The anticipation is surely rising as we are getting closer and closer to celebrating 4/20 on Mulberry mountain in the Ozarks for Backwoods Music Festival! Kicking off on Thursday (4/20) and going until Sunday the 23rd, Backwoods is aiming towards one of their biggest years yet with top of the line production, an artist lineup that is mind-bending, and tons of workshops and sides activities to keep things interesting all day long throughout the weekend! We are stoked to see the set times get released so early, which can be seen below, and with the set times out we put out our Top 8 Artists To Get Your Chronic on at Backwoods Music Festival. There are a plentiful of honorable mentions because truthfully this whole lineup is just gas! Check out our Chronic List and be sure to look at the map to plan your schedule accordingly! Also snag tickets if you have not done so yet with the link below!
Backwoods Music Festival Ticket Link
8. Big Gigantic
This one is an obvious ‘must’ on our Chronic list. Not only is Big Gigantic a funky duo from Colorado that proudly backs cannabis, but they are set to headline on 4/20! We put out a spotlight on them earlier this year going further in depth of why their performance will be legendary. (Check out the Spotlight article here.) This is honestly massive and quite possibly our most anticipated set to catch but we figured why not start the list off strong and keep it going with must sees that are gonna rock the mountain. Don’t miss Big G as they are set to take over the main stage, Motherland, from 12:30am to 2:00am.
7. Spankalicious
Now isnt this one a doozy?! Spankalicious? Yes you read that right! The owners of Backwoods whom are close friends to Spankalicious got him a mainstage slot on Sunday for a proper Sunday evening get down from 6:00pm- 7:00pm. He has been missing in action for the past couple years and with this being his first big set back, we can only expect that the Motherland stage will be blessed with some of the most odd, unique, and wondrous experimental music.
6. The String Cheese Incident
We can’t help our selves but add String Cheese to our list. Of course it should go without a doubt that they would be on here, but we had to reassure. This band is one of the most sought out jam-bands in the world because of the sheer talent and diversity in music. The amount of instruments and musical capability from the musicians is just jaw-dropping, and seeing them for a Saturday Night performance is just the cherry on top. They are booked for three epic sets throughout the Saturday night, with two of them on the main stage from 9:15 to 10:30pm and then 11:00pm to 12:30am with an intimate Taco party set to take over the Backroads stage from 2:00am to 3:00. It will surely be an emotional night as they pay tribute to the recently late Chuck Morris from the band Lotus and his son Charley.
The String Cheese Incident Facebook
The String Cheese Incident Soundcloud
5. Zingara
One artist to look out for is Zingara. She has been blowing up recently and is rather ‘Tik Tok’ famous. Her insane sound design combined with her smart and interesting social media pressence has made for her to e one of the hottest up & coming artists to see in our scene. When I say this I don’t mean it lightly, she is on route to being a headliner of major caliber (to the likes of Rezz or CloZee in our opinion) and to catch her at a festival performance like this will be a once in a lifetime type of event that we can’t miss out on. Be sure to check out her much anticipated set in-between the two headlining String Cheese Incident sets, Saturday night at 10pm to 11 at the Space Disco.
4. One True God
Thursday is honestly pretty stacked with acts that we can’t wait to see! One of them is happening right as the evening is taking place transitioning into night fall and it’ll be perfect environment for his type of music. One True God will be bringing a one of a kind sound to this festival and for that we ‘praise him.’ This producer is a heavy bass mid-tempo / trap artist who blends in house vibes as well. He has a dark melody and distinguishing sound to his grimey bass. He will be taking over the Space Disco from 8 to 9pm Thursday Night, be sure to get your party started early with this highly anticipated and high energy artist.
3. Apashe
We have been following the project behind Apashe for nearly 10 years now and to see his path along this journey has been nothing but spectacular. He has really focused in on his sound design and performance mastering instrumental sound with his wordly trap sound. He has even been working with an orchestra to really portray and bring his project to life. While he wont have the live act at Backwoods, he does have an INSANE time slot with the booking being ‘Friday night’ from 2 to 3:30am, closing out the Space Disco Stage after the main stage has closed. Prepare for a gnarly party with this one and be sure to show up early to really experience the set!
2. Flintwick
This is going to be easily one of our most anticipated sets to see at Backwoods and thankfully we get a double dose of it. Coming in hot and local, Flintwick is set to take over late night hours of the Space disco stage on 4/20 from 2 to 3:30am and the mainstage on Saturday from 6:15 to 7:15pm. We also did a spotlight article on this artist, (that can be checked out here,) and we couldn’t be more stoked for him to be on our Chronic list. Flintwick will be another artist in a sense that is bringing a very distinct sound with a genre that isn’t being played out by any one else on the bill. He offers a psychedelic type of bass music that dabbles between glitchy trip hop and wonky weird shit. It will be the performances where you wanna pashmina up and get the funk down! We can’t wait to see what this Arkansas local has in store!
1. Koan Sound
Last but not least, some high-school hero’s of mine, Koan Sound. An artist that I’ve been listening to for years and one that has been a huge inspiration to us at the Chronic Electronic. A duo coming out of Bristol, UK that have been making music sense they were in high school together. They have put out various EP’s and albums that have compiled together for quite the diverse taste in genres. Their music spans from fast paced Drum and bass with variants like nu-bass and neurofunk to funky and glitchy experimental get downs to even distant and hypnotic musical soundscapes that induces you into a downtempo state of trance. Because of this, they will be an artist that will offer a one of a kind performance for Backwoods attendees and with this set booked to be on the main stage Friday night from 9pm to 10, we absolutely can’t wait to see what they have in store and what kind of live performance we will get blessed with!
Get tickets and stay up to date with Backwoods below!
Backwoods Music Festival Ticket Link
Backwoods Music Festival Website