The moment we've all been waiting for is here — the Grand Rapids Riverfest 2023 lineup has been revealed!
Coming to the banks of the Mississippi River on Saturday, Sept. 9, is Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Amanda Shires, Shemekia Copeland and Dessa!
Tickets for Grand Rapids Riverfest go on sale 8 a.m. Friday, April 28. Booking your room is highly recommended. Find room blocks for Riverfest here.
Following the 2022 lineup of Wilco, Shovels & Rope, Chastity Brown and Wild Horses, we knew the stakes were high and worked hard to create something that represents KAXE and the Northern Minnesota community.
Riverfest is the signature event for the station and the City of Grand Rapids, sponsored by Grand Rapids State Bank. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 28. Mark your calendars and book your hotels!
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Northern Minnesota is capturing Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at one of their peaks in music. Releasing a highly anticipated new album in June, Weathervanes, Isbell is also the subject of a new HBO documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed, diving deep into his personal life with his wife (and fellow Riverfest performer) Amanda Shires.
Based in Nashville, Isbell is known as one of today’s best songwriters. The former member of Drive-By Truckers connects with his fans through authentic writing, often touching on anxieties, sobriety, relationships and love.
Amanda Shires
Rising in the ranks of Americana artists of today, Shires has been a key member the 400 Unit before embarking more heavily on her solo career. She founded the massively popular all-female Americana supergroup, The Highwomen alongside Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. She contributed to projects with artists like Beck, John Prine, Blackberry Smoke, Justin Townes Earle, Wanda Jackson, Todd Snider and others.
Shires’ new album, Take It Like a Man, continues the honesty in looking at relationships, covering a tough spot in her marriage to Isbell. Shires is one of the strongest and most distinct voices in Americana today.
Shemekia Copeland
From Harlem, New, York, is award-winning blues, soul and Americana singer Shemekia Copeland!
Her latest album, Done Come Too Far, features guests like Sonny Landreth and Cedric Burnside and received a Grammy nomination.
With songwriting that always has a pulse on the environment surrounding us, Shemekia has one of the most deeply soulful voices of our time.
Dessa
Singer, rapper, speaker and writer, Dessa is truly one of Minnesota’s treasures.
She has mastered music through her solo work and involvement in Doomtree and performed around the world. She is an accomplished author of books of essays and poetry that give a deeper lens in to the music she creates.
She’s collaborated with the Minnesota Orchestra, written songs for NPR, contributed to the No. 1 album The Hamilton Mixtape, published in The New York Times, and given a TED Talk about her science experiment on how to fall out of love.
Kicking off Grand Rapids Riverfest 2023 with a Minnesota musician like Dessa is sure to make this event something incredible.
