2025 Main Stage Lineup
The Black Swamp Arts Festival (BSAF) is excited to announce its 2025 Main Stage music lineup for the 32nd annual event. This year’s lineup showcases incredible national, international, regional, and local musical talent in Bowling Green, Ohio on September 5, 6, and 7. The full lineup is listed below. All events are FREE and open to the public.
Main Stage music starts at 5 pm ET on Friday, September 5 with Toledo rockers Leadfoot Granny. Leadfoot Granny is on a rapid rise, gaining attention from national record producers for their recent debut album and live show. The New York-based neo funk, R&B, and soul quintet Telula performs at 6:30 pm, taking inspiration from modern masters like Vulfpeck, while incorporating their own pop and jazz influences.
Americana quintet AJ Lee & Blue Summit co-headline at a 8 pm. Led by Lee’s dynamic vocal strength, the band features multiple lead singers, soloist, and songwriters. The group’s technical chops and showmanship, coupled with Lee’s online viral collaborations with groups like The Brothers Comatose, have landed prominent spots at festivals including Bourbon and Beyond, Grey Fox, and MerleFest, as well as a headliner show at the Ryman Auditorium this summer.
Co-headlining and closing out Friday night at 10 pm is Shadowgrass. Building on the exploding fan base for jamgrass music, often attributed leading practitioners like Billy Strings, Shadowgrass finds equal footing in traditional bluegrass music and extended instrumentals at home with rock and jam bands. Shadowgrass is featured on multiple festival stages in 2025 including Bristol Rhythm and Roots, Mountain Music Festival, and Grand Targhee.
Main Stage music continues at 12 pm ET on Saturday, September 6 with the Malawian musician Sam Shaba who is known for his compelling fusion of traditional African rhythms and contemporary jazz. The 6-piece Toledo-based cosmic Americana and psychedelic folk rock band Chloe & the Steel Strings performs at 1:30. Miller & The Other Sinners perform at 3 pm. They are a Southern Soul band from Buffalo, NY, bringing a blend of gut bucket delta grit, Memphis soul, gospel spirit and funky rhythm and blues.
Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves bring their retro-folk rock style to the Main Stage at 4:30 pm. McDonald’s voice has been compared to legends like Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan. He found fame in the early 2010s on national television, but stepped away from the limelight to return to his Alabama roots as a visual artist, songwriter, performer, and a powerful vocalist.
Virginia's Kendall Street Company returns to the Black Swamp Arts Festival Main Stage at 6:15 pm. The genre-fluid, eclectic rock ensemble has drawn varied comparisons to the dynamic jams of Umphrey's McGee and Widespread Panic, songwriting prowess of John Prine, experimental psychedelia of Pink Floyd, progressive jazz-infused rock of Frank Zappa, and humor of Ween and They Might Be Giants.
Legendary rocker Alejandro Escovedo returns to the Black Swamp Arts festival co-headlining Saturday at 8 pm. Called “…one of the great songwriters of our time.” by Time Out Philadelphia, Escovedo played an important role in punk (with the Nuns), roots rock (the True Believers), and alt-country (Rank & File) before launching a solo career that's seen him work with everyone from Tony Visconti, John Cale, to Bruce Springsteen. His acclaimed 2024 album “Echo Dancing” secured a #1 spot in Top 5 Country Albums for Classic Rock Magazine.
Closing out Saturday at 10 pm is co-headliner Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel. Duane cut his teeth with Backbone69 and Whitestarr, then spent a decade playing alongside his father, Allman Brothers co-founder Dickey Betts, as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. Duane co-founded The Allman Betts Band with Devon Allman, releasing records in 2019 and 2020 before releasing an acclaimed solo album “Wild & Precious Life” in 2023. Backed by Palmetto Motel, Betts delivers a dynamic live show of roots rock, blues, and improvisational jamming.
The Main Stage continues on Sunday, September 7 at 11 am with EMP Group, a regional jazz ensemble founded by drummer Evan Palermo and featuring bebop, fusion, rock, Latin, and soul jazz practitioners. “Detroit’s Prince Of The Blues” Chris Canas hits the Main Stage at 12:30 pm. Canas cut his teeth with the legendary Thornetta Davis and was an International Blue Challenge finalist in 2020.
Roots musician Cristina Vane performs at 2 pm. Her sound reflects an amalgam of experiences, a product of a merging of numerous worlds including classic rock, 90s indie, pre-war blues, old time fiddle banjo music, country, and bluegrass.
The 2025 Black Swamp Arts Festival closes at 3:30 pm with LADAMA, an ensemble of women musicians from across the Americas who, as well as performing as a touring band, strive to engage youth in their respective communities in the process of music-making, composition and audio production. With rhythm and percussion driving their original compositions sung in Spanish, Portuguese and English they combine disparate, traditional roots music with pop.
Main Stage Line Up Time Listings are Below
2025 Black Swamp Arts Festival Main Stage – Full Lineup (all times Eastern)
Friday, September 5
5:00 pm: Leadfoot Granny
6:30 PM: Telula
8:00 PM: AJ Lee & Blue Summit
10:00 PM: Shadowgrass
Saturday, September 6
12:00 pm: Sam Shaba
1:30 pm: Chloe & the Steel Strings
3:00 pm: Miller & the Other Sinners
4:30 pm: Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves
6:15 pm: Kendall Street Company
8:00 pm: Alejandro Escovedo
10:00 pm: Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel
Sunday, September 7
11:00 am: EMP Group
12:30 pm: Chris Canas
2:00 pm: Cristina Vane
3:30 pm: LADAMA
