Catch Steve Earle & the Dukes, Drive-By Truckers, and more at Open Highway Music Festival

John Henry was just looking for a good time.

“At first, I just wanted to put together a cool weekend where people could come out and enjoy some country and Americana music,” says Henry, who founded the Open Highway Music Festival in 2011. “It really began as a super simple idea.”

But as with the greatest of ideas, that simple idea turned into a blockbuster. And now, 11 years later, the Open Highway Music Festival is one of the region’s most anticipated events of the summer. This year’s fest will be spread across two venues, beginning July 28 at the Old Rock House and continuing July 29 and 30 at Chesterfield Amphitheater.

“Mainly it’s just about wanting to create an event that can bring the community together to have a couple days of happiness in this crazy world that we live in,” says Henry. “That’s all I have ever wanted to do.”

The independent promoter has done just that. His 2022 Open Highway Music Festival will feature 12 artists over three days, offering music fans a kaleidoscope of sounds from across genres, including Steve Earle & the Dukes, Drive-By Truckers, and the horn-drenched Funky Butt Brass Band. 

“St. Louis is a music city at the confluence of several different genres,” says Henry. “We will have the rural country element and the rhythm and blues element, and we will even have artists bringing in that soul music element.”

Attendees can also enjoy the weekend knowing that a portion of their ticket price will go toward doing some good in the community—part of each ticket benefits St. Patrick Center, an organization that combats homelessness in the St. Louis area. 

“I feel like if you have an event within the community, it’s incumbent on you to try to help the community that you’re in,” Henry says. “We’re not moving mountains with it, but we want to do a small part to help. That’s part of my job.”

Tickets and passes for the Open Highway Music Festival are available at openhighwaymusic.com.