ROMP Festival returns for 21st year Wednesday

Though the atmosphere at Yellow Creek Park was relatively quiet on Monday, the foot traffic was in abundance as organizers, work crews and more were preparing for the thousands of bluegrass music fans heading to the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World this week for the 21st annual ROMP Festival.

For Chris Joslin, executive director of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum — the entity that organizes the festival, he said the planning between him and his staff starts quickly after the four-day event ends each year.

But when it comes to being days away from ticket holders, vendors, volunteers and performers getting on the grounds, Joslin finds the work begins to shift to another phase in terms of getting the physical logistics in place.

“The first few days, like today, is all about operations and set-up,” Joslin said Monday. “But we’ve been at this for a while and we have a good process. My team has been at this for several years … so it helps having experienced people that kind of understand their battle station; we’re all coordinated in terms of timing.”

Joslin said set-up began as early as Thursday while staff members from the Hall of Fame made their way to grounds on Sunday to help with managing

happenings on-site.

The initial lineup for the music festival, taking place June 26-29, was first made public in December. Performers include multi-Grammy Award-nominated and Country Music Association Award-winning country artist Dierks Bentley — who will make his inaugural ROMP debut — and Grammy-nominated group Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives.

The music will begin Wednesday night on the Jagoe Homes After Party Stage with Vickie Vaughn at 8 p.m., followed by Lillie Mae at 9:30 p.m.

Performances on the main stage will officially kick off with Rick Faris at 4 p.m., followed by East Nash Grass at 5:15 p.m. and The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys in the spotlight at 6:30 p.m. with Jim Lauderdale. Stuart and company will perform at 8:30 p.m. before The Travelin’ McCourys hit the stage at 10:30 p.m. The bands Never Come Down and Rumpke Mountain Boys will keep the tunes going on the Jagoe Homes After Party Stage at midnight and 1:30 a.m., respectively.

South Korea-based group Country GongBang will start the main stage performances on Friday at 2:15 p.m., followed by Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band at 3:30 p.m., Sam Grisman Project at 4:45 p.m. and the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band performing at 6:30 p.m. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway will then take center stage at 8:30 p.m. before Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass perform a set at 10:30 p.m. with The HillBenders. The After Party Stage will feature the Bibelhauser Brothers at midnight and Restless Leg String Band at 1:30 a.m.

Saturday will feature the Kentucky Bluegrass Allstars at 11:30 a.m., The Price Sisters at 12:45 p.m. and the Bibelhauser Brothers, performing on the main stage, at 2 p.m. Jaime Wyatt, Sierra Hull and The Earls of Leicester, along with Jerry Douglas, will keep the festival grounds full of music at 3:15 p.m., 4:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. before Bentley takes the ROMP stage for the first time at 8:30 p.m. and Leftover Salmon conclude the evening starting at 10:30 p.m.

Asheville, North Carolina-based group Fireside Collective will also perform on the After Party Stage beginning at midnight.

Douglas, a 16-time Grammy winner, will serve as this year’s “artist in residence” and will be “sitting in with a lot of different artists” performing on Friday and Saturday, Joslin said.

Joslin, a bluegrass musician and fan, finds the artists part of the lineup offer diversity, which he finds makes ROMP “compelling” — such as “rising stars” like Tuttle, “legacy artists” such as Stuart along with Bentley, a mainstream country music artist that has ties to the bluegrass world.

“... A lot of people don’t realize that he cut his teeth in bluegrass,” Joslin said of Bentley, “so this is kind of home base for him. And I think it’s fun for him too, to kind of come back home, so to speak, to his roots.”

This year’s ROMP will also complement the Hall of Fame’s current exhibit, “Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey,” with Leftover Salmon and The Travelin’ McCourys highlighting the late Grateful Dead co-founder using their respective times on stage to pay homage to Garcia’s legacy.

Additional happenings will take place at the Hall of Fame facility, such as the return of the Envision Stage from Thursday to Saturday with performances by Faris, Douglas, Hull, Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band and the Bluegrass Brothers inside the main lobby. Furthermore, Stuart and author Michael Streissguth will discuss the latter’s book, “Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music” at 3 p.m. Thursday inside the Woodward Theatre.

As of Monday, Joslin said attendees are coming in “from over 30 states and counting” according to current ticket sales.

“This has become a bit of a destination festival for people,” Joslin said. “... I think some folks are really finding this to be bit of a sweet spot — it’s big enough that you’ve got a great lineup and you’ve got a great experience with the festival, but it still is more independent-feeling, so folks don’t feel like it’s all driven by corporate interest and just the economics.

“It feels more mission-oriented, since it’s tied to a nonprofit.”

For more information on the happenings occurring at ROMP, visit rompfest.com.