
Saturday, June 8 – Steve Sutton Fest, 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Get ready to jam as this salute to our famous WNC Bluegrass Musician continues at its new location, Lake Junaluska Conference Center!
2025 Artists:
- No Joke Jimmy’s
- Whitewater Bluegrass Co.
- Mike Compton & Laura Boosinger
- Junior Appalachian Musicians
- Mountain Tradition Cloggers
Tickets: $25
By the time he was in high school, Sutton had become such a good banjo player that he received nearly simultaneous offers from both Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin. He chose to go on the road with Jimmy Martin in 1974, and thus began a career that carried him from the Grand Ole Opry around the world and back again. In later years, stints playing and recording with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, and touring the world with Alecia Nugent, kept him in the spotlight. Sutton appeared on the IBMA Award-winning, Grammy-nominated album Celebration of Life, and also received Grammy nominations as part of two recording projects with Rhonda Vincent.
Back home in Haywood County, Sutton was a long-time member of the Whitewater Bluegrass Company, the Darren Nicholson Band, and the Crowe Brothers. He also appeared regularly at Maggie Valley’s Ghost Town in the Sky, bringing him full circle back to the town where his music career began.
Steve Sutton passed away on May 13, 2017 at the age of sixty-one. The Steve Sutton Memorial Charitable Trust and Steve Sutton Fest were created to continue Steve’s legacy: sharing joy and helping others through music.
This event is a benefit for the Steve Sutton Memorial Charitable Trust. The Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to continue Steve Sutton’s legacy of sharing joy and helping others through music. Proceeds from this event will benefit local music scholarships as well as the International Bluegrass Music Association Trust Fund.
Adult Tickets $25
Kids 12 & under free
Food trucks on site