Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2023 Expands Lineup, Adds Steve Earle, Rufus Wainwright

August 24, 2023 9:00 pm

The roster of acts set to take the stage at this Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2023 just got bigger. Steve Earle, Irma Thomas, Sierra Hull, and Rufus Wainwright are among the artists confirmed to appear at the long-running music festival.

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“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is quite legendary in my book, and I always wanted to play there,” Wainwright says in a statement. “I am honored that after 50 years, I finally am worthy of being on one of the stages in the Golden Gate Park.”

Say She She, Margo Cilker, Mighty Poplar, Bombino, Brennen Leigh, and Thee Sacred Souls have also been added to this year’s list of performers for the three-day event, held September 29-October 1 in downtown San Francisco.

These newly added acts join a genre-spanning list of previously confirmed performers, which includes Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Bahamas, Valerie June, Neal Francis, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Lilly Hiatt, Dustbowl Revival, Nora Brown with Stephanie Coleman, Lucero and Valerie June. The Travelin’ McCourys, Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express, Buffalo Nichols, The Church, Beth Orton, and Carrie Rodriguez are also set to take the festival stage.

The annual festival launched in 2001 as a bluegrass-focused event and is known for its laidback atmosphere and many surprise collaborations between artists.

“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is as good as a music festival gets, in my opinion,” Isbell explains in a statement released earlier this year. “The location, the weather, the lack of corporate signage, the opportunity for beautiful and unique musical moments to happen—I love it all. This is one festival I always get excited about.”

All events and performances at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2023 are free to attend and open to the public. You can find more information about the event by visiting the festival’s official website.

(Photo by Danny Clinch Courtesy Mixed Media Works)