Bonnaroo 2021 Artist Spotlight: Frances Cone

As we’ve been doing for the past several years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorites acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2021 lineup. However, to say that this year’s Bonnaroo is a bit of an unconventional one would be an understatement. Postponed from 2020, moved later into the summer, and with a lineup, schedule, and enhanced Covid-19 precautions all only announced and finalized mere weeks from the fest’s Sept. 2-5 weekend, we’re starting our preview coverage later than usual now that we have the full rundown, and will only be highlighting a handful of artists we want to make sure are on your radar this year, reflecting the full gamut of the festival’s days and stages, and even some performers from the plaza lineup. Additionally, look out for our full list-style lineup guides for each day of the fest, with many other artist recommendations, to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s stacked and sprawling 20th-anniversary slate.

Tickets for 2021 sold out in record time, but if you already have yours, or you manage to snag some from a reputable 3rd party, we hope you’ll do everything you can this year to keep yourself and your fellow Bonnaroo attendees safe throughout the fest, and to behave as cautiously as possible after to limit your risk of exposure to others. We’re thrilled to have music back, but, as the Delta variant fuels a rise in Covid cases, if we want it to stay back and stay safe, we all need to take care of one another. That said, we’re hoping this year’s Bonnaroo marks another important milestone on the road to normalcy, and some welcome solace for those in attendance. To help you get ready, read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight.

LEARN

Indie pop project Frances Cone initially began as a solo vehicle for classically trained singer, songwriter, and pianist Christina Cone, who grew up in Charleston in a musical family, and initially adopted the moniker (named after two generations of musical family members) upon moving to Brooklyn, releasing her debut full-length, Come Back, in 2013, setting the template for the group’s lush, soulful, genre-bending, and atmospheric pop sound. The addition of drummer-turned-bassist and vocalist Andrew Doherty, however, who became both Cone’s musical partner and life partner, helped usher in a second era for the project, who achieved their widest recongization yet after releasing 2016 single “Arizona.” The pair spent some time traveling and slowly working on a new full-length, earning nods from numerous tastemaking outlets (and even a spot on NPR’s Tiny Desk) along the way, eventually opting to settle full-time in Nashville, ahead of 2019’s long-awaited sophomore LP Late Riser. Renewed for their dreamy, lovely, melodic, and inventive indie pop bent, Frances Cone are a gem in the indie landscape and a transplanted act Nashville is incredibly lucky to count as part of our local scene. Bonnaroo’s Saturday lineup is full of some particularly brutal scheduling conflicts, but Frances Cone could easily fit right in with a prime slot on a bigger space. Don’t sleep on their afternoon Who Stage debut, because next time they return to Bonnaroo, we suspect it’ll be on a lot less intimate a stage.

WATCH | “Arizona”