Legendary rock band Little Feat will perform the entirety of its ‘Waiting for Columbus’ album at the 12th annual Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival this year, set for May 26-29, 2022 at Pop’s Farm in Martinsville, Va. Tab Benoit will sling a heaping helping of New Orleans blues, while Andy Frasco & The U.N., and Sammy Rae & The Friends, will bring the party.
Blues and rock musician Brandon “Taz” Niederauer will play two sets at Rooster Walk 12.
In addition, music fans will be treated to two sets from Brandon “Taz” Niederauer (blues/rock), Yarn (roots rock), Mike & The Moonpies (country), The Wooks (bluegrass), Sol Driven Train (rock), Crawford & Power (country) and Pirates of the Piedmont (pirate shenanigans). Meanwhile, Mountain Heart (bluegrass) will host the annual “The Jimmy Jam” collaborative jam set, and 1960s-era-throwback-rockers The Nude Party will make their RW debut!
Many, many more bands will be announced in the coming months.
“We’re so excited to announce such a great group of artists to the Rooster Walk 12 lineup,” said festival co-founder Johnny Buck. “Hosting an iconic act like Little Feat will make for an amazing night at Pop’s Farm. And on a more basic level, we’re also thrilled to simply be getting back to normal and hosting the full festival over Memorial Day weekend once again.”
The festival (Rooster Walk 11) last took place in May 2019. Rooster Walk 12 was scheduled and postponed in 2019 and 2020. Event organizers hosted a scaled-down version of the full fest, called Rooster Walk Reunion festival, in October 2021 at Pop’s Farm.
Tickets for Rooster Walk 12 (RW12) went on sale Tuesday, November 23 at www.roosterwalk.com. Organizers first put tickets on sale for Rooster Walk 12 back in November 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Many patrons who purchased tickets in 2019-20 never requested a refund. Therefore, ticket prices will pick up where they left off in 2020, when RW12 was officially postponed, and ticket sales suspended.
Rooster Walk will take place Thursday-Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in the rolling countryside surrounding Martinsville, Va. Rooster Walk is a 4-day festival celebrating music, art, and the great outdoors at the idyllic Pop’s Farm venue. With roughly 50 bands performing on 6 different stages, an eclectic roster of great music guides the Rooster Walk experience.
In addition to four days of amazing music, the family-friendly Rooster Walk will offer a wide variety of kids’ activities, craft beer, great food, arts and numerous opportunities to enjoy Virginia’s great outdoors with kayak tours, bike rides, yoga, a disc golf course and beautiful on-site camping.
Rooster Walk has been named one of the Top 5 festivals in the state by the Richmond-Times Dispatch. It also has been voted the region’s Most Creative Charitable Event by readers of Virginia Living Magazine. The festival was created in memory of late Martinsville natives Edwin “The Rooster” Penn and Walker Shank, who graduated from Martinsville High School in 2000 along with Buck and fellow festival co-founder William Baptist.
A portion of proceeds from the festival will be donated to local and regional charities, including Rooster Walk’s own Penn-Shank Memorial Endowment Scholarship Fund for students at Martinsville High School, and the Rooster Walk Music Instrument Program for public band programs in the local city and county school systems.
The festival is produced by Rooster Walk Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting music, arts and education in its home of Martinsville-Henry County. Since 2009, Rooster Walk Inc. has donated more than $220,000 to local and regional charities.
