Here's a reason to stay close to home on President's Day weekend: Tampa's Whigfest live-music party has revealed its initial lineup, and sitting at the top of the poster is one of real country music's most promising songwriters.
Tyler Childers — who has earned praise from John Prine, Margo Price and more — has been booked for the festival, organized by the team at Rock Brothers Brewing, and the timing couldn't be better. The 27-year-old's 2017 album Purgatory won him “Emerging Artist of the Year” at the Americana Music Association Honors & Awards, where fans and critics alike praised the Lawrence County, Kentucky songwriter's ability to give voice to a region that often misunderstood in the mainstream media and largely ignored in music.
Joining Childers at the festival — set for February 16 and 17 in Ybor City — are New Orleans funk unit Flow Tribe, bluegrass-soul songwriter Lindsay Lou, Richmond Americana quartet The Trongone Band and more.
WHIG-IN' OUT 2018
Whigfest organizers: "Deteriorating foundation" at Ybor's Cuban Club means new schedule, stages
The Attic listening room above Rock Brothers Brewing will undoubtedly be used during the multi-venue, Ybor-centric festival, but it'll be interesting to see which of the historic district's other venues get utilized since restoration efforts at the Cuban Club forced Whigfest organizers to scramble for alternate venues during the 2018 fest.
More lineup announcements — including a second headliner — are set for November 1, and early bird tickets go on sale Friday, October 5 at 10 a.m. EST. We'll update this post as more info becomes available.
Whigfest Music and Arts Festival w/Tyler Childers/Flow Tribe/Front Country/Lindsay Lou/The Trongone Band/The Honey Hounds/Austin Plain/Leon Majcen/more. Sat. & Sun., February 16 & 17, 2019. Tickets on sale Oct. 5. whigfest.com.
