BLUE OX TIMES TEN. Among the wide array of artists included in this summer's 10th annual Blue Ox Music Festival are Monica Rizzio (top) and Emmy Woods. (Submitted photos)

Newcomers and rising regional stars will be part of the daytime lineup on the Backwoods Stage at Blue Ox Music Festival at the Pines Music Park outside Eau Claire.

Blue Ox will celebrate its 10th year of bringing bluegrass, American, roots music, folk, and more to an idyllic setting among the trees at the Pines Music Park from June 27-29.

The Backwoods Stage lineup includes Emmy Woods & The Red Pine Ramblers, winner of this year’s Virtual Band Competition, in which Blue Ox fans voted online for their favorite newcomers. A native of North Dakota, Woods lives in St. Paul and is known for songs that “showcase her knack for storytelling, her strengths in musical artistry, and an impressive vocal range and ability,” according to the Blue Ox website.

Another featured newcomer will be Monica Rizzio, an alt-country singer from Cape Cod via Nashville and Texas who in addition to touring with her band, the Round-Up, has played fiddle and guitar for folk legend Tom Rush and is now opening for mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull.

Other Backwoods Stage performers will include Debutants, Mooncats, Stringdingers, Steam Machine, Valley Fox, Red Hot Django Peppers, Carrie Sue & The Wood Burners, and Said in Stone.

The Backwoods Stage is one of three stages at Blue Ox. The main stage lineup, announced in January, features Band of Horses, Sierra Ferrell, Watchhouse, Sam Bush Band, Leftover Salmon, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Del McCoury Band, and many more, including hosts Pert Near Sandstone and Eau Claire’s own Them Coulee Boys.

Attendance at the festival is limited to 5,000 tickets “to preserve the intimacy and magic that Blue Ox Music Festival was built upon,” organizers say.

Learn more about the lineup as well as ticket and camping options online at blueoxmusicfestival.com.