Music

Blue Ox Plans Online Show, But In-Person Fest Still Slated for August

Rebecca Mennecke, photos by Michael Bartsch |

Pert Near Standstone
Pert Near Standstone

If you’ve been looking for the perfect opportunity to check out the Blue Ox Music Festival this summer, this year is the year for you! “Blue Ox Music Festival: Live From the Pines” is shimmying its way online to broadcast a weekend of live music from 1-10:30pm on June 12-13 from Whispering Pines Campground in Eau Claire. Best of all: It’s free!

This new virtual event can be viewed through the Blue Ox Music Festival YouTube channel and Facebook page and is streamed in partnership with JamGrass TV, The Current, Bell’s Brewery, Northern Sun Productions, and (of course) Blue Ox Music Festival. Pert Near Sandstone plans to perform two nights onstage at the campground, along with sets from Charlie Parr, Lissie, and Them Coulee Boys, while Sam Bush, Del McCoury, Lissie, The Travelin’ McCourys, Lillie Mae, and Molly Turtle perform some tunes from their hometowns. Sit tight, as the full schedule and lineup will be coming soon! The event also highlights the timely release of Pert Near Sandstone’s new album, Rising Tide, on June 12.

Blue Ox is still planning for its sixth annual festival in-person, which has been rescheduled to take place on Aug. 27-29. If viewers want to make a donation to support the performing artists – in addition to The Cleghorn Lion’s Club, National T.T.T. Society, the Chippewa Valley Technical College Radiology Department, and Feed My People Food Bank – they are free to do so through the festival’s PayPal (@blueoxmusic) their Venmo (@BlueOxFest), or  their GoFundMe page (https://bit.ly/2yjrcVA). More information is available at blueoxmusicfestival.com.