Artist FAQ

Social Media Toolkit:  Here are graphics and text samples that you can use to promote you and the festival!  We need your help to make the Festival a success.  Please post often.

Preliminary Fest Schedule: 

Friday 10/17 6pm-Midnight
Saturday 10/18 2pm-Midnight
Sunday 10/19 2pm to 7pm

Who is Performing:  We are hosting over 140 acts featuring over 400 artists.  We will also be hosting full bands, singer-songwriter sessions, EDM and jams.  The headliner artists include Yonder Mountain String Band, Banshee Tree, Rootbeer Richie, Wrenn Van Band and Danger Foley.  More national headliners will be announced soon.  See Line-Up here.

What:  Band performance slots will generally be 40-50 minutes with 20-30 minute turnovers.  Solo / Duo performance slots will vary.  Actual times will be confirmed for each individual act.

Where: The Festival will take place at numerous traditional and non-traditional stages in Boulder’s Pearl Street area.  

National Headliner stages include the Boulder Theater and eTown.  We will also have outdoor stages at 16th and Pearl and the “Bricks” on Pearl Street Mall.  We will have over 13 stages!

Other stages include The Velvet Elk, Odd Fellows, License No. 1, Paradise Found Records and Stone Cottage Studios as satellite stages.  Other locations along Pearl Street to be announced soon.  

Artist Pay:  We strive to compensate all artists with a “fair wage”.  Roots Music Fest is produced by Roots Music Project Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. 

Most pay is structured as a guaranteed base plus a social media bonus.  Pay for most artists is a structured rate based on categorization as a “band”, “solo / duo” or “EDM” artists.  In addition to cash pay, all artists receive a three-day festival wristband for each band member (max 5 wristbands per band - non transferable).  Our current plan is to pay each artist immediately after their performance.  We will provide more details soon.

Social Media Bonus: Immediately following the festival, we will email a form link.  The artist will report the URL of a minimum of four social media posts they made on their band or personal social media accounts.  The social media bonus will be paid within 45 days after the festival by submitting the links.

How will I know if I was selected to perform?  We will notify applicants by mid-August.

When is my set?:  We will confirm the time and location of your performance slot in late August / early September.

Backline:  We will provide sound production, drums and bass amp at most stages.  We will provide a standard stage plot and you will need to adapt to our stage plot in order to accommodate the fast change overs.  More details will be provided soon.