headlining in 2018

We have a great line up of headliners for this year, including the wonderful Molly Tuttle, who has been grabbing all the headlines for the last 18 months, our "house band" Rapidgrass, back to run the workshop and perform as themselves and as  Gypsy Cattle Drive, their jazz and swing combo. Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen are back for another show. From Ireland we have I Draw Slow, who have been wowing audiences in the USA for the last 5 years. Red Wine, after a successful show with Peter Rowan earlier in the year, are back to celebrate their 40th year in Bluegrass show business. From France we are delighted to welcome the great, eclectic group Accordzéam and, of course, our winning bands from the 2017 contest are back after tying for first place, Le Chat Mort from Sweden and Pine Marten from Ireland.
​Read about the bands and watch them play below ...

molly tuttle (USA)

Saturday 10:00 pm and Sunday 1 pm
The rising star of Bluegrass. After a "Momentum" award at IBMA in 2016 (for young talent), she walked away with "Guitar player of the year" at the IBMA awards of 2017. The first woman to win the award - and she was still only 24.
Raised in the vibrant California Bluegrass scene, Molly is not just a great guitar player, she is a fine singer and composes beautiful songs. 
We know that she has a great future and we are thrilled to have her at La Roche Bluegrass Festival this year

frank solivan
& Dirty kitchen (USA)

Saturday 1 pm and 11:30 pm
Back for the third time at La Roche Bluegrass Festival, Frank and his band are fabulous musicians and wonderful people. They always put on an exciting, high energy show with a broad range of new and old songs - with some nice surprises. We are truly happy to bring them back and extend warm thanks to Jerzy Batko of the Picnic Country and Folk Festival in Mragowo, Poland for bringing them to Europe and agreeing to share them with us.
Since their last visit they won the IBMA award for "Instrumental Group of the Year" in 2016

i draw slow (ire)

Thursday 10:00 pm
Having successfully conquered their home scene in Dublin and Ireland, I Draw Slow have been wowing audiences across the USA, where their energetic live performances and inventive combination of Appalachian and Irish roots music have drawn much attention in the major festivals as well as the more intimate music venues.
​Having first seen them at IBMA Nashville over 5 years ago, we are happy to at last bring them to La Roche Bluegrass Festival for the first time.

rapidgrass (USA)

Friday 10:30 pm 
No need to introduce our dear friends from Colorado to La Roche regulars. They are back once more to lead the workshop classes and to perform a set of high intensity, driving Bluegrass with some rock, swing, tenderness and fun thrown in.
As Colorado mountain folk they fit right in here in the Alps, and when they are not on stage, they will be somewhere around Chamonix-Mont Blanc, playing their instruments or hiking in the mountains - making friends wherever they go.
Among their many successes, it should be said they broke our CD sales record for the last two years.

gypsy cattle drive (USA)

red wine (ita)
Sunday 9:30 pm
Saturday 8:30 pm
Gypsy Cattle Drive is high octane gypsy swing with rhythms that borrow from Bluegrass, Latin, Western Swing, and Celtic music’s. The trio was born in Silver Plume Colorado, 2013 and consists of Texas Fiddle Champion Coleman Smith, Texas A&M bass virtuoso Carl Meinecke, and free-skiing guitarist Mark Morris. The group thrives off natural dynamics and energy while keeping a keen sense of musicianship in every song. The strongest aspect of the trio is their ability to take songs to the limit while exploring rhythms and tones from around the world. Gypsy Cattle Drive is released their first “EP” in May 2014.
Since their creation in 1978, Red Wine has been at the forefront of Europe's Bluegrass scene, headline festivals around the continent and playing sell-out shows in the concert halls from their home in Genoa to Scotland and the Czech Republic, including La Roche sur Foron. They have been touring the USA since the 1980s and still visit regularly. As part of their 40th anniversary celebrations, they are embarking on a European tour with Bluegrass legend Peter Rowan (at La Roche sur Foron in May) and they are coming back to La Roche Bluegrass Festival for the second time (last in 2010) so we can help them bring it home.
Their music encompasses traditional and contemporary Bluegrass styles with a strong mix of gospel, rock and blues thrown in. Oh, and expect a little Italian flavour along the way.

accordzéâm (fra)
featuring Gilles rézard (banjo)

Sunday 6:30 pm

le chat mort (SWE)

​Sunday 8:15 pm
Their reputation has been steadily growing in France and around the world since they started playing together 20 years ago at school. They are all classically trained musicians and they love to mix all the kinds of music they like from Baroque to Jazz to traditional folk to Bluegrass. 
Raphaël is well known to the La Roche audience as he is a regular at the festival, teaches fiddle in the workshop and has featured as a guest with many bands on the main stage.
This year they will be fresh from their tour in Brazil and will feature French banjo maestro Gilles Rézard in a new show specially prepared for La Roche Bluegrass Festival.
Another band much loved by La Roche audiences, they are back this year as winners of the band contest in 2017 (tied with Pine Marten. Formed in 2008, these Swedes delight us every time with their original sounds mixing folk and swing with a strong taste of Bluegrass. They are back from Colorado where they will fly the colours of La Roche Bluegrass Festival at Rapidgrass festival in June.

pine marten (IRL)

Friday 8:45 pm
Pine Marten made their first appearance at La Roche Bluegrass Festival in 2017 and won the contest (tied with Le Chat Mort). Hailing from Ireland, with a French interloper in their midst, this modern string band draws on folk music from around the world, digging into inter-related roots music to create a new sound that we enjoyed very much in 2017.