The Roots in the Garden concert series returns to Daniel Boone Native Gardens

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOONE, NC (April 2026) — The Roots in the Garden concert series returns to Daniel Boone Native Gardens for its fourth season, with five free outdoor concerts running from May through August 2026. This year’s lineup features an all-Carolina roster of artists, celebrating the rich musical traditions that have grown out of the Carolina mountains and foothills.

The season kicks off Thursday, May 28, with a special ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration for the Gardens’ new stage, designed by local architect Adrian Tait and built by the Town of Boone. Boone’s own The Adam Church Band will headline the inaugural performance, with Kyle Horton opening. The grand opening is co-sponsored by CW Home and Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. Festivities begin at 5 p.m., with music at 5:30 p.m.

“I’m really stoked about this lineup,” said Lynn Stallworth, chair of the Roots in the Garden series. “Roots music in the Carolinas is so much richer than people sometimes realize – Appalachian country, Americana, blues, bluegrass, sacred steel, worldgrass – and this season showcases that breadth. We can’t wait to kick off the season with the ribbon-cutting on our new stage.”

The full 2026 Roots in the Garden lineup is:

Thursday, May 28 — Grand Opening with The Adam Church Band, Kyle Horton opening (sponsored by CW Home and Premier Sotheby’s International Realty)

Country artist Adam Church grew up around Boone in the Appalachian Mountains and is known for what he calls “country music the Carolina way.” An App State alum and longtime mainstay of the Boone music scene, Church played in Luke Combs’s first band during their college days and draws inspiration from fellow App State Mountaineer Eric Church. He channels his mountain roots into songs like “Blame It On the Backwoods,” his ode to growing up in the Appalachian Mountains. Kyle Horton opens the evening.

Thursday, June 18 — MAMA (sponsored by Barb Linnville, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty)

MAMA (formerly Mama & The Ruckus) is an Asheville blues and soul band fronted by powerhouse vocalist Melissa McKinney. The group has earned a string of accolades over the past few years, winning the 2025 MerleFest Band Competition (after McKinney took home the same prize as a solo artist in 2024) and, most recently, placing 2nd at the 2026 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

Thursday, July 16 — Holler Choir (sponsored by Anna Banana’s)

Led by singer-songwriter Clint Roberts, Asheville’s Holler Choir lives at the crossroads of old-time, Americana, and bluegrass – combining haunting harmonies, stirring string compositions, and heart-wrenching ballads. Their debut full-length album, Songs Before They Write Themselves, was recorded at the historic Echo Mountain Studios and produced by Grammy-winner Michael Ashworth of the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Thursday, July 30 — DaShawn Hickman & Sacred Steel (sponsored by The Mustard Seed Market & Home)

Mt. Airy’s DaShawn Hickman is one of today’s foremost practitioners of Sacred Steel, a blues-gospel pedal steel tradition rooted in the Pentecostal-Holiness churches of the 1930s. Inducted into the Sacred Steel Hall of Fame in 2023, Hickman performed in Cirque du Soleil’s Song Blazers in 2024 and was the pedal steel player in Steve Ray Ladson’s band, which reached the finals of America’s Got Talent in 2025. He performs alongside his wife, vocalist Wendy Hickman.

Thursday, August 20 — TANASI (sponsored by Vidalia Restaurant & Wine Bar)

Closing out the season is TANASI, an award-winning Asheville-based “worldgrass” trio uniting three acclaimed roots artists: Billy Cardine on dobro and slide, MerleFest-winning songwriter Anya Hinkle on vocals and guitar, and Mary Lucey (Biscuit Burners, Uncle Earl) on vocals, upright bass, and clawhammer banjo. Recipients of a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts USArtists International Grant, the trio has performed on stages including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Ryman Auditorium, Bonnaroo, and MerleFest.

 

All concerts run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the Gardens’ new stage, in one of Boone’s most peaceful outdoor settings. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $5. Proceeds benefit the ongoing preservation and care of Daniel Boone Native Gardens.

Guests can enjoy food, wine, and beer available for purchase at each concert. Picnics and coolers are welcome. Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair for seating. Dogs are not permitted. Roots in the Garden t-shirts will be available for purchase, with proceeds supporting the Gardens.

As in past years, each evening will feature a live visual artist creating an original work during the performance, to be auctioned at the end of the night to benefit the Gardens. 

Roots in the Garden is supported in part by generous grants from the Watauga Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, which continue to support the arts in our region and help to foster events like Roots in the Garden.

Additional support comes from a wonderful group of community sponsors, including Hellbender Fitness, West Acupuncture & Wellness, Appalachian Home Care, Wild Craft Eatery, Graystone Lodge, Blue Ridge Energy BCM Capital Management, Workforce, Mane Habit Salon, Lost Province/Coyote Kitchen, and King Street Flowers.

Located at 651 Horn in the West Drive, Daniel Boone Native Gardens has been a community treasure since 1963. The three-acre public garden showcases native plants, meandering paths, and historic features like the Pickin’ Porch. The Roots in the Garden series celebrates this special setting by bringing together live music, art, and community spirit.

Come for the music, stay for the flowers – and stay rooted with us this summer.

More information and updates: danielboonenativegardens.org/music