Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: Izzy Heltai

Bonnaroo Artist | Izzy Heltai
Bonnaroo History | Newbie
Stage & Time | Thursday | Galactic Giddy Up (Plaza 5) | 3:00-4:00pm || Friday | Who Stage | 5:15-6:00pm

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

LEARN

The child of two mathematician first-generation European immigrants, singer-songwriter Izzy Heltai grew up in the Boston neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, and started as a classical pianist in his youth, before finding folk music through greats like Joan Baez and Simon and Garfunkel, inspired to pick up a guitar and get serious about songwriting as a teen. Now in his 20s, Heltai, who happens to be trans (a part of his identity he only really started including in his musical bio a couple years ago, so as not to make it a focal point of his artistic identity), has spent the last several years honing his clever, confessional, and pop and indie infused folk sound, at once timeless in its broad approach yet lush and modern in its warm, charming, and slick production. Heltai, who experienced small town life as a college student in North Adams, and recently spent a stint back home with his mom during the pandemic, has been releasing music for at least a few years now, and dropped his deeply personal first full-length Father back in 2020, but it appears that most of his prior work is no longer easily available to stream, with last year’s great Day Plan (5 Songs Written 4 the End of the World) EP being the only release on major platforms at the moment. The EP, Heltai’s most poppy and honed, is a great jumping off point though, as it’s the artist’s best and most accessible work to date. Having recently toured with Nashville’s on Liza Anne, and set to support The Mountain Goats later this summer, Izzy is without a doubt one of the coolest up and coming artists on this year’s Bonnaroo lineup, and with two chances to see him, you have no excuse not to catch Izzy Heltai on the farm!

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