Throughout the years, the Bluegrass on the Grass festival has sought high-quality performers and a mix of bands that offers bluegrass aficionados a variety of styles and subgenres. Many bands return to play year after year, including the Dismembered Tennesseans, who have performed every year since the first and become the festival’s “house band.”
Performers hail mostly from southern Appalachia, including North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland. Many of the groups have won numerous awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America.
Bluegrass on the Grass has showcased a number of major bluegrass acts over the years such as:
Lynn Morris
(International Bluegrass Music Association 1996 Song of the Year)
Blue Highway (IBMA 2008 Song of the Year)
Butch Baldassari & Mike Bubb (2008 IBMA bass player of the year)
Dale Ann Bradley (2009 IBMA female vocalist of the year)
The Claire Lynch Band (2010 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year)
Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice (IBMA 2013 Male Vocalist of the Year)
The Steep Canyon Rangers (2013 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album)
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen (2014 IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year)
Special Consensus (2014 IBMA Recorded Event of the Year)
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper (three time IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year)
The Boxcars (three time IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year)
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out (five time IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year).
Past Festival Lineups
1996
The Fox Family
The Penn-Del Mountain Boys
Country Bob & the Barbecue Boys
1997
The Penn-Del Mountain Boys
The Lynn Morris Band
The Dismembered Tennesseans
1998
Bill Emerson – Mark Newton Band
Chris Jones & the Night Drivers
The Penn Dell Mountain Boys
The Dismembered Tennesseans
1999
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Fiddle for Fun
The Penn-Del Mountain Boys
The Mark Newton Band
New Vintage
2000
The Penn-Del Mountain Boys
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Big Country Bluegrass
Fiddle for Fun
Dale Ann Bradley & Coon Creek
2001
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Big Country Bluegrass
Sally Jones & the Sidewinders
Blue Highway
2002
Big Country Bluegrass
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Jim Hurst Band
Wolfe Bros.
The Lone Mountain Band
Sally Jones & the Sidewinders
2003
The Lone Mountain Band
Mike Compton & David Long
The Dismembered Tennesseans
James Leva & Memory Land
Slavek Hanzlik & Emory Lester
Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition
2004
Kenny & Amanda Smith
The Special Consensus
UpSouth
Shenandoah Blue
The Donna Hughes Band
The Dismembered Tennesseans
2005
Kenny & Amanda Smith
The Emory Lester Set
UpSouth
The Lone Mountain Band
The Dismembered Tennesseans
2006
No Speed Limit
The Butch Baldassari Trio
Troublesome Creek String Band
The Dismembered Tennesseans
The Special Consensus
2007
The Chapmans
The Grass Cats
The Hunger Mountain Boys
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Mark Johnson & Emory Lester
2008
The Dixie Bee-Liners
KC Groves & Riley Baugus
The Dismembered Tennesseans
The Chicken Chokers
The Steep Canyon Rangers
2009
Big Country Bluegrass
The Steep Canyon Rangers
The Grass Cats
The Chicken Chokers
The Dismembered Tennesseans
2010
The Special Consensus
Chris Jones & the Night Drivers w/Sally Jones
The Boxcars
The Freight Hoppers
The Dismembered Tennesseans
2011
The Claire Lynch Band
Chatham County Line
Louie Setzer & the Appalachian Mountain Boys
The Freight Hoppers
The Dismembered Tennesseans
2012
Audie Blaylock & Redline
Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Lone Mountain Band
Nora Jane Struthers
2013
The Georgia Crackers
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Town Mountain
2014
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line
Big Country Bluegrass
The Vickie Vaughn Band
Jake Krack & the Bing Brothers
The Dismembered Tennesseans
2015
The Dismembered Tennesseans
Tellico
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Jake Krack & the Bing Brothers
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
2016
Dismembered Tennesseans
Charm City Junction
Coal Town Rounders
High Fidelity
Big Country Bluegrass
2017
Dismembered Tennesseans
The Bing Brothers Band Featuring Jake Krack
Mile Twelve
Charm City Junction
Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper
2018
New Dismembered Tennesseans
The Lonesome Ace Stringband
FY5
Circus #9
The Gibson Brothers
2019
New Dismembered Tennesseans
The Bing Brothers w Jake Krack
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Becky Buller Band
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
2022
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Circus #9
Charm City Junction
Mile Twelve
New Dismembered Tennesseans
2023
The New Dismembered Tennesseans
Tray Wellington Band
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run
Five Mile Mountain Road
Authentic Unlimited