Mighty Roots Music Festival at Stovall Farms is back this September

Presented by WADE INC. – your North Mississippi John Deere dealer – Sept. 22-23, 2023 festival includes MOON TAXI, THE VEGABONDS, THE STEWS and HANS WILLIAMS

The Mississippi Delta’s newest major festival, the Mighty Roots Music Festival returns for its third iteration Friday, September 22 and Saturday, September 23 at the historic Stovall Farms, just outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi and 70 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The third annual event promises music, revelry, art, food and even yoga!

Organizers describe the 2023 lineup as the strongest to date, featuring a wide range of roots, Americana and bluegrass artists who will perform at the Stovall Store and Gin Complex in Stovall, Mississippi – the place where famed bluesman Muddy Waters grew up and was first recorded.

Mighty Roots is a unique event, firmly connected to the agricultural community of the Mid-South and celebrating the many genres of music that can fit under the “roots” umbrella.

Sponsors include Visit Clarksdale, Sonic Drive-Ins, Cathead Distilleries, Delta Magazine, Clark Distributing, and Visit Mississippi.

Mighty Roots Festival at historic Stovall Farms, Mississippi

Not only music, the Mighty Roots Music Festival offers a wide array of experiences, including:

• Great music, including late night stages until 2AM

• Discounted tickets for local residents

• Camping (with the first 40 campsites offered for free to ticket buyers!)

• The return of the curated Delta Artists Market

• Delta Cigar Company lounge

• Food trucks from Doe’s Eat Place, Sweet Brown Sugar, and more!

• Onsite yoga to start the festival on Saturday

• Full bar service including specialty drinks

• The traditional “burning of the guitar” at midnight Saturday

The music starts Friday September 22 at 5:30PM featuring:

• The return of 2022 crowd favorite The Vegabonds

• New Orleans musician (with Delta ties) Watson

• The retro country swing stylings of Papa Top’s West Coast Turnaround

• Country/Folk newcomer Alexis Jade and the Gemstones.

• After the main stage ends at 10:30, late night stages will feature blues by The Stone Gas Band in the gin and singer/songwriter Trey Gardo (and friends) at the Stovall Store.

Saturday’s lineup offers an amazing array of music and genres:

• “Rock with roots touchstones” from Nashville-based Moon Taxi

• High energy and eminently danceable music from The Stews

• Vermont native Hans Williams who is exploding onto the American festival scene

• Country tinged Few Miles South (also a 2022 returning act)

• Reggae from Chinese Connection Dub Embassy

• Down-home bluegrass from the Delta String Band.

• Late night stages will feature Terry “Big T” Williams in the gin and a special reunion of the New Orleans band Tuxedo Park (with special guests) in the Stovall Store till the wee hours.

Because the venue has Qualified Resort Status in Mississippi, bars will stay open until well after midnight.

Tickets are ON SALE June 1 and are available as Weekend Passes and as single day tickets. Both VIP and General Admission tickets are available. Weekend passes cost $140 VIP / $70 GA, Saturday tickets are $100 VIP / $50 GA, and Friday tickets are $60 VIP / $30 GA.

Tickets are available on the festival web site and on Eventbrite.com for both a single-day and weekend pass basis. In addition to general admission tickets, a VIP ticket offers access to a private area in the historic gin building and special viewing areas, while VIP Shuttle Packages offer transportation to and from Clarksdale to the event.

The festival offers a special ticket deal for Coahoma County, MS residents.. The festival is offering 150 general admission Weekend Passes, as well as 150 Single Day GA tickets for both Friday and Saturday at half price to Coahoma County residents who purchase tickets online. (Tickets must be picked up at WILL CALL at the event, and buyer MUST show proof of Coahoma County address. (Max 4 per buyer)

The festival is offering a FREE CAMPSITE to the first 40 ticket buyers who register for a site when they purchase their ticket(s). After that, campsites will be $25. A limited number of RV sites are also available. Camp site and RV slots are available as Add-ons to both VIP and GA festival weekend passes.

The festival is once again partnering with Delta Yoga Collective to offer a one-hour yoga session before gates open Saturday. Tickets for “Mimosas on the Mat” (which includes a free mimosa cocktail after the session) are available as an Add-on to any festival ticket.

2023 also marks the return of the wildly popular Delta Artists Market, a curated offering of painting, sculpture, photography, foods and hand-made items from Delta artisans with two dozen artists expected to participate. Also returning is the Delta Cigar Company mobile cigar lounge, offering hand rolled cigars, big screen TV and lounge area to catch all the SEC action.

The festival will continue its “Delta Burning Man” tradition at midnight on Saturday with the burning of a giant wooden guitar effigy on the famous “redneck tower” near the Stovall Store. This signature event has become the emblem of Mighty Roots and a great celebration of a festival well enjoyed.

The festival has again partnered with Delta Council, an area economic development organization representing the 19 Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. Delta Council will bring its Young Delta group of farmers and agribusiness stakeholders to an educational and social gathering at Mighty Roots on Friday night. Celebrating area agribusiness is a unique facet of Mighty Roots and fundamental to the event.

Friday’s musical highlights:

• Powerhouse alternative southern rock road warriors THE VEGABONDS bring their high energy, hook heavy rock again to Mighty Roots. Hailing from Nashville, TN with a portfolio of albums that include crowd favorite songs like Georgia Fire, Shaky Hands, Partying with Strangers, and Heartache and a Memory, these fellas guarantee a good time every time! And their new hit Tom Petty and The Braves is burning up college radio!

• Watson Turnipseed is a multi-instrumentalist who recorded his debut EP “Simple Syrup” outside of Cambridge, UK on a little sheep farm during the summer of 2019, from which you can feel the British influence. A year later Watson followed up with his second EP, this time with a heavier rock sound: “Four Felonies Before Noon,” live tracked in Los Angeles with the members of Heyrocco, and released in August 2020. WATSON released their first LP in May 2022 titled “Swamp Pop Pop,” recorded in New Orleans, Nashville, and Los Angeles. He is Watson Turnipseed, whose grandfather Frank Mitchener is well known as a longstanding leader in Delta agribusiness and a former president of the National Cotton Council.

The Vegabonds at the Neighborhood Theater

Saturday’s musical highlights:

• Once again ready to push the boundaries of their genre, Nashville based indie alternative rock band MOON TAXI is back touring behind their sixth full length album, Set Yourself Free. With sounds ranging from rock to synth to pop to bluegrass, the new lineup showcases what 15 years as a band gets you: a polished, classic sound without fear of exploration. The five-member group has stepped back into their roots to create an albumand a showprimarily written and recorded by themselves and setfor release on their own label,12th South records.

• After releasing their debut album What It Was in April of 2022, THE STEWS have been a non-stop touring machine, playing packed-out shows across the country. Forming at Auburn University,the band ultimately decided to leave school to meet the massive demand for their live shows.With sellout crowdsfrom Nashville to NewYork, Charleston to Dallas, and several in between, it isclear that The Stews have graduated from their former”college band” label.AStews concert isa perfect blend ofupbeat, singalong indie tunes and downrightheadbanging hard rock.

• HANS WILLIAMS is an independent singer-songwriter from Norwich, Vermont whose wistful, stirring alt-pop amassed over a million streams before he graduated high school.Now a recent Tulane graduate, Williams continues to experiment with producer and collaborator Phin Choukas with indie, folk, and alternative sounds and to grow his fan base in New Orleans and beyond, highlighted by his recent sold out show at New Orleans’ Tipitina’s, Hans will spend 2023 and 2024performing across the U.S. and releasing new music.