At a fundraising event for the third annual Ferdinand Folk Festival (September 15, 2012) this past weekend, fest organizers announced the lineup of musicians for the 2012 event. 
- · Colin Hay, www.colinhay.com: Perhaps most well-known for his multi-platinum career with the band Men at Work and for their mega-hits “Land Down Under”, “Who Can It Be Now”, and “Overkill”, the Scottish-born and Australian-raised Colin Hay has worked incredibly hard since the late 1980s to forge a strong solo career. Eleven solo albums later (and several famous stops on the hit television show “Scrubs”) and what he describes as “hand-to-hand combat” to build a new audience, Hay will headline the third annual Ferdinand Folk Festival. A photo of Mr. Hay can be found at the bottom of this message.
- · Adam Hood, www.adamhood.com: Adam Hood, who performed at the Folk Festival’s announcement party on January 28, will be bringing his full band back to Ferdinand to be a part of the Folk Festival. Hailing from Opelika, Alabama, Hood’s songs have been recorded by the likes of Lee Ann Womack and the Eli Young Band. He has toured with country music sensation Miranda Lambert and both of his full-length albums have been produced by Grammy-winning and multi-platinum producer Pete Anderson (of Dwight Yoakam fame).
- · Daddy (Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack), www.willkimbrough.com, www.tommywomack.com: A self-described musical experience layered in juke-joint blues, swampy-groove country, a lot of rock-n-roll, with a couple of stops in gospel and beat-poet territory, Daddy, a duo comprised of Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack, will make their way to Ferdinand via Nashville. This is a return engagement for Mr. Kimbrough, who was one of the first Folk Festival’s main stage performers in 2010.
- · Vandaveer, www.vandaveer.net: Born in Ohio, raised in Kentucky, and currently camped out in the nation’s capital, Vandaveer offers up melodic Americana that is both haunting and easy, forlorn and welcoming, with stories as universal as the songs they inhabit. Vandaveer shapeshifts from studio to stage and back with a revolving cast of characters (aside from main stay Mark Charles Heidinger), most prominent among them Rose Guerin.
- · Andrea Wirth, www.facebook.com/andrea.wirth: Evansville’s Andrea Wirth played two fifteen minute sets on the Market Stage last year. During that time, she managed to sell more merchandise than all of the other Market Stage artists combined. She is an amazing presence with an amazing voice and a very dedicated following in the Evansville region.
- · Beau Troesch: The lone truly local performer, Ferdinand’s Beau Troesch’s performance is a return engagement, as he kicked off the first Ferdinand Folk Festival in 2010.
“We are tremendously proud of this lineup,” said Ferdinand Town Manager Marc Steczyk. “It is the support of our community through fundraisers, sponsorship opportunities, and volunteerism that has enabled us to afford such a rich and diverse lineup. It’s, certainly, not every year that we’ll be able to market a headliner that has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide and has graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”
For any and all information about the Ferdinand Folk Festival, please visit www.ferdinandfolkfestival.com. For additional information about the Town of Ferdinand, please visit www.ferdinandindiana.org.
About the Ferdinand Folk Festival: Nestled among the hills and fields of southwestern Indiana, the Ferdinand Folk Festival is an earth-friendly and family-friendly event promoting music, the arts, and the environment. This free festival, located in Ferdinand’s 18th Street Park, will feature nationally-acclaimed musicians as well as exceptional local and regional acts. Patrons will experience a rich variety of acoustic music on the stage. In nearby booths, local artists and artisans will display and sell their work, area gardeners and farmers will sell fresh produce, and groups dedicated to creating vibrant communities and a sustainable environment will provide education on a variety of topics. Fun activities for children will also be available in the park.