"Muddy Roots Europe Festival 2023"

Some festivals are more spectacular than others. Muddy Roots Music Festival is a recurrent event in Cookeville, TN. The festival has a distant and less famous cousin, Muddy Roots Europe Festival. It's held in Waardamme, Belgium. The performing artists are an odd bunch. In fact, the only artists that stand out are James Hunnicut, Sean K. Preston and Bob Wayne. Of course, it can be hard to bring artists all the way from the US to Europe. So why not invite the crème de la crème of Europe instead? For instance: The Dad Horse Experience, Oldboy (of the Fens), Reverend Elvis, Salter Cane, Mr Plow, Vivita, Silas J. Dirge, The Dead Brothers, JB Nelson and Tenderloud. And furthermore, why not invite the European branch of Sons of Perdition to play an intimate gig? Or, why not try to arrange an one-time-only reunion with disbanded Viarosa, The Dirt or The Coffinshakers? Am I asking to much? Yes, probably. If you want something to happen, you must make it happen. I don't see myself as a festival arranger, but I can see the logo for the Ambassador Festival: a Burning Man for the gothic country genre. Is the festival concept dying? In January 2023 I wrote a blog post called "The most expensive concert ticket of all time", read more here (opens in a new window). It turns out that the arranger went bankrupt two weeks ago. Well, there is some poetic justice in the story. The arranger wrote an incoherent statement: explaining, claiming and blaiming. What happens now? Obviously, The Devil Makes Three will not make their debut in Sweden and the question is if they ever will. And what about the people who bought tickets to the spectable? I don't think that they are of any primary concern for the trustee. A priority claim is debt that is entitled to special treatment in the bankruptcy process and will get paid ahead of non-priority claims. The ticket holders of the ridiculously high-priced festival doesn't belong to the prioritized group.