Bonnaroo Artist | Cameron Winter
Bonnaroo History | Newbie
Stage & Time | Saturday | Infinity Stage | 3:00-3:45pm
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 2025 lineup. A festival that feels like it’s ever evolving (especially with some big tweaks and improvements in the past few summers post-pandemic), this year marks Bonnaroo’s 22nd installment (and 24th anniversary), boasting not only another great and varied lineup, but also some exciting additions like the brand new, high-tech Infinity Stage, billed as “the world’s largest 360-degree, immersive sound experience” and unlike anything that’s ever been showcased in North America. Back once again in its usual June 12-15 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.
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 at the fest!
We’re told tickets are very low and on track to sell out, so grab those right here if you haven’t already (and don’t forget the camping or parking pass), and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!
LEARN
Best known for fronting New York genre-bending outfit Geese (who made their Bonnaroo debut last year, and delivered one of the best performances we saw all weekend), who started as teen post-punks on 2021’s breakout Projector and morphed into retro psych rock, jam-y, alt country rockers with 2023’s masterful 3D Country, multifaceted Brooklyn artist Cameron Winter is no stranger to musical reinvention, and managed to do so once again with his debut solo album, Heavy Metal, which arrived back in December. Despite the title (the more you follow Winter, the more you’ll realize how sarcasm, subversion, and irony are his modus operandi), there’s nothing particularly heavy about the LP at all; it’s an intimate, surrealist, existential exploration of modern songwriting, wrapped around oddball lyrics, soulful and genre-hopping musical aesthetics, and the bold creativity and singular quality of greats like Dylan, Cohen, Waits, and Cave. At just 22, and not yet hugely famous (though critically adored, Geese are still a club-sized band- in fact, you can catch ’em at The Blue Room just before Bonnaroo), Winter is trying his hand at solo music earlier than most frontmen typically do, and the result feels more bold, artistically unburdened, and adventurous than if he’d waited until later in his career to do so (and don’t worry, he’s still making new music with Geese as well). Notoriously fond of trolling, especially when it comes to his and his band’s image and relationship with music media, Winter has been a bit cagey about the background and lead-up to this record, spinning a (likely mostly made up) story about finding musicians on Craigslist, recording in Guitar Centers while recreationally abusing blood-thinners, and even recruiting a five-year-old bassist. Whatever the truth though, Heavy Metal is clearly something he poured so much soul and attention into, and our clearest singular portrait of Cameron’s artistic sensibilities yet, which, as his band has proven, never stay complacent, and are impossible to put into a box. Live, he seems to favor playing these songs stripped down on a piano, which is what we imagine he’ll be doing at the Infinity Stage- one of just a few artists on its schedule who don’t lean electronic. If Cameron Winter isn’t a name already on your radar, we implore you to check out his album- one of the most interesting and esoteric solo debuts in recent memory- and add him to your must-see list at Bonnaroo!
WATCH | “Love Takes Miles” (Official Video)
LISTEN | “Drinking Age”
