Rolling Stone
With a big move looming, FloydFest reaffirms its tastemaker status in roots music
The Virginia festival, which just hosted its 21st edition, has broken artists from Morgan Wade to 49 Winchester and is gearing up to relocate
[edited for Morgan’s comments]
Following her mainstage set at FloydFest last weekend, in front of a raucous crowd of thousands, singer-songwriter Morgan Wade takes a seat on a couch backstage. Between sips of coffee, a slight grin emerges on her face when asked what the performance meant to her.
“I grew up about three miles from here,” the 27-year-old “Wilder Days” singer tells Rolling Stone, “so I was able to get my dad to drop me off today, which was really nice.”
For Wade, FloydFest is all but where she entered the big time. After performing on a tiny stage in 2018, she was approached by the guitar tech for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, who were headlining that year. “He asked if I had a demo and said, ‘I think the guys would love to hear this,’” Wade says. When 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden listened, he was wowed and sent Wade a message about collaborating. A month later, they were in Nashville recording her acclaimed album Reckless. Now, Wade is opening shows for Chris Stapleton. Such is the power of FloydFest.
Situated atop a mountain plateau on a one-lane dirt road, just off the winding Blue Ridge Parkway in rural southwestern Virginia, FloydFest (named after the nearby small town of Floyd) presents a musical extravaganza and festival experience unmatched in Southern Appalachia — 100 bands, nine stages, five days, with over 15,000 in attendance.
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In other words, it endures. Just like FloydFest, which more than two decades into its existence and on the cusp of relocating its various stages, maintains the sway to make careers.
“The last time I played I didn’t have an agent or a manager. I didn’t have a label. I didn’t have any of that,” says Wade. “And I said, ‘The next time I play FloydFest, it’s going to be the main stage, and I’m going to have my bus and have a team.’ I rolled up here [today] and I did it.”