5 artists not to miss at FreshGrass fest

This year’s FreshGrass is headlined by rising alt-country star Sierra Ferrell on Friday, punk legends Dropkick Murphys performing an acoustic set that’ll draw largely on its two recent LPs of Woody Guthrie covers on Saturday and country-rockers Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real on Sunday. Each of those musicians is worth the price of their respective day’s admission alone, but there are more than two dozen other notable artists slated to appear over the weekend.

Sorting through the myriad of performers queued up to appear, I’ve listed below five must-see musical acts that are sure to please your ears and nourish your soul.

Allison Russell (Friday, 8 p.m.) Over the past four years, Russell has developed into one of the brightest stars in folk and Americana. In 2019, the singer-songwriter was part of Our Native Daughters, an all-Black, all-female roots quartet spearheaded by Rhiannon Giddens and Smithsonian Folkways. She released her first solo LP, “Outside Child,” to critical acclaim in 2021 and released its celebratory follow-up “The Returner” just a couple weeks ago. If you’ve seen her former group Birds of Chicago or Our Native Daughters’ incredible July 2019 show at the Egg, you know that Russell possesses a gorgeous voice and an engaging personality and stage presence. Her set will almost certainly be one of the best of the weekend.

Sunny War (Saturday, 12:50 p.m.) If you missed Sunny War’s March performance at Caffe Lena (and there’s only about 70 people who can honestly say they didn’t), this is your chance to make up for that snafu. Singer-songwriter Sydney Lyndella Ward has carved out a niche for herself by performing a compelling amalgam of acoustic folk, punk and blues. She blends these genres together seamlessly and with the help of her strong voice, delivers moving narratives that draw on the personal and political. Her rendition of the early 1900s blues standard “Freight Train” is one of the greatest performances I’ve heard, and if she plays it at FreshGrass, it’ll win you over, too.

Bombino (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) Bombino’s scheduled appearance is a perfect example of how FreshGrass presents a broad interpretation of the music it presents. The Niger-born Tuareg guitarist doesn’t fit neatly into the preconceived notions of roots music, but it doesn’t get much more organic and “rootsy” than his rhythmic desert blues. Nicknamed “the Sultan of Shred,” Bombino is one of the most awesome lead guitarists in the world and has made fans out of the Rolling Stones, who he collaborated with on a cover of their track “Hey Negrita,” and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys (who produced one of his albums). Last week, he released his first LP in five years and it’s a strong showcase for his self-taught finger-picking prowess. His set with his band is sure to electrify.

Buffalo Nichols (Sunday, 1:55 p.m.) Singer-songwriter Nichols is one of the boldest new voices in roots music. On his 2021 debut album, he presented himself as an inheritor and successor of the Black, acoustic blues tradition. But Nichols is no revivalist or anachronist. He just released “The Fatalist,” and on it he pushes his sound into new directions. He employs 808s and synths, and experiments with a sonic palette that incorporates hip-hop and modern sonics into the traditional blues form. The blues is often caught between blues-rock that can feel played out and retro revivalists; Nichols is at the vanguard of the movement to expand its sound. Combine that with his fantastic, gravely baritone and you’ve got an artist worth becoming familiar with.

Rhiannon Giddens (Sunday, 3:45 p.m.) This is Giddens’ moment. Last year, the singer-composer-historian-multi-instrumentalist won a Pulitzer Prize for Music for “Omar,” the opera she co-wrote. It was yet another significant achievement in a career that’s seen her be granted a MacArthur Genius Fellowship, multiple Grammys and several other honorifics. Her new album “You’re the One” is broader in reach, less rooted in an exploration of historical trauma and reclaiming Black music and instruments like the banjo and fiddle, and instead is lighter in tone. The material is a nice fit for her voice, which is arguably the finest in popular music today (and in my opinion, the finest in generations), and seems well-suited to a festival format. Giddens is one of the most gifted artists in the current music landscape and a stunning live performer. Any opportunity to see her should be crucial.