Dinosaur Jr., Blonde Redhead, Asleep at the Wheel, The Joy Formidable, Blitzen Trapper, Murder By Death and dozens more will take the stage at Schellraiser Music Festival. The festival will take place in the old copper mining town of Ely, Nevada, from June 1 through June 3.
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The festival is backed by a desert landscape and surrounded by the Schell Creek Mountain range, which inspired the name of the festival. Schellraiser was created by Rudy Herndon, who has lived in the area since 2006 and wanted to bring music to the Steptoe Valley of eastern Nevada.
Leaving his career as a journalist in 2019, Herndon wanted to transition into promoting live music in Nevada. After attending the Trans Pecos Festival of Music + Love in Marfa, Texas, Herndon began working on the debut of Schellraiser. The festival, according to Herndon, “reflects our love of alternative and independent music, from country to cumbia, punk to pop and soul to psychedelia.”
“I wanted to create a different kind of smaller-scale event that’s inclusive and welcoming and joyful, and free from the kinds of crowds, trends, social pressures and pretensions that plague larger-scale festivals,” he explained.
The inaugural Schellraiser featured the Old 97’s, BRONCHO, Houndmouth, Shannon Shaw, and more than 25 other bands, who performed at the McGill Pool Park in McGill, Nevada. “Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller announced that the lineup was probably the best-curated one he’d ever seen,” said Herndon in a statement, “and guitarist Ken Bethea paid us the ultimate compliment by comparing the overall vibe to that of Marfa, Texas.”
Herndon also wanted to encourage more interaction among festival goers and help minimize heavy track, waste and overcrowding by keeping the festival at a smaller capacity. To help reduce the impact of traffic in the area, the festival is also partnering with the Ely Shoshone Tribe’s Tsaa Nesunkwa Cannabis Dispensary to offer free rides on their Canna-Bus, which shuttles attendees from the dispensary to the 80-acre campground for the festival.
To keep the festival sustainable, the off-grid campground features the largest private solar power array in the area; a solar battery storage system will also keep the lights on at 10 developed camping sites long after the sun goes down.
In addition Schellraiser, Herndon is also working on the restoration of the historic and abandoned McGill Theater near Ely.
Schellraiser Music Festival Line Up:
June 1
Main Stage:
Asleep At The Wheel
Blitzen Trapper
The Secret Sisters
Mapache
The Delines
Brit Taylor
West Texas Exiles
Side Stage:
Brennen Leigh
Vandoliers
The Two Tracks
Ali McGuirk
June 2
Main Stage:
Blonde Redhead
The Joy Formidable
Death Valley Girls
Blackwater Holylight
Frankie And The Witch Fingers
Tropa Magica
Anthony D’Amato
Side Stage:
TBA
Grace McKagan
Los Shadows
The Mellons
The Plastic Cherries
June 3
Main Stage:
Dinosaur Jr.
Murder By Death
SadGirl
Night Moves
Titus Andronicus
The Paranoyds
The 40 Acre Mule
Side Stage:
Joshua Ray Walker
Ottoman Turks
Jenny Don’t And The Spurs
White Rose Motor Oil
Noelle & The Deserters
(Photo by Jim Bennett/WireImage)
