There’s a new country music festival in Utah — and this ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ singer is headlining

Oliver Anthony performs during Louder Than Life Music Festival on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, at Highland Festival Grounds in Louisville, Kentucky. Anthony will perform at the Redwest country music festival in Salt Lake City in October.
Oliver Anthony performs during Louder Than Life Music Festival on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, at Highland Festival Grounds in Louisville, Kentucky. Anthony will perform at the Redwest country music festival in Salt Lake City in October. | Amy Harris

A new country music festival is coming to Utah this year — and bringing some big names along with it.

The three-day festival, called Redwest, has partnered with the organizers and producers behind Stagecoach and Coachella to bring artists like Oliver Anthony — who last year went viral with “Rich Men North of Richmond” — and Colter Wall, whose western-style music can be heard in the series “Yellowstone,” to Salt Lake City in October, according to a news release sent to the Deseret News.

Here’s an overview of the festival, including the main headliners and how to get tickets.

When and where is the Redwest Festival?

The festival is open to all ages and is scheduled to run Oct. 4-6 at the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City. Over the three days, artists will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on two different stages, according to the news release. There will be food trucks, concessions and free water refill stations throughout, according to the festival’s Instagram page.

How to get tickets for the Redwest Festival

Tickets go on sale to the public March 22 at 10 a.m. MDT, and range from general admission pricing starting at $99 to a three-day VIP pass starting at $850. Tickets can be purchased at redwestslc.com.

Who is headlining the Redwest Festival?

The festival features a mix of established names and up-and-coming talent — with more artists to be announced. The three main headliners are Wall, Anthony and Ian Munsick.

Colter Wall

Wall, a western/country/folk artist who hails from Canada, entered the scene with his 2015 EPImaginary Appalachia” that included hits like “The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie” and “Sleeping on the Blacktop.” “Blacktop” was featured in films like “Hell or High Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Since his debut EP, Wall has released four albums.

Wall also has a fan in one of Utah’s most-famous residents: Post Malone. The rapper and singer has previously compared the country artist to Johnny Cash and said he’s sought out a collaboration with him, per American Songwriter. With Wall now coming to Utah — and Malone apparently working on his own country music project — the collaboration doesn’t seem all that far-fetched.

Oliver Anthony

Anthony, a farmer from Virginia, quickly shot to fame last year with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which became the first song to top the charts by an artist with no chart history, the Deseret News previously reported. On YouTube, the three-minute song, which explores grievances with Washington, has 127 million views.

The song became a political flashpoint — as well as a talking point in a GOP presidential debate, per the Deseret News.

“‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ is about corporate owned DC politicians on both sides,” Anthony wrote on Facebook last year, shortly after the debate in August 2023. “Though Biden’s most certainly a problem, the lyrics aren’t exclusively knocking Biden, it’s bigger and broader than that. It’s knocking the system collectively. Including the corporate owned conservative polticoans that were on stage that night.”

Prior to “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Anthony shot and recorded several original songs using just his cellphone, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Ian Munsick

Munsick, a country singer-songwriter from Wyoming, is also fairly new to the scene. He released his debut album in 2021 with his second album, “White Buffalo,” following last year. The documentary “White Buffalo: Voices of the West” released earlier this year and expands on the themes of Munsick’s album, celebrating “the contributions of Native Americans to the origins of American cowboy culture,” according to a description of the documentary.

Who else is performing at the Redwest Festival?

Below is the full list of performers announced so far, per redwestslc.com:

  • Alana Springsteen.

  • Bryan Martin.

  • Charlie Worsham.

  • Chayce Beckham.

  • Cole Chaney.

  • Conner Smith.

  • Dylan Gossett.

  • Emily Ann Roberts.

  • Evan Honer.

  • Flatland Calvary.

  • Jake Worthington.

  • John Morgan.

  • Jonah Kagen.

  • Josiah and the Bonnevilles.

  • Kaitlin Butts.

  • Kolton Moore.

  • Lanie Gardner.

  • Lauren Watkins.

  • Lindsay Ell.

  • Luke Grimes.

  • Nolan Taylor.

  • Ole 60.

  • Red Shahan.

  • Sam Barber.

  • Shane Smith and the Saints.

  • The Castellows.

  • The Weathered Souls.

  • Treaty Oak Revival.

  • Vincent Mason.

  • Vincent Neil Emerson.

  • Zach Seabaugh.

  • Zach Top.

  • Zandi Holup.

For more information on concert dates and times, visit redwestslc.com.