS
2. Lael Neale
Sometimes what you need is a pretty, melancholy waltz to dance to in the dust. On her debut album I'll Be Your Man, Neale works an elegantly understated vein that recalls M. Ward's early work, laying out narratives about self-reliance and recovering from loss over rich but not flamboyant textures. She appears sometimes as a duo with steel guitar ace Ben Peeler, whose ghostly licks add enough depth to make you not miss a full band. 8:45 p.m. Thursday at On Tap Lounge ST
3. Lizzo
Thanks to love from Rolling Stone, AFROPUNK and Pitchfork, Lizzo's set is sure to be packed, as good time-lovin' folks squeeze in, fighting to catch a glimpse of one of this season's buzzworthiest stars. And this attention is very much deserved — in Lizzo's infectious single "Good as Hell," the soulful singer from Minneapolis playfully raps and croons about looking good, feeling good and bringing that swagger back into your step, making it the perfect anthem for anyone wanting to inject their summer vibes with a heavy dose of self-confidence. 11 p.m. Thursday at That Tent MS
4. Public Access TV
Unlike their namesake, post-punky NYC newcomers Public Access TV — led by frontman John Eatherly, who years ago put in time with Nashville rock 'n' roll acts Be Your Own Pet and Turbo Fruits — are always pretty agreeable. Songs like "In Love and Alone" and "Honey" marry punk delivery and tuneful playing in a manner that recalls the likes of Gang of Four and Television. As a matter of fact, Gang of Four (or anyway, Andy Gill and the rest of the dudes who now call themselves Gang of Four) tapped the youngsters to open for them on a string of dates last year. 4 p.m. Friday at Who Stage DPR
5. Whitney
There's a sort of Wings-in-their-prime pensive harmoniousness to brand-new folky baroque-pop troupe Whitney. Core members Max Kakacek and Julian Ehrlich have, between them, played with both Smith Westerns and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, but songs like "No Matter Where We Go" have a hell of a lot more in common with classic pop performers like Emitt Rhodes and Badfinger than either of the aforementioned. Catch these guys at Who Stage while you can — they're destined for bigger spaces. 5:30 p.m. Friday at Who Stage DPR
6. Margaret Glaspy
Neither Cat Power nor Joanna Newsom nor Joni Mitchell is playing Bonnaroo this year, but if you catch Glaspy's set, you'll get a little of all three from her spare narratives, which tend toward self-incriminating interrogations of her own indecision. Glaspy is well-traveled as a sidewoman to roots icons like Ricky Skaggs and indie popsters like Rachel Yamagata, and her folk-rock-y debut full-length Emotions and Math is due this summer via ATO Records. 3:15 p.m. Saturday at Who Stage ST
7. Natalie Prass
The 'Roo experience includes a lot of hustle and shuffle, and everyone needs a break. Carve out a chunk of Saturday afternoon to spend with this former Nashvillian. With nuanced songs that make you want to hear more when they hurt, a distinctive voice — rich, soulful but with control that would turn any opera singer green with envy — and a crack gospel-schooled band culled from Matthew E. White's Spacebomb crew, Prass is guaranteed to stop time for you. 3:30 p.m. Saturday at That Tent ST
8. Beach Fossils
If you're not careful, you might let reverb-fetishizing lo-fi indie outfit Beach Fossils blend in with the rest of the reverb-fetishizing lo-fi indie pack — a pack that includes DIIV and Smith Westerns and Wild Nothing and on and on. But there are some truly sweet tunes in the Fossils' catalog, and their mildly shoegaze-y, highly chill approach might just grant you the shady reprieve you're looking for late Saturday afternoon. 5:15 p.m. Saturday at That Tent DPR
9. Grace Mitchell
The small stages, as always, are jam-packed with young artists putting new spins on old sounds, and 18-year-old Grace Mitchell is a prime example. While the auburn-haired, husky-voiced Portlander cites Tori and Alanis as influences, her handful of singles to date are far from Lilith fare. She comes off like a millennial Chrissie Hynde on "Nolo," and even flexes a little Beyoncé-esque swagger on "Bae." One imagines she'll be making her way over to Haim on the Which stage right after her set — hopefully to plant the seed for a future opening slot. 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Who Stage CZ
10. Isaac Gracie
While depressive singer-songwriters worshipping at the alter of Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley ain't always the most festive 'Roo-ready fare, Isaac Gracie's got something special. The hyper-literate Brit's ghostly vocals are so spine-chilling, and his lo-fi bedroom songs are so devastatingly gorgeous, that his 'Roo debut is a prime option for anyone looking for something to do during Macklemore. 8 p.m. Saturday at On Tap Lounge AG
11. Ron Gallo
A recent transplant from Philly to Music City, wiry, wild-haired guitar slinger Ron Gallo and his eponymous band make their 'Roo debut on Saturday. If the three-song teaser on Gallo's Bandcamp is any indication, his forthcoming LP, the excellently titled Heavy Meta, promises to be quite the slacker-garage-rock corker — Seeds, Stones and Oh Sees fans take note. 9:30 p.m. Saturday at On Tap Lounge CZ
12. Sun Club
These young Baltimore rascals may have cast their first LP, The Dongo Durango, out into the world in October. But the album was obviously meant for auditory consumption at a June pool party — lots of fun hooks and reverb and syncopated percussion. If I was going to be really lazy and compare a band to The Beach Boys or Talking Heads, I could. But to avoid such clichés, I'll use Surfer Blood and The Feelies. 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Who Stage PJK
13. Korey Dane
While listening to singer-songwriter Korey Dane, a whole catalog of acoustic guitar-loving peers may rotate through your mind — Rocky Votolato, Damien Jurado and maybe even J. Tillman before Tillman followed his weirdo heart and became Father John Misty. But what really pulled me in was not Dane's gentle, string-laced Americana, it was his cover of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You," where a weeping slide guitar makes the song even more tear-jerking than ever thought possible. Swoon. 3 p.m. Sunday at On Tap Lounge MS
14. Sunflower Bean
In shoegaze parlance, Long Islanders Sunflower Bean opt not for My Bloody Valentine volume or Slowdive melancholia but something more akin to the bass-driven, blissed-out grooviness of "Seagull," the unfuckwithable first track off Ride's 1990 classic Nowhere. Not that the young trio has necessarily committed to that sound yet, however; its stellar 2015 EP Show Me Your Seven Secrets features plenty of rapid tone generating but also surprising chillwave and riot grrrl stylings, plus a song curiously named for Friday headliners Tame Impala. With this year's lineup a little light on indie rock offerings, SB is definitely worth catching for loud guitar heads staying the whole weekend. 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Who Stage CZ
15. Swim Deep
When they came on the scene in 2011, the baby-faced bros of Birmingham, England's Swim Deep were clearly far too young to have caught '80s dream-pop and '90s shoegaze bands like Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine in their heyday. And yet, their faithfully purist approach to retro-flavored Britpop belies their tender ages. On 2013's Where the Hell Are We and last year's Mothers, the band adds a little gospel-psych and acid house to the mix calling to mind early '90s Primal Scream. 7 p.m. Sunday at Who Stage SG
