Bonnaroo 2018 Artist Spotlight: Jade Bird

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 from Bonnaroo‘s impressive 2018 lineup. 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, or most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. Though we’ll be jumping around, we’re loosely working our way through by day, and we’ll also be bringing you some special features and longer guides along the way, to help you plan your weekend before the fest. While these previews won’t span every performer, 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 keep reading to learn more in our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight…

LEARN

Slotted for a primo set at the intimate Who Stage on Bonnaroo’s first night, British singer-songwriter Jade Bird heads into festival season as an artist to watch, also set to appear at Firefly, Bumbershoot, and the nearby Pilgrimage Fest, among others, with her first-ever headlining tour on tap for the fall. While she only made her debut with last year’s buzzed-about Something American EP, and more recently turned heads this year with single “Lottery,” Bird, a 20-year-old self-described army brat, expected to drop a full-length later this year or early next, is already seeing her name tossed in among some musical greats.

Crediting a lifelong love of powerful songwriters, and the prevalent influence of strong women- her young mother, grandmother, and then early musical role models likes Alanis Morissette and Loretta Lynn- Jade found her way into the folk and Americana sphere through The Civil Wars, Chris Stapleton, and aforementioned Lynn, and while she’s certainly been buzzed about in that musical scene, perfectly falling into an American-esque style like fellow Europeans First Aid Kit, with whom she recently toured, to simply call Bird a folk or Americana artist would be to undersell her immense pop and singer-songwriter chops. An eclectic, confident, and immensely gifted songwriter with an unbelievable voice and wisdom beyond her years, Jade Bird should be a permeant fixture on your musical radar, and an essential must-see this year at Bonnaroo.

LISTEN | “Cathedral”