Bluegrass star Billy Strings books Bane, Cryptopsy & other heavy bands for Michigan fest

We were just talking about Turnstile, Olivia Rodrigo, and Deftones curating crazy, genre-and-era-defying lineups this week, but bluegrass star Billy Strings just might take the cake. He’s bringing his love of heavy music to Michigan’s Ionia Freak Fair (August 28 & 29 at Ionia Fairgrounds) with a stage he helped curate that features hardcore vets Bane, death metal vets Cryptopsy, grind/mathcore vets See You Next Tuesday, and more. He says:

IONIA MICHIGAN!! I have been dying to let this cat of the bag!! We are throwing it back to the days of The Center, when we were throwing DIY shows and bringing some of the best heavy music to town. I’m so stoked to share this line-up that I personally curated with the help of my team and the good folks at the pyramid scheme. These are bands that I have loved for years and some of them are dear friends of mine that I used to play shows with 20 years ago. We are bringing some death metal, some Hardcore, some grind and more to the ‘Ionia Freak Fair‘ this August. Get ready for Cryptopsy, BANE, For the Fallen Dreams, Flesh and Blood Robot, See You Next Tuesday and Heartsick !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This follows Billy contributing to last year’s 30th anniversary edition of Cryptopsy’s Blasphemy Made Fresh. He’s also joined Tool on stage in recent years as well.

Billy headlines the main, non-heavy stage on both Friday and Saturday, and that stage also features Sierra Hull, Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon, and others.