Call it Americana. Call it roots rock. Call it alt-country. Whatever you call it, the music is coming back to Off Broadway.
After a two-year hiatus, Twangfest returns this weekend. The festival kicks off with Katie Pruitt on Wednesday, followed by Ha Ha Tonka on Thursday, The Jayhawks Friday, and Cracker on Saturday.
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Pruitt is an emerging artist who’s quickly building a reputation and fan base. “She’s going to blow a lot of people away,” says Roy Kasten, vice president and volunteer with Twangfest. On Thursday, Ha Ha Tonka returns to the fest for the band’s fourth time. (They first played in 2008, after releasing their debut album.) “Friday night, we’re having a band we’ve wanted to get since the first festival, The Jayhawks,” Kasten says. “They were one of the bands that created the alt-country sound in the late ’80s and early ’90s. They were the band, in my opinion. To have Gary Louris play with the whole band onstage at Off Broadway—for many people, it’s a dream come true.” Finally, on Saturday, Cracker wraps up the festival. The “Low” and “EuroTrash Girl” grungers are returning for a second Twangfest appearance, after performing in 2015.
Twangfest first began in the ‘90s with like-minded music fans in St. Louis and around the country connecting via an online music discussion group called Postcard 2 (after the Uncle Tupelo song). “The idea was to have a festival devoted to roots rock and country music over a period of three or four nights and really showcase those bands in that broad, big tent,” says Kasten. “It wasn’t even called Americana at that time—what people might like to call roots music. There was no festival I know of at that time that was home to these kinds of bands.”
To glance at past lineups is to stroll down a socks-knocking-off roster of talent: Neko Case, Pokey LaFarge, Asleep at the Wheel, Alejandro Escovedo, Jason Isbell, Matthew Sweet… Over the years, the festival has remained grassroots and fully volunteer-run. And more than a quarter century later, Kasten says, while it’s great that people today can easily learn about music online (rather than scouring liner notes and haunting record stores), there’s no substitute for the real thing.
“I think it’s so important to have a true and genuine fan base that’s sort of spreading the gospel of great music by word of mouth and by posting on the internet, rather than being slaves to the algorithm,” he says. “We all obviously enjoy and use the different online music platforms but there’s no substitute for friends and fans who get excited about music and share and plan and do things in person.”
Twangfest runs June 8–11 at Off Broadway (3509 Lemp). Doors at 7 p.m. Single tickets are $25–$40, depending on the night, and festival passes are available.
