It’s that time of year when festivals mobilise and start announcing their line-ups and we get the first taste of summer 2023. Black Deer Festival are no different and have joined the list with their first set of names for June 2023 (16th - 18th). So, let’s take a look.

First up headliners… Bonnie Raitt is a cracking booking, with a UK tour announced it’s not the only place you’ll see her in 2021 but it is the only festival. With decades worth of music it’s one of the bookings that only Black Deer can and would make. Alongside Bonnie are the soulful rockers Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. They’re a solid headline booking as on a warm summer night they’re just the sort of band to liven the crowd and get people partying as only festivals can do.

The most exciting names come further down the line-up though, with Allison Russell, Lucinda Williams, Amythyst Kiah, and Bella White the stand-outs. And that’s not forgetting Calexico. Allison, Amythyst and Bella all released excellent albums in 2021 and having the chance to see them live in a festival setting at the height of summer will be a perfect June experience. Their progressive forms of country music and Americana have produced some of the best songs of the last couple of years - check out the videos below to hear them. Lucinda is playing a few UK shows in January 2023 but again the uniqueness of a festival will suit her music to a tee.

The UK is represented by two of its best current roots artists, the blues-rock of Elles Bailey and the thoughtful Americana-ish sounds of Robert Vincent.

All in all this is a cracking first announcement from the festival. If you haven’t got your ticket and want one, go buy them on the festival site.