The Big Brush Creek Roots Music Festival and Campout will be held May 24-27 in Dunlap.
It’s a little festival on big land. The Big Brush Creek Fest knows it’s going to be small, it’s designed that way. A three year plan between Festival Factory, LLC and Big Brush Creek Farm, LLC, Hal Davidson head of the Festival Factory and George and Ruby Dixson, owners of the 1,170 acre festival paradise in Sequatchie County, agreed to take a few years to grow the festival, increasing the number of stages and bands along the way.
Forming a joint venture in September, after two years of contemplating festival alternatives on the Cumberland Plateau, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Dixson agreed to present the inaugural Big Brush Creek Fest as a roots event over a four day weekend with camping.
Mr. Davidson confesses the inspiration for this event format was deciding what kind of music would blend with this green, rolling landscape. This picture needed a natural sound, blending Tennessee’s natural beauty with naturally American sounds. This means a mix of bluegrass, reggae, blues and soul country music on one stage hosting 25 bands over the entire Memorial Day weekend 2019.
The other half of the inspiration for a Roots festival is 89.5 FM, ROOTS Radio blasting 100 watts from Murfreesboro. In meeting John Walker, executive director of 89.5 and the founder of Music City Roots at the Pinewood Social Club in Nashville, Mr. Davidson learned about the degree of care in the on-air program selection. WMOT is a media partner with the festival. And so, Mr. Davidson is being very selective on exactly what the lineup is and when they perform. “We do not intend to have headliners, but feature talented regional bands in a very pretty, secluded place.” The music on stage should reflect the sound of ROOTS radio. It’s truly unique and is a natural music format that goes with camping, said officials.
In the first week of talent buying, Tennessee Jed, Ashleigh Caudill, The Glade City Rounders and Tennessee Mafia Jug Band was booked. Mr. Davidson said, “We’ll book 4-6 bands a week until we reach 25. That should take us a month, so by Nov. 15, we’ll have a full talent lineup for the first inaugural Big Brush Creek Roots Music Fest. We will continue to search for bluegrass troubadours who will stroll around the nightly bonfire late night.”
Bands and troubadours can apply by visiting www.bigbrushcreek.com.
Early Bird Camping passes start at $40/4 days starting Nov. 1. An Early Bird Weekend Festival Pass starts at $49.
An Early Bird Combo is $79. for one person for all weekend.
Because the talent, overall production and marketing campaign is a fraction of most other events, those savings are passed along to the ticket buyer. “Where are you going to camp and listen to great music on this kind of land for $79?” Mr. Davidson asked.
Ticket prices are listed now. RVs are also welcome. Big Brush Creek Roots Music Festival & Campout will begin accepting merch and food vendors on Nov 1.
Big Brush Creek Farm is located three miles off SR 111 near Cagle, 16 miles north of Dunlap, about 50 mins north of Chattanooga, made of huge pastures, many miles of trails, several natural amphitheaters (for future use), rolling hills, a 14 acre lake, ponds, streams, and wooded areas. The address is 2134 Reynolds Road Dunlap. The site is also 1.5 hours southeast of Nashville and within two hours of Knoxville.
Tickets go on sale Thursday at 9 a.m. CST at www.bigbrushcreek.com and at the ticketing agency, Brown Paper Tickets. Mr. Davidson may be reached at (240) 848-0889 and hal2002@starpower.net.