City expands Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival lineup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Transviolet opening Saturday, Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stonesopening Sunday’s show

Brookhaven, GA, Feb. 12, 2018 – The City of Brookhaven announces additions to the star-studded music lineup for the 2018 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival on March 24-25, 2018 at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Brookhaven.  Admission is free.

Performing Saturday, March 24 is concert headliner and country music star Craig Morgan as well as country music sensation Keith Anderson.  Transviolet will be joining the lineup on Saturday, and Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones is the first act announced for the Sunday show.

Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones are fronted by a 20-year-old powerhouse guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Wicklund, the South Carolina-born (and now East Nashville-based) artist who formed the band as an 8-year-old has developed a powerful and sublime synthesis of skills and makes it clear that the future is hers to conquer.

On their new (and third) self-titled album, the band--which played over 2,000 shows including notable festival appearances--digs in deep, hits hard, and crushes it. Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones (available 1/26/18 on her Strawberry Moon imprint) is an aural kaleidoscope of blazing guitars and searing vocals, all of which establish Wicklund as a triple-threat player, singer and writer in the fashion of Susan Tedeschi and the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde.

The buzz about Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones continues to grow in America and overseas.  Guitar Player Editor-In-Chief Michael Molenda (posting at GuitarPlayer.com on 9/13/17) heralded Wicklund “not simply as a shredder or a tonal colorist, though she certainly has chops and can go for some buzzy and less-than-organic sounds. What’s impressive to me is how she uses her custom Tom Anderson guitar and Orange half-stack to drive the emotional context of her songs with a combination of spiky rhythms, slow lines, fast runs and cagey riffs. It all adds up to a thrilling ride.” Over in the U.K., the influential Team Rock website noted that “Hannah Wicklund blends bluesy sensibilities with tasty wah guitar and jutting rhythm–with notes of (gutsier) Fleetwood Mac in the mix,” adding that she is “one to watch out for” (11/10/17).

Transviolet is an LA-based quartet made up of vocalist/lyricist Sarah McTaggart, multi-instrumentalist/producer Michael Panek, drummer/producer Jonathan Garcia, and guitarist/keyboardist Judah McCarthy. The band’s first song, “Girls Your Age” popped online in the summer of 2015 announcing Transviolet’s arrival. “Girls Your Age” gained instant online traction with Sarah’s voice at once recalling the Lana, Lorde, Karen O and Imogen Heap: sultry, measured, assured. Katy Perry praised the lyrics, Harry Styles tweeted his support, Ellie Goulding selected it for a spin on Beats1 and Twin Shadow delivered an exclusive remix.

Transviolet has appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden (twice) and the Today Show. They have toured nationally with Mikky Ekko and LANY, and toured the UK with Twenty One Pilots. They've played the festival circuit including SXSW, Governor's Ball, Firefly, Read and Leeds, Great Escape and more, generating over 20+ million spins on Spotify.

Meanwhile, they garnered widespread acclaim from i-D, Nylon, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Noisey, Billboard, and many more.

In 2017, Transviolet released their sophomore EP "Kaleidoscopes" paired with videos for "The Hamptons", "Astronaut", "Kaleidoscopes" and "Pretty Head". In 2017, the they performed on The Today Show and for MTV, Billboard and Baeble Music while quietly creating this latest body of work.

The Brookhaven Cherry Blossom festival is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 24, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 25.  More live entertainment will be announced in the coming weeks. 

“The entertainment and festivities keep getting bigger and better every year at the Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival,” said Brookhaven District 1 Councilmember Linley Jones.  “The partnership of Live Nation and Splash Festivals has already raised the level of excitement surrounding our music and art extravaganza.  The best part is that admission is free and there is something for everyone in the whole family.”

In October, the Brookhaven City Council approved a contract with Splash Festivals to operate the Arts & Crafts Market and handle logistics for the event.  Splash Festivals also manages the festivals in Dunwoody, Norcross, Johns Creek, Alpharetta and other locations. So far, Splash Festivals has registered 100 vendors for the Brookhaven event, more than triple the size of previous markets.

This year, the festival will premiere a food court sitting area providing guests with a 360-degree view of the stage, Kidz Zone and dog show area.  The car show will be returning on Saturday, March 24, and the 5K road race, now designated as a Peachtree Road Race qualifier and fundraiser for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, will take place on Sunday, March 25.

For more information about Craig Morgan, visit: www.craigmorgan.com

For more information about Keith Anderson, visit: keithanderson.com/wired/

For more information about Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones, visit: www.hannahwicklund.com

For more information about Transviolet, visit: www.transviolet.com

For more information about Splash Festivals, visit splashfestivals.com.

For more information about Live Nation, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.

For more information about the 2018 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival, visit www.brookcherryfest.org, Facebook at @BrookhavenBlossomFest2018 and Twitter at @BrookCherryFest.

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Media Contact:
Burke Brennan
Director of Communications
404-637-0709
Burke.Brennan@BrookhavenGA.gov