On October 21st and 22nd, Futurebirds will present the inaugural Highball festival at the historic Pullman Yards in Atlanta, GA. The artists on the bill, curated by Futurebirds, represent a mix of the indie country-rockers’ inspirations and contemporaries as well as rising acts to keep an eye on.
Daily headliners include Band of Horses and The Head and The Heart, with Futurebirds serving as the lead-in to each top act. Elsewhere on the lineup, Highball will host sets by Wednesday, a special reunion by The Whigs, Seratones, S.G. Goodman, and more.
With Highball coming up fast, we decided to get to know some of the artists a little better. Highball tickets on sale here.
Futurebirds
Futurebirds will host a Peach State homecoming at Highball, set to occur about an hour’s drive from where the band met at the University of Georgia in nearby Athens in 2008. Over the past 15 years, the band has carved out a unique sonic space in the live music scene with its trademark sound fusing country with psychedelia and an indie sensibility. As singer/guitarist Carter King explained of the band’s distinctive position, “We were always too indie-rock for the jam festival, too country for the indie scene, a little too psych-rock to feel like we were Americana. The music over the years just kind of created its own weird little ecosystem—it’s thriving and it feels great.”
Through six full-length albums, the band’s sound has continued to grow and mature alongside its personnel, which has expanded beyond the original lineup of King, singer/guitarist Daniel Womack, singer/guitarist Thomas Johnson, and bassist Brannen Miles to include pedal steel player Kiffy Myers, keyboardist Spencer Thomas, and drummer Tom Myers. The band’s most recent effort, Bloomin’ Too, arrived last year and once again heard Futurebirds team up with My Morning Jacket guitarist/producer Carl Broemel. Along the way, Futurebirds have continued to check off pivotal career highlights including sharing stages with fellow Athens, GA luminaries Widespread Panic and Drive-By Trucker and making their Red Rocks Amphitheatre debut last year supporting Caamp.
Futurebirds – Bloomin’ Too
Band Of Horses
Headlining the first day of Highball on Saturday, October 21st is Seattle folk-rockers Band of Horses. Helmed by Ben Bridwell, the band has become a staple of the indie-Americana subgenre since catapulting into the public consciousness with the hit single “The Funeral” off its 2006 debut, Everything All The Time. Fast forward almost 20 years and Things Are Great, literally, as the band stated with the title of its 2022 LP.
Over the course of the band’s tenure, Band of Horses has become a flashpoint in the rising tide of country-tinged indie rock. A onetime touring partner and a clear sonic influence on Futurebirds , Band of Horses similarly defies categorization, owed in part to an ever-shifting lineup (Bridwell remains the only constant) that has evolved with each passing release. On Things Are Great, the band revisited some of the qualities that fueled its early success—like a focus on crunchy guitars sounds—but with the added wisdom of the intervening years.
Band of Horses – Things Are Great
The Head And The Heart
Sunday, October 22nd’s headliner, The Head And The Heart, shares both a hometown (Seattle) and a label (Sub Pop) with Band of Horses. Described as a mix of “Avett Brothers-meets-Fleet Foxes roots rock,” The Head And The Heart solidifies the Americana thread that runs through the inaugural Highball lineup. Formed in 2009, the band began making waves with its self-titled 2011 debut and has continued to expand the boundaries of its indie-folk sound over the course of four more albums as the subgenre has evolved around it.
Of the band’s name, founding vocalist/guitar Josiah Johnson said, “Your head is telling you to be stable and find a good job, you know in your heart that this [the band] is what you’re supposed to do even if it’s crazy.” That conflict of emotions lies at the heart of the band and is still found throughout The Head And The Heart’s latest album, Every Shade of Blue, released last April.
The Head And The Heart – Every Shade Of Blue
Wednesday & Seratones
Holding down the undercard lineup on Saturday are Wednesday and Seratones. Whereas the top half of the Highball lineup places a heavy emphasis on Americana and indie-folk, the lower half presents more stylistic diversity. The band Wednesday—not to be confused with Thursday—will come to Highball by way of Asheville, NC. The co-ed alt-rock ensemble has been a creative tear since forming in 2017, releasing five studio albums in as many years. Since inking a record deal with Dead Oceans, the buzz surrounding Wednesday has continued to grow in Asheville and beyond.
Wednesday – Raw Saw God
Hailing from Shreveport, LA, Seratones will inject some soul into the Highball lineup. The band formed a decade ago and has steadily gained steam since being named among the “Top 20 New Bands of 2015” by Paste Magazine. Seratones’ music combines elements of astral soul, R&B, and sci-fi funk, offering a cocktail of genres and personalities that has drawn comparisons to Alabama Shakes. The band will head to Athens fresh off its third album, the fittingly futuristic Love & Algorhythms, released last year.
Seratones – Love & Algorhythms
The Whigs & S.G. Goodman
On Sunday, top acts The Head And The Heart and Futurebirds will see support from The Whigs and S.G. Goodman. Highball’s debut will be historic for several reasons, including the first performance by fellow Athens, GA natives The Whigs in four years. The garage-rock power trio played a seminal role in the genre’s revival in the early 2000s, when The Whigs toured alongside the scene’s other luminaries like The Black Keys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The group’s most recent studio album, Modern Creation, arrived in 2014, with frontman Parker Gispert focusing more on his solo career in recent years.
The Whigs – Modern Creation
Kentucky singer-songwriter and bandleader S.G. Goodman has seen a recent rise to prominence in her nascent career thanks to Tyler Childers‘ regular inclusion of her original “Space And Time” in his live setlists. Childers, Goodman’s fellow Kentuckian, even included “Space And Time” on his new album, Rustin’ In The Rain, and brought her aboard his Send In The Hounds Tour. As Goodman’s profile continues to grow, she has become an in-demand opening act, recently touring with Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit. Beyond Childers, Goodman has seen a swell of support from other Bluegrass State natives including My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, who produced her 2020 solo debut, Old Time Feeling. Her self-produced follow-up, Teeth Marks, arrived last year.
S.G. Goodman – Teeth Marks
Along with this array of amazing acts, up-and-comers T. Hardy Morris and Hotel Fiction will get the party started on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Tickets for Futurebirds’ inaugural Highball festival are on sale here.
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