Lineup Locked Up

The Mantras, an up-and-coming jamband from Greensboro, N.C., will make their Rooster Walk debut on Saturday night, May 27th.

Secret headliner nominated for a Grammy

(Editor’s note: On May 2, progressive bluegrass all-stars the Infamous Stringdusters were announced as headliners of Rooster Walk 3. The Stringdusters will perform on Saturday night, May 28, at Blue Mountain Festival Grounds near Martinsville, Va.)

MARTINSVILLE, VA. – Organizers of Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival are finished booking bands but not quite done announcing them.

The Memorial Day weekend festival (May 27-28) in Martinsville, Va., has announced 18 of the 19 primary bands performing at Rooster Walk 3, the notable exception being the headliner, which was nominated for a Grammy this year.

“We’re really proud of the bands at Rooster Walk 3,” said Johnny Buck, a co-organizer of the event. “We think that even if we didn’t have another band waiting in the wings, we would have an awesome festival with this lineup. And once we announce the headliner? Oh, baby. It’s gonna be the best Rooster Walk yet.”

The current lineup offers rock, jam, bluegrass, blues, soul, folk, funk, jazz, country and reggae. Rooster Walk, which takes place at Blue Mountain Festival Grounds, will also feature arts, crafts and food vendors from the area, children’s programming, a new workshop stage and on-site camping.

William Baptist, also a co-organizer of Rooster Walk, said the secret headlining band will be a new high-water mark for the festival.

“They’re by far the biggest group we’ve ever had at Rooster Walk,” said Baptist. “And coincidentally, our ticket prices will increase slightly on May 1^st … the day before we announce the headliner. So tell everybody to go to roosterwalk.com today if they want cheap tickets.”

Folk Soul Revival will host Rooster Walk 3. The Bristol-based band will be the only act to perform during both days of RW3.

Bristol-based roots rockers Folk Soul Revival (FSR) are the only band scheduled to play both nights of the festival. FSR offers “the right mix of rowdy and roots,” and has performed multiple times at Floyd Fest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots, and the Rives Theatre, among others.

Other bands scheduled to perform include: The Mantras (rock/jam; Greensboro, N.C.), the Jesse Chong Band (rock/reggae; Virginia Beach), Sanctum Sully (progressive bluegrass; Asheville, N.C.), Rob Cheatham & GUNCHUX! (indie/rock/country; Charlottesville), the Lizzy Ross Band (blues/rock/soul; Chapel Hill, N.C.), the Kings of Belmont (rock/jam; Charlottesville, Va.), the Big Fat Gap All-Stars (bluegrass; Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Jamal Millner & Comrades (rock/funk/improv; Charlottesville, Va.).

Poverty Level, with special guest Sammy Shelor, will perform Friday, May 27, at Rooster Walk 3.

The lineup continues:  Poverty Level (rock/Stuart) with special guest Sammy Shelor (Meadows of Dan), Relacksachian (appalachian jams/Roanoke), Travis Elliott (pop/singer/songwriter/Charlottesville), Mariana Bell (indie/folk/Charlottesville), the Martinsville Community Jazz Ensemble (big band jazz/Martinsville), Levi’s Gene Pool (rock/Blacksburg) and Riggs Roberston (rock/Martinsville) and the Boys and Girls Club Steel Drum Band (Martinsville).

Rooster Walk honors the memory of two young Martinsville natives who passed away recently, Edwin G. Penn IV and Walker E. Shank. Both were graduating members of Martinsville High School’s class of 2000. Proceeds from the volunteer-led festival go to the Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship Fund at Martinsville High School.

In two years, organizers have donated $10,000 to the scholarship fund. Sara Kasey, a current freshman at Randolph College, was the inaugural recipient in 2010. The announcement of the second annual winner is expected in May.

General admission tickets for RW3 are currently $35 for a weekend pass and $90 for a VIP weekend pass. On May 1, those prices will increase to $40 and $105, respectively. Tickets are available locally at the Southern Virginia Artisan Center in uptown, Binding Time Cafe and Woodall’s Music.

For more information, visit www.roosterwalk.com.

Who’s comin’ with me?

HELP THE CAUSE BY INVITING YOUR FRIENDS TO RW3!!!

We officially created the Rooster Walk 3 “event” on Facebook late Sunday night.

Our good friend and volunteer Brent Lacy was the first person to click “attending,” and for that he wins nothing more than a small mention in our news blog. … Congratulations Brent!

We donate all of our festival proceeds to a scholarship fund (and therefore we don’t have a big marketing budget), so Facebook is a huge part of how we get the word out. Please visit our event page and do us a favor by taking a quick moment to invite all of your friends! It may not sound like much but in the long run, it can make a big difference for our festival and our scholarship if everyone helps spread the word!

Also please remind your friends that our early-bird priced $25 weekend passes will be taken off the market by March 1st. The price of our VIP weekend passes will also increase that day (and last year’s most popular campground will be VIP exclusive this year!), so get them now while supplies last and save some money.

Questions? Email us at roosterwalk@gmail.com

Adding to the cause

Sara Kasey (left) is joined on-stage by Rooster Walk organizers Johnny Buck (center) and William Baptist during Rooster Walk 2 on May 29, 2010. Sara, a 2010 honors graduate from Martinsville High School, was the first recipient of the Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship. She is a current freshman at Randolph College.

Recently, we donated $5,000 to the scholarship at Martinsville High School using proceeds from Rooster Walk 2. We’ve now donated $10,000 in two years.

We’re working hard these days putting together Rooster Walk 3. When you’re telling friends about the awesome festival they should attend this Memorial Day weekend, don’t forget to mention that they’re ticket money is going to a great cause. We’ll be awarding another scholarship to a current Martinsville senior this spring, and we plan on making another donation to the fund after RW3 is in the books.

If you want to know a little bit more about the donation, check this article.