It’s a Kentucky bluegrass musician’s first visit to Washington

The Darrington Bluegrass Festival has long been on Dave Adkins’ radar.

The Kentucky native and rising bluegrass musician performs all over the country with his band — but they have yet to set foot in Washington.

Adkins, 46, can check that milestone off his bucket list when he headlines the 42nd annual Darrington Bluegrass Festival on July 20-22 at the Darrington Bluegrass Music Park. The event also features Band of Ruhks, Sister Sadie and Volume Five. About 4,000 people are expected to attend.

“You’re talking about 42 years,” said Adkins, whose band is currently touring the U.S. “Man, that’s a real honor to come up and play for these wonderful folks.”

Each headliner will perform three times over the weekend, so there are plenty of chances to see them.

Adkins will play the top hits from his new album “Right or Wrong” — including “Blood Feud,” which topped Bluegrass Today’s monthly and top 20 song charts multiple times — as well as several other of his No. 1 songs that play on Sirius XM’s Bluegrass Junction radio station.

“Blood Feud,” co-written by well-known bluegrass singer-songwriter Larry Cordle, retells the infamous conflict between the Hatfield and McCoy families over Civil War allegiances, family honor and politics of the late 1800s.

Adkins grew up in Elkhorn City, Kentucky, a 20-minute drive away from the epicenter of the feud and where members of the families are buried.

“We researched it for six months,” Adkins said. “Everything in the song is factual. We’re just so proud of the way it turned out.”

Adkins, who spearheads his five-piece band, described his music as hard-driving and soulful with elements of gospel. He was nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year in the contemporary category by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America in 2013.

His self-titled album, released in 2016, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 10 Bluegrass Album chart. He’s also a two-time finalist for the Christian-focused Inspirational Country Music Association’s Inspirational Bluegrass Artist of the Year award.

“Every year it just seemed like we were getting a bigger following and more bookings,” Adkins said. “Bluegrass is a smaller label than your country music and stuff. We don’t have mainstream TV shows. Thanks to Sirius XM, we do have an outlet for people to hear us. I’ve been surprised lately by how many folks know who we are.”

Band of Ruhks, playing Saturday and Sunday, might surprise festival-goers: The band has three original members from The Lonesome River Band — Ronnie Bowman, Don Rigsby and Kenny Smith. The Lonesome River Band rose to prominence in the 1990s and received critical praise from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America. After leaving the band in 2001, Bowman, Rigsby and Smith returned with a reunion performance in 2010.

“A lot of people don’t know Band of Ruhks, but they know The Lonesome River Band,” said Diana Morgan, a festival organizer.

The Band of Ruhks – Coal Mining Man from Fresh Films on Vimeo.

Sister Sadie, also performing Saturday and Sunday, is an all-female band from Nashville. The frontwoman is Dale Ann Bradley, a five-time International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year.

“I don’t think we’ve had an all-girl band play here before,” Morgan said. “That’s pretty exciting.”

Volume Five, from Alabama, was named Emerging Artist of the Year by the IBMA in 2017, while one of its singles, “I Am A Drifter,” won Song of the Year.

Also performing are The Combinations, which features Darrington’s own Bertha Nations Whiteside, Bremerton’s Rural Delivery, Kentucky’s Kenny Stinson & Perfect Tym’n, Burning Heart Bluegrass from California, Tennessee’s Rebekah Long and Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers from Pittsburgh.

Evan Thompson: 360-544-2999, ethompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @evanthompson_1.

If you go

What: Darrington Bluegrass Festival

Where: Darrington Bluegrass Music Park, 42501 Highway 530

When: July 20-22

Tickets: Weekend is $75, Friday is $30, Saturday is $40 and Sunday is $30. Children 12 and younger get in free.

More: 360-436-1179 or www.darringtonbluegrass.com

Darrington Bluegrass Festival

Here is the festival schedule for Friday, Saturday and Sunday:

Friday

5 p.m.: The Combinations

6 p.m.: Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers