Watkins Family Hour featuring Fiona Apple, Benmont Tench added to Roots Fest lineup

The Fayetteville Roots Festival just hauled in another big fish for the 2015 lineup.

Organizers today announced the addition of a Sunday night headliner in Watkins Family Hour.

For those who aren’t familiar, the band formed as a variety show at Club Largo in Los Angeles, and includes an all-star lineup of sibling duo Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, well-known singer/songwriter Fiona Apple, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer/producer Don Heffington, and Soul Coughing bass player Sebastian Steinberg.

The band recently announced they’ll be releasing a record of covers and hitting the road this year.

Sara said that the performers would likely be rotating from city to city, but Roots Festival organizer Bryan Hembree said that all of the above artists except Tench are confirmed to perform the Roots Festival show (and Tench could confirm sometime this summer if his schedule allows).

Only a handful of cities were announced on the initial tour, and most of them are huge markets.

The fact that the Fayetteville Roots Festival organizers were able to book them is a testament to the reputation that the festival is building among musicians around the country.

The show is set for Sunday night, Aug. 30 at Fayetteville Town Center. The band joins songwriters Jimmy LaFave, Devon Sproule, John Elliot, and locals Dana Louise and the Glorious Birds on the Sunday night lineup.

With the addition, the festival has opened up 50 more VIP festival passes, and tickets to just the Sunday night show are now on sale for $39.

For more info or to purchase tickets, visit fayettevilleroots.com.