The Shaky Boots Festival is Back, & Symbolizes Something Bigger
Look alive Atlanta and surrounding areas. Come May 8th and 9th, 2020, it will be the revitalization of the Shaky Boots festival in Atlanta’s Central Park, with headliners like Brandi Carlile, Dwight Yoakam, Tanya Tucker, Jamey Johnson, Clint Black, and more. Offering a good mix of both classic and contemporary country, along with a little bit of mainstream and Americana mixed in, Shaky Boots has put together a cool curation of artists that will hopefully facilitate some good cross pollination and discovery.
But the return of the Shaky Boots festival also symbolizes something bigger. Shaky Boots was first held in 2015 as part of promoter Tim Sweetwood’s suite of music festivals, which includes the rock-oriented Shaky Knees festival, and the EDM/hip-hop Shaky Beats festival. But after the 2015 installment of the Shaky Boots fest which was heavy on mainstream country names, the festival didn’t return, partly due to problems securing the same site on the Kennesaw State University grounds.
Now Shaky Boots is returning as a replacement for the EDM/hip-hop festival, Shaky Beats. The rock fest Shaky Knees will still be held in 2020 the week before in Atlanta’s Central Park. Also as part of the return is more of an emphasis on independent country and Americana artists, as can be seen in the lineup. “It’s going to be a little less mainstream country,” Tim Sweetwood said when announcing the festival’s return. “You’ll have some elements of that, but also some Americana and folk and old-school outlaw country. Shaky Knees is a version of all things rock, and Shaky Boots is all things country across its many sub-genres.”
Though Tim Sweetwood says the decision to end the EDM/hip-hop version of the Shaky franchise had mostly to do with the logistics of producing loud shows in the downtown area, bringing back Shaky Boots and adding so many independent names speaks to the continued and increasing strength of non radio country.
The Shaky Knees festival will occur on two stages, and they’ve set up the schedule to make sure there’s no overlapping sets. That means you’ll get a chance to see up-and-comers like Colter Wall, Kathryn Legendre, and Billy Strings, but not miss John Prine or Gary Allan.
Find the full schedule below, and tickets are now on sale at shakyboots.com/tickets .
Shaky Boots Friday
John Prine • Allison Krauss • Gary Allan • Tanya Tucker • Colter Wall • A Thousand Horses • Kendell Marvel • Pony Bradshaw • Natalie Hemby • Great Peacock • Songs For Kids
Shaky Boots Saturday
Dwight Yoakam • Jamey Johnson • Morgan Wallen • Clint Black • Whiskey Myers • Billy Strings • Rita Wilson • Alex Hall • Lauren Jenkins • Kathryn Legendre • Song For Kids
December 28, 2019 @ 10:31 am
No more EDM festival?!?!? Sorry, Zac. You’ll find another gig….
December 28, 2019 @ 11:56 am
The inclusion of independent names and non radio country is probably because that type of country is getting huge in Atlanta. Tyler Childers just sold out two nights in a 2600 person venue. Billy Strings does damn good there. I think he’s played 3 or 4 shows in the city this year. Atlanta is becoming a huge market for that stuff.
December 28, 2019 @ 1:48 pm
That Saturday lineup is damn impressive.
December 30, 2019 @ 1:41 pm
I’ll be there. let’s hope it does better than the last one. I ran into Tim Sweetwood at Peidmont park one day a couple of years ago, and asked him why he didn’t bring it back. he basically said he lost his ass on it. I’ll be there to support for sure.
December 30, 2019 @ 3:15 pm
Going with more independent and Americana artists will help save on talent costs, while doing it the week after Shaky Knees in the same location and with the same setup will mean they basically cut their setup and teardown costs in half. This is a really good lineup and it would be great to see this thing take root in Atlanta.