Back for its fourth year, Moontower Music Festival has announced that Cherub, JJ Grey & Mofro, Todd Snider and Great American Taxi, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Tyler Childers, and Vita and the Woolf will head the lineup for the Aug. 26 gathering at nearby Masterson Station Park.

Cherub, an electro-pop duo out of Nashville, saw their musical careers propelled by 2014 hit “Doses & Mimosas,” and the release of their most recent album ‘Bleed Gold, Piss Excellence’ last October. JJ Grey & Mofro provide a mix of gritty blues rock, with New Orleans’ Big Sam’s Funky Nation adding a heavy dose of funk, soul and jazz. Todd Snider and Great American Taxi bring a mix of rock ‘n’ roll and Americana to the bill with indie group Vita and the Woolf providing a signature mix of self-described electronic soul pop.

Local Tyler Childers will also bring his prolific Americana-infused singer-songwriter prowess to the Moontower after winning awards for best singer-songwriter and best Americana/folk artist at January’s Lexington Music Awards. According to Lex Effect President Kaelyn Query, the event management company organizing Moontower, diversity in this year’s lineup was a top priority on their to-do list.

“There’s been a lot of articles recently about festival lineups being dominated by white male artists, so we really wanted to focus on not doing that,” Query said. “While we do have bands that fit that mold, I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised with the lineup as a whole and not just in the genre.”

According to Query, additional lineup announcements will be made on May 1 and June 12, which includes many intriguing female artists and big-name acts. Query went on to say that building a festival lineup is like shuffling cards, with many different logistics including pay and current touring plans determining what bands are and aren’t feasible to book.

Unlike in years past, Moontower will not host a Battle of the Bands competition in 2017 but have other events in its place to be announced at a future date. Moontower will also host pop-up events in Lexington, Louisville and Cincinnati once the full lineup is announced, per Query.

After long vendor lines in 2016, Query has strived to provide more beer and food options at Moontower for its fourth iteration. Beer options include West Sixth and Rhinegeist, which will be housed in a large beer tent with multiple lines including “roving” lines that will aid in cutting down on the long lines that plagued last year’s festival. Lover’s Leap and Old Forester will also sponsor respective wine and bourbon tents. Additional beer stations will be spread around the festival grounds.

“If it gets to the point where there is a line, we’ll just start throwing beers at people,” Query said.

Moontower has teamed with Raising Cane’s to be a presenting sponsor for 2017, with a bevy of other food options available including Rolling Oven, Rick’s Hot Dogs, Sav’s Chill, Doodle’s Breakfast & Lunch, Roll ’n’ Smoke and Common Grounds. 

General admission tickets for Moontower Music Festival are $39. VIP tickets will be available for $75 and include valet service, FastPass, VIP section with air conditioning, bathrooms and bar; free merchandise, a recharging station, VIP standing sections and two drinking tickets for patrons over 21 years of age. Children 12 and under get in free.