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Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives are featured on Friday night of this year’s Master Musicians Festival. 

Grace Potter is the headlining act at this year’s Master Musicians Festival.

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives are featured on Friday night of this year’s Master Musicians Festival. 

Grace Potter is the headlining act at this year’s Master Musicians Festival.

This year’s Master Musicians Festival will have plenty of Grace. Literally.

Grace Potter, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, will be the headlining act at the 2022 MMF, scheduled for July 15 and 16 at Festival Field behind Somerset Community College. She tops off a full roster of musical artists that festival organizers are pleased to have been able to pull together despite challenging circumstances.

“We feel really good about the line-up,” said MMF executive director Tiffany Finley, who works with the non-profit festival board to make it possible every year. “For a little bit there, it was feeling a little bit tough to come up with something we were proud of but we ended up pushing through and all of us are very excited.”

That’s because after other festivals took time off due to COVID-19 concerns, this year everyone came back and was in a hurry to land as many hot-ticket names as they could, making the field very competitive for MMF.

“We’re super proud of what we came up with,” said Finley. “It stays with our mission, of what we’re trying to do. I think you could put us up against any other festival around.”

Grace Potter came into the spotlight with the band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals in 2002 before establishing a solo career with the album “Original Soul.” She’s famously collaborated with country star Kenny Chesney, earning her first Grammy nod for their team-up on the song “You and Tequila” and has also performed with The Flaming Lips, as well as on notable soundtracks like the Disney films “Tangled” and “Frankenweenie” and the TV shows “One Tree Hill” and “Grace and Frankie.” Her most recent solo album, “Daylight” came out in 2019, with hit songs like “Back to Me” and “Love is Love.”

Finley said that they’d hoped to book Potter for close to a decade now, but she was always committed already to another festival, such as Bonnaroo. This year, however, everything came together and Potter will be performing in July in Somerset to close out the festival on Saturday night.

“She is our first female headliner,” said Finley of Potter. “She is going to blow the minds of everyone on Festival Field with her talent.”

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives will be the featured act on Friday night, the first day of the festival. Stuart, known for his wild shock of hair and rockabilly-influenced sound, is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He’s won five Grammy Awards, and has hits like “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’” and “Tempted” to his name. He’s also hosted “The Marty Stuart Show,” a musical variety program that harkens back to the classic days of country music.

“Marty Stuart is basically the president of country music; (filmmaker) Ken Burns himself said that,” said Finley, referring to the cinematic documentarian’s recent deep dive into the world of country music. “He’s played with everyone from Johnny Cash to Travis Tritt, and he’s got the hottest band in the industry.”

Leading up to Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives on the MMF main stage Friday will be Multi Ultra, Tee Dee Young, Leah Blevins, and Rayland Baxter. On Saturday, the main stage line-up will begin with a young songwriter panel including Cara Bishop, Logan Purcell, Jake Kohn, Jayce Turley, Kara Wilder, and Vivian Leigh, then Short & Company, Justin Wells, Boy Named Banjo, the Wood Brothers, and finally Potter.

Horse Soldier Bourbon will be sponsoring the main stage this year, and once again, there will be two other venues featuring additional acts — the second stage is sponsored by Citizens National Bank, and then the SomerSessions tent has more of an “acoustic, chill vibe,” said Finley.

“It allows us to be able to provide more opportunities for local and regional bands to gain exposure,” said Finley. 

The Citizens National Bank Stage will feature The Minks, Cole Chaney, and Bendigo Fletcher on Friday and Ciggy Tuna, The Jessie Lees, Eric Bolander, S.G. Goodman, and John R. Miller on Saturday.

The SomerSessions Tent will host Sydney Adams and Daniel Stroud’s Sleeping Dogs on Friday, and Don Rogers, Tommy Cate’s Kids Jam, Dark Moon Hollow, and If Birds Could Fly on Saturday.

“While we pride ourselves for honoring master musicians and paying homage to their talent, we are maybe best known for being the festival where you’ll hear your next favorite artist—the festival that books musicians on their rise to fame,” said Finley. “Our uniqueness lies in the way we celebrate both of these contributions to the music industry in one two-day festival.”

For tickets and more information, please visit mastermusiciansfestival.org.

The line-up was announced Friday night at Jarflew Brewing Co. Playing at the special event were two of this year’s festival performers, The Minks and Daniel Stroud’s Sleeping Dogs.

“The MMF family is not only a collection of artists who have performed on our stages, it is a family in the most literal sense,” says Master Musicians Festival President and Media Director, Julie Harris. “Many of our board members over the years have been sons and daughters of founding members; many families and friend groups in our community have made attending MMF an annual tradition. Festivals like ours cement a generational love of and appreciation for music and community. And that is the reason we devote ourselves as volunteers to the cause—to ensure that love lives on.”

Elizabeth Louise Dick, 72, Science Hill, passed away Friday, March 11, 2022 at the Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. Arrangements are pending and will be announced later by Morris & Hislope Funeral Home. Condolences may be expressed at: www.morrisandhislope.com.

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