St. Augustine, Fla. (December 12, 2016) – Celebrating traditional and modern bluegrass music, the Anastasia Music Festival will debut at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre Thursday, March 16, 2017 through Saturday, March 18, 2017. In an epic threeday bluegrass celebration, the Festival will host nearly 20 of the brightest bluegrass stars touring today including The Del McCoury Band, David Grisman’s Bluegrass Experience, Sam Bush, Elephant Revival, Fruition, Cabinet, Jeff Austin Band, The Travelin’ McCourys, Mandolin Orange, Joe Pug and many more! Three-day Early Bird tickets and Festival VIP tickets are on sale now.

Kicking off Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 4pm, the Anastasia Music Festival is a family-friendly three-day celebration of bluegrass music featuring nearly 20 acts, camping, food trucks and more. The initial musical lineup includes The Del McCoury Band (two sets), David Grisman’s Bluegrass Experience, Sam Bush, Elephant Revival, Fruition (two sets), Cabinet (two sets), The Jeff Austin Band, The Travelin’ McCourys (two sets), Mandolin Orange (two sets), Sierra Hull, The Broomestix, Dustbowl Revival (two sets), Joe Pug, Jon Stickley Trio (two sets), Grits & Soul (two sets), Nikki Talley (two sets), Taylor Martin (two sets), Steve Pruett with more to be announced. Children 10 and under are free with paid adult admission and camping packages are available online at www.anastasiamusicfestival.com.

“Bluegrass music has such a rich history and to host a three-day festival celebrating the genre at the Amphitheatre is truly special,” says Ryan Murphy, Director of the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division which owns and operates the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. “We hope that music fans of all ages and families from all over will come out and enjoy traditional and modern bluegrass among the natural park setting of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.”

About the headlining artists:

The Del McCoury Band – For more than 50 years, Del McCoury’s music has defined authenticity for hard core bluegrass fans as well as a growing number of fans among those only vaguely familiar with the genre. McCoury is something special, a living link to the days when bluegrass was made only in hillbilly honkytonks, schoolhouse shows and on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, yet also a commandingly vital presence today, from prime time and late night talk show TV to music festivals. Born in York County, PA 75 years ago, Del McCoury would once have seemed an unlikely candidate for legendary status. Bitten hard by the bluegrass bug when he heard Earl Scruggs’ banjo in the early ‘50s. McCoury became a banjo picker himself, working in the Baltimore and D.C. bar scene into the early 1960s. He joined Bill Monroe’ s Blue Grass Boys in early 1963; the Father of Bluegrass moved McCoury from the banjo to guitar, made him his lead singer, and gave him a lifetime’s worth of bluegrass tutelage direct from the source. Flash-forward to now and the Del McCoury Band is on top of the bluegrass world, along the way giving birth to a more startling phenomenon: the emergence of the group onto the larger music scene as a unique torchbearer for the entire sweep of bluegrass and its history.

David Grisman Bluegrass Experience – For nearly half a century mandolinist/composer/bandleader/producer David Grisman has been a guiding force in the evolving world of acoustic music. His musical range is wide and deep, embracing many styles, genres and traditions. An acoustic pioneer and innovator, Grisman forged a unique personal artist path, skillfully combining elements of the great American music/art forms of jazz and bluegrass with many international flavors and sensibilities to create his own distinctive idiom of “Dawg” music (the nickname given him by Jerry Garcia.) In doing so, he has inspired generations of acoustic string musicians, while creating his own niche in contemporary music. Grisman discovered the mandolin as a teenager growing up in New Jersey, where he met and became a disciple of mandolinist/folklorist Ralph Rinzler. Grisman learned to play the mandolin in the style of Bill Monroe and took it to Greenwich Village where he studied English at NYU, while immersed in the proliferating folk music scene of the early 1960s. He went on to form and play with the Even Dozen Jug Band, the Kentuckians, Old & In the Way, Earth Opera, the Great American Music Band, the David Grisman Quintet and most recently has revisited his roots with the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience. This very traditional group includes Keith Little on 5-string banjo, guitar and vocals, Jim Nunally on guitar and vocals, Chad Manning on fiddle, Samson Grisman on bass, with David on mandolin and vocals.

Sam Bush – If joy were a person, he’d bring both peace and frenzy. He’d be full of music, light and energy that soothes even as it stirs us up. Eyes closed, wire-rim glasses in place, mandolin pressed against his ribs, joy would be Sam Bush on a stage. The Father of Newgrass and King of Telluride has long since established himself as roots royalty, revered for both his solo and sideman work, which includes time with Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett and Bela Fleck. But instead of kicking back and soaking up honors such as an Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award and suite of GRAMMYs and International Bluegrass Music Association trophies, Bush still strives relentlessly to create something new. Raised on a farm just outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Bush grew up plowing tobacco fields in the Southern summer heat alongside his family. He started playing mandolin when he was 11 years old. “I believe growing up on a farm probably helped me channel my energy into learning music and being so interested in it,” Bush says. For Bush, a lifetime of channeling his energy has led to stylistic innovations that have changed the course of bluegrass and roots music alike.

More information on all the performers can be found online at www.anastasiamusicfestival.com in addition to camping and hotel accommodations, volunteer and vending information. Three-day Early Bird and VIP tickets for the Anastasia Music Festival are on sale now at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre and Ponte Vedra Concert Hall Box Offices, online at ticketmaster.com, all authorized TicketMaster outlets or by phone at 800-745- 3000.