River Festival Acts Announced

Throughout the day on Thursday the Smoky Hill River Festival’s social media accounts announced multiple acts coming to the 46^th annual Smoky Hill River Festival this June 9-12.

According to the organization, featured on the stage and roving across shady Oakdale Park, Festival entertainment is a key part of this year’s epic arts party. “Entertainment this year is an all-embracing mix of cultural influence, including country, bluegrass, and Latino influenced folk and rock,” says Festival entertainment coordinator Anna Pauscher Morawitz. “We are thrilled to introduce Festival goers to this energetic group of performers,” she said.

Main stage acts announced for the 2022 Smoky Hill River Festival include:

Jason Boland & The Stragglers – Friday Headliner
- For the past 20 years, Jason Boland & The Stragglers have dazzled audiences as one of the leading ambassadors of the Oklahoma and Texas music movement known as red dirt country music.

Gangstagrass – Saturday Headliner
- Gangstagrass brings together different kinds of American music and creates a whole new category, greater than the sum of the parts.
SunDub – Sunday Headliner
- Brooklyn-based SunDub, an inventive and collaborative mix of New York City musicians, offers a classic reggae repertoire peppered with soul and funk selections.
Armchair Boogie
- Rising from the forests and rivers of central Wisconsin, Armchair Boogie’s high-energy take on the Jamgrass genre fuses intricate arrangements of acoustic guitar and banjo with the funky backbeats of electric bass and drums.
Las Cafeteras
- Born and raised east of the Los Angeles River, Las Cafeteras remix roots music and tell modern-day stories of Latino and immigrant lives. Using traditional Son Jarocho instruments like the jarana, requinto, quijada (donkey jawbone), and tarima (a wooden platform), Las Cafeteras sing in English, Spanish and Spanglish, and meld styles, from rock to hip-hop to rancheras.
The RT’s
- Brooklyn-based five-piece band The RT’s are known for their eclectic take on rock n’ roll, which mixes punk rock energy, horn-drenched soul & precise musicianship with a lighthearted but sincere delivery.
Carter Sampson
- Carter Sampson is an Oklahoma-born and raised, award-winning musician & songwriter blessed by a musical family legacy that includes talents like Roy Orbison. As the self-penned “Queen of Oklahoma,” her voice is rooted in country songwriter-driven music traditions.
Ayllu
- Ayllu (pronounced I-U) is a Pan-American musical ensemble. Its essence lies in its name – the Quechua word for family. Through their unique instrumentation, uplifting rhythm, and vibrant melody, they celebrate the joy of creating community.
Love
- A singer/songwriter/keyboardist with deep musical DNA, Rudy Love Jr. has developed a distinctive voice, giving his all with every performance. Seamlessly blending R&B, soul, funk, pop, and rock, Rudy is bringing his full band to the Festival mainstages.
Relativity Brass
- Relativity Brass is a Nola-style brass band playing soul classics, re-imagined modern pop, and original music. Catch them on the mainstages and roving through the park!

In addition, Arty’s Stage and roving entertainers have been announced on social media and on riverfestival.com. The entire entertainment roster will be available later this spring.

Scheduled for Thursday to Sunday, June 9-12 in Oakdale Park, River Festival 2022 will celebrate this unique and beloved arts festival. Advance-price admission wristbands cost $15 for four days, available for purchase Sunday, May 1 through Tuesday, June 7. After June 7, 4-day wristbands will be available at the gate for $20 as well as $10 daily wristbands, sold only at the gate. Children 11 and under get in free.

Complete Festival details will be announced at the SHRF 2022 Press Briefing on Tuesday, April 12 at 10 a.m. at the SAH offices at the Smoky Hill Museum.