Old Settler's Music Festival Archives

Old Settler’s Festival makes surprise return

Longtime fans of the Old Settler’s Music Festival, held for more than three decades in Dale, TX, are aware of the announcement made last year that property costs and ongoing pandemic issues were forcing them to shut down.

But this month it has been proclaimed that the rumors of its death were greatly exaggerated, and that Old Settlers would be presenting a Spring Pickin’ Party in May of 2024. Plans are still in the early stages, but festival Executive Director Diana Harrell says that feedback was so intense in response to the cancellation news that they feel confident in keeping things going.

“We are grateful for the support that enables the Old Settler’s Music Festival to survive and thrive. We are overjoyed to bring our 37^th annual music festival to life, and invite all our old friends and all newcomers to join us in celebration of Americana music.

This year’s festival focuses on getting back to our roots through intimate performances and immersive experiences, like the campfire pickin’ circles that made us a household favorite for decades. We invite music lovers of all ages to join us for a great time and encourage everyone to get their tickets early because the word is out – Old Settler’s Music Festival is back!”

The talent roster for the May 9-12 event has yet to be announced, but Old Settler’s always brought in top progressive bluegrass and jamgrass acts, alongside popular acoustic and Americana artists to perform. It looks like the Spring Pickin’ Party is going to be mostly a jam-oriented festival, where attendees will provide the bulk of the entertainment. Open mic sets on stage are also scheduled.

Camping will be available on site, where food and beverage vendors will be set up as well.

Full details can be found online.

Photos from 2022 Old Settlers Music Festival

Del McCoury Band at the 2022 Old Settlers Music Festival – photo by Amy Price

Many thanks to the folks at the Old Settlers Music Festival in Tilmon, TX who shared this gallery of images from this past weekend’s happenings.

Photos by Amy Price.

Photos from Old Settlers Music Festival 2021

Many thanks to Brooks Burris for sharing this gallery of images from last weekend’s Old Settlers Music Festival in Tilmon, TX.

The festival has been held in October since 1987 with a combination of bluegrass, old time, alternative, and Americana music. They also host music competitions for young artists during the festival.

Photos from Old Settler’s 2018

The 2018 edition of the Old Settler’s Music Festival took place last month in Tilmon, Texas, just as it has since 1987. The stage shows bring together contemporary bluegrass acts with more progressive string bands and Grassicana performers.

The promoters shared some images from this year, courtesy of photographers Amy Price and John Grubbs.

Old Settler’s festival wins injunction against Driftwood

The Old Settler’s Music Festival has been held in Texas this past 30 years, close to the state capitol in Austin. They have moved around a bit since the founding in Round Rock, held initially at the Old Settler’s Park which gave it its name. Their first move came in 2000 with two years in Dripping Spring, followed by another in 2002 to Driftwood, TX where they had been ever since.

Over the years, they have hosted a large gathering of music lovers each April, catering to the progressive bluegrass, jamgrass scene, with a strong focus on young artists.

A new site has been selected for 2018, one that the festival board had purchased and prepared for that purpose in nearby Tilmon, but they had not actually planned to move until 2019. The festival organizers received a letter back in August from the owners of the venue they had been using in Driftwood, Salt Lick BBQ, informing them that they would not be willing to host the event in 2018.

At about the same time as Old Settler’s got this notification, the board noticed a web site promoting a new festival, the Driftwood Music Festival, scheduled to be held at the Salt Lick property the same weekend that had previously been reserved each year for Old Settler’s. When the board noticed that the organizer of the new festival on their old site was their own recently resigned Director of Operations, Scott Marshall, they filed suit in Travis County District Court. The suit alleges that the Driftwood Music Festival was using trade secrets and confidential information that belonged to Old Settler’s. It also named Salt Lick’s ownership group, SJG Corp, and Ryan Brittain, who had worked as a production manager at the festival and is listed as an organizer of the new Driftwood event.

The court has now granted an injunction sought by Old Settler’s, preventing Marshall and Brittain from booking performers or selling tickets for their April 2018 festival, saying that the plaintiffs were likely to win the case on the merits. The Driftwood Music Festival has since announced that they were looking for a suitable date other than the one used by Old Settler’s, and have made a settlement offer to the Old Settler’s board.

Jean Spivey, Executive Director at Old Settler’s shared some correspondence with us indicating that Salt Lick had informed Marshall that they may not want to continue to host the festival, but that he had not shared that information with the board.

It looks like the issue of the 2018 date has been resolved by the court. Let’s hope that these two events can live together peaceably if they are both going to be held in the region.