Nine bands will take turns on the outdoor limestone stage at Upland Brewing Co. this Saturday as Bloomington's Hippies and Cowboys Music Fest returns for its second year, running a full eight hours from the first note to the final encore. Gates open at 2 p.m. and music begins at 3 p.m. at the brewery's 350 W. 11th St. campus, with the show not wrapping until 11 p.m.
The lineup spans jam-band, country, bluegrass and Americana acts, according to WISH-TV. Ellie Grayce opens the day, followed by West Fork Revival, Dead Country, Zion Crossroads, Lexi Len and Rikki Jean, Arianna & The Bourbon Britches, and Phree, before headliners Hyryder close things out. Set times reported by The Bloomingtonian put West Fork Revival on at 3:35 p.m., Dead Country at 4:30 p.m., Zion Crossroads at 5:30 p.m., Lexi Len and Rikki Jean at 6:30 p.m., Arianna & The Bourbon Britches at 7:30 p.m. and Phree at 8:30 p.m., with Hyryder taking the stage from 9:45 p.m. to 11 p.m.
A Family Reunion for Touring Musicians
Organizer Corey Flick, who also plans to perform with several of the acts, described the festival as a chance for musicians and fans to spend an entire day together, according to WISH-TV. Flick said many performers are constantly on the road and rarely get to see one another, calling the event something like a family reunion in comments to the outlet.
That sentiment carries through the lineup, which pairs jam-band tradition with country and bluegrass roots. Hyryder members Charlie and Blair told WISH-TV they were looking forward to returning to the festival and reconnecting with other performers. The band formed in 2008 and has built a regional Midwest following performing unscripted Grateful Dead tribute sets, with setlists that change from show to show, according to HI-FI Indy.
Phish Tribute Act Follows Local Jam Roots
Phree, the Phish tribute band performing directly before Hyryder, formed in Bloomington in late 2019 after local musicians who had been jamming together decided to focus exclusively on covering Phish's catalog, according to the band's own account on the Phree Band website. Dead Country, another act on the bill, is a Grateful Dead country act.
Country is represented by Lexi Len, one of Bloomington's self-described “Hometown Country Queens,” who began performing on stage at age eight. She plays traditional country and Americana backed by a pedal steel guitar and local musicians, according to a profile from Gary Hayes Country.
Shakedown Street and Brewery Backdrop
More than 20 vendors will set up along what organizers call Shakedown Street, offering clothing, art and community information throughout the day, per WISH-TV. The name nods to the Grateful Dead's 1978 album and title track, a reference that has long been shorthand for the fan-run open-air markets that spring up outside concert venues, according to Wikipedia.
Upland will provide food and drinks throughout the event, held at the brewery's flagship 11th Street facility. The site includes a permanent outdoor limestone stage and houses The Wood Shop, a 6,000-square-foot sour ale facility used for wood-aged beer production, according to Visit Bloomington. Upland was founded in 1998 at the same 11th Street brewpub and has since grown into Indiana's third-largest craft brewery by production volume, per Wikipedia.
Both the brewery and the region it calls home share a geographic identity: Upland takes its name from the Indiana Uplands, an unglaciated 4,800-square-mile plateau in south-central Indiana that is also an official American Viticultural Area. General admission runs $25 for the single-day festival, with tickets available in advance through Eventbrite and quantity deals offered as well, per WISH-TV. Local public radio station WFHB, Visit Bloomington and The Whirlwind Agency are serving as official sponsors, according to Visit Bloomington.
