Joel and Luke Smallbone are the Christian duo known as For King & Country.Progressive improvisation – or “improg” – is the latest addition to this year’s Riverbend lineup.
Umphrey’s McGee will play the late featured set on the Coca-Cola Stage on June 16, according to Talent and Production Coordinator Joe “Dixie” Fuller. Rap icons and previously announced Salt-N-Pepa with Spinderella will play the earlier 7 p.m. slot the same night.
Riverbend will take place June 10-18 along the 21st Century Waterfront.
Fuller says the festival’s music selection committee has had its eye on Umphrey’s for years, but the band previously fell into “Riverbend limbo,” too expensive for the smaller Bud Light Stage but not popular enough to carry the main Coke Stage.
Adding the earlier “featured act” timeslot last year helped solve some of that limbo, but Umphrey’s McGee also has grown their fan base, he says.
“They’ve played every major festival there is,” he says.
Also announced are For King & Country, who will headline Faith & Family Night on June 14, singer/songwriter ZZ Ward, the early featured act on the Coke Stage prior to country singer Thomas Rhett on June 10, and country singer/comedian Granger Smith, who plays the Bud Light Stage on June 14.
Other previously announced Riverbend acts are Heart (June 11), Trampled By Turtles (June 12), Brett Eldredge and Blackberry Smoke (June 15).
Umphrey’s McGee began in South Bend, Ind., in the late ’90s, playing its own brand of “improg” music inspired by the likes of Frank Zappa and the Grateful Dead. The band plays extended versions of songs featuring jazz fusion, funk, jam and rock.
For King & Country features Australian-American brother duo Joel and Luke Smallbone. The two created the Christian rock duo in 2012, and they have been described as Australia’s answer to Coldplay.
Umphrey’s McGee’s music is inspired by the likes of Frank Zappa and the Grateful Dead.Zsuzsanna Eva Ward, aka ZZ, came onto the scene in 2012 with “Put the Gun Down,” her first single. It broke into the Adult Alternative Top 10 chart, where it stayed for 10 weeks. She also made appearances at Coachella and Bonnaroo in 2014 and opened on a short tour by Eric Clapton.
Granger Smith is an up-and-coming country singer with an alter ego.
“About halfway through the show he becomes Earl Dibbles Jr. and he’s really funny,” Fuller says. As Dibbles, Smith says things like: “Good friends stop you from doin’ stupid stuff. Best friends do stupid stuff with you” and “Just saw a Prius hit a bird. The bird is fine. The Prius is totaled.”
Riverbend admission wristbands are currently available online only for $40. They will be available at area outlets in the coming weeks, according to Marketing and Promotion Coordinator Amy Morrow. They will be $55 at the gate during the event.
“This is our 35th year of the festival, and to celebrate we will have prizes and contests starting in March,” she says.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@times freepress.com or 423-757-6354.