Lil' Smokies

This coming Friday, April 3rd, will mark the second installment of WWG TV from the producers of WinterWonderGrass. Viewers can tune into the livestream on Friday at 6:00 pm MT (5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET) via the festival's official Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Returning for its eight year to the delight of four-season festival goers, WinterWonderGrass Festival will return yet again to Lake Tahoe, California at Squaw Valley Resort on March 27th-29th. Founded by Scotty Stoughton, a lifelong musician and festivalgoer alike, WinterWonderGrass, “aims to cultivate and nurture the relationship between nature, authentic music, and communal family, creating a vehicle for inspiration,” according to its mission statement.

The Grammy award-winning Infamous Stringdusters are headlining this year along with The Lil’ Smokies, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades with two sets over the weekend, Rumpke Mountain Boys, Old Salt Union, Fireside Collective, The Sweet Lillies, The Grass is Dead, banjo master Kyle Tuttle as artist at large as well as local favorites Restless Leg String Band and many more.

Montana-based rising stars, The Lil Smokies, have just announced the release of their third studio album, Tornillo, on January 24, 2020. Recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX, with producer-engineer Bill Reynolds (The Avett Brothers, Band of Horses, Midland) Tornillo is a focused and refined representation of the sound The Lil Smokies have become known for.

Dobro, mandolin, guitar, musical exaltations and vocal flourishes – and much more – lilted through the autumn-painted trees and into the ears and souls of some colorful attendees at the fairgrounds in the Sierra Nevada foothill town of Placerville, California, at the ninth annual Hangtown Music Festival (formerly the Hangtown Halloween Ball).

The Lil Smokies just released their video for “Gone at Last” featuring Anders Beck of Greensky Bluegrass and Jay Cobb Anderson of Fruition. This is the third video from The Lil Smokies’ latest live album Live at the Bluebird. The videos were all recorded in Denver, Colorado at the Bluebird Theater in late 2018.

Music-fan tribes of all stripes gathered for the Independence Day weekend to luxuriate in the 29th annual High Sierra Music Festival in tiny Quincy, California, basking in the music, vibes, joy, and friendships old and new. Over the four-day celebration, among the beautiful clear-aired mountainous sky and mountains, fun oozed everywhere, from the scheduled and numerous unscheduled live performances and collaborations to the often luxurious and nicely appointed home bases set up in the campgrounds.

In just a couple of months, on July 18-21, North Plains, Oregon will see the return of one of the country’s premier bluegrass and roots music festivals, Northwest String Summit. Hosted every year by presiding band Yonder Mountain String Band, the four-day event will see top-billing sets from other veteran performers like The Infamous Stringdusters and Trampled By Turtles, as well as invite newcomers from across the musical spectrum, like Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Dark Star Orchestra, Galactic and more.  

The Lil Smokies round out their SnowGhost Singles series with a cover of Tom Petty’s “Learning To Fly”, out today. Listen/Stream here.

“Some artists, even after their time to move on has come, never die,” said guitarist Matthew Rieger (Rev). “Tom Petty is certainly one of them. We hope you'll enjoy our take on one of our favorite tunes of his."

On the heels of a packed nationwide tour that included numerous sold-out shows, The Lil Smokies announce their new album, Live at the Bluebird.  

Recorded at the historic Bluebird Theater in Denver, CO, Live at the Bluebird delivers the group’s dynamic live show experience and captures their high-energy, all-string performance.

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