This weekend, Grind City Brewing Company is hosting its first-ever Grind City Fest in a collaborative effort with Mammoth Live and local promoter Nick Barbian to bring live music back to Uptown Memphis. The two-day festival will consist of blues and bluegrass performances, headlined by the Grammy-winning Infamous Stringdusters on Friday, and Greensky Bluegrass on Saturday.
Other performances will include Saxsquatch, The Travelin’ McCourys, Here Come the Mummies, The Wild Feathers, Kyle Nix & the 38s, and local acts Cyrena Wages and Dirty Streets.
The festival has been a year in the making, with the idea for the festival originating in a casual conversation between Barbian, who recently opened Big River Market in the South Main neighborhood, and Grind City Brewing founder Hopper Seely. “We were literally just out there at Grind City Brewing Company having a couple beers, looking at a great skyline of Downtown Memphis and this beautiful, just shy of two-acre lawn,” Barbian says, “and we were like, ‘We should do music out here.’”
The hope, Barbian explains, is to promote more live entertainment in the area. “This fest is definitely a preview of things to come. This is hopefully just the beginning. We want to bring more music back to Uptown, especially because that is such a developing part of the city right now, and having the brewery up there is such a great asset.”
Tickets can be purchased in advance at ticketmaster.com or at the door. Single day passes cost $35, and two-day passes cost $65. Children, 12 and under, get in free. VIP tickets are available for $125 and include early access to the venue, one free beer per day, free parking, access to the tap room and patio, a preferred viewing area, private bar and restrooms, limited edition laminate, an expanded beer menu, and complimentary Grind City Brewing tastings.
For more information, visit grindcitybrew.com/grindcityfest or @grindcityfest901 on Facebook or Instagram.
Lineup is as follows:
Friday, August 26
Saxsquatch | 5 p.m.
The Travelin’ McCourys | 6 p.m.
Here Come the Mummies | 7:30 p.m.
Infamous Stringdusters | 9:15 p.m.
Saturday, August 27
Cyrena Wages | 3:15 p.m.
Dirty Streets | 4:30 p.m.
Kyle Nix | 5:35 p.m.
Wild Feathers | 7 p.m.
Greensky Bluegrass (set 1) | 8:15 p.m.
Greensky Bluegrass (set 2) | 9:45 p.m.