Summer's unfolding in front of us, and you've got music festivals upon music festivals to choose from. Most of their lineups include many flavors of pop, rock, EDM and hip-hop, as well as country- or folk-tinged artists who mostly fall under the heading Americana.
Occasionally, you'll see a country legend like Willie Nelson or a bluegrass hero like Ralph Stanley on a multi-genre festival stage, but contemporary mainstream country acts are almost exclusively the province of CMA Fest, Stagecoach and other country-specific shindigs.
But the inaugural NiFi Festival goes down Aug. 28-30 in Sparta, Ky., a short four-hour drive from Nashville, and its initial lineup is pretty unusual: Festival regulars like Green Day, Kings of Leon and Built to Spill (and local favorites Bully, Moon Taxi, Nikki Lane, Charlie Worsham and Rayland Baxter) are interspersed with country mainstays like CMA champ Miranda Lambert, Hank Williams Jr., Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen and a handful of others.
How big is the crossover, really, between fans of Black Lips and fans of Trace Adkins? That's probably a bigger divide than between, say, Spoon fans and Drake White fans. On the other hand, rip-roaring punks The Orwells are coming, and their scene is a bit easier to imagine crossing over with the bro-country element of the bill.
If you'd like to witness this experiment for yourself, weekend passes start at $245 and go on sale here May 28 at 10 a.m. Eastern (9 a.m. Central). The first-tier VIP option, the Ignited Pass, runs $795, and the rhinestone-studded VIP option, called the Headliner Pass, carries a whopping $30,000 price tag, which provides deluxe amenities for up to six people. Check out the entire initial lineup after the jump.
Inaugural NiFi Festival Initial Lineup:
* Green Day
* Kings of Leon
* Miranda Lambert
* Brantley Gilbert
* Jake Owen
* Weezer
* Hank Williams, Jr.
* Spoon
* Flogging Molly
* Gov't Mule
* Bleachers
* Trace Adkins
* Joe Nichols
* Josh Turner
* The New Pornographers
* Benjamin Booker
* Built to Spill
* The Joy Formidable
* Black Lips
* Jana Kramer
* Moon Taxi
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band
* Bully
* Cloud Nothings
* The Orwells
* Jon Pardi
* Charlie Worsham
* Nikki Lane
* Drake White and the Big Fire
* Rayland Baxter
* Native Run
* David Fanning
* Brooke Eden
* Dean Alexander
* The Marcus King Band
* MamaDear
* Jacob Davis
* Tucker Beathard
* Firekid
* Walker County
* Levon
