×

Blame My Roots festival calls it quits; no headliner secured for 2024 show

MORRISTOWN — Despite hopes for another show in July 2024, organizers of Blame My Roots Fest announced in November that the concert series had come to an end.

Blame My Roots — the country music festival that launched in 2019 to fill the gap left when Jamboree In The Hills was disbanded after 41 years — has been discontinued. The end of the festival was announced via its website and on social media.

“Thank you, country music fans,” the festival posted. “We’ve decided to retire the Blame My Roots Festival after being unable to book a 2024 headliner. The difficulties we’ve experienced since May have shown us there is too much competition with other country music concerts, tours and festivals in our region for us to exist.

“We’re proud that we provided country music fans a fun experience in a familiar place to gather with their family and friends.”

Chris Dutton, co-founder of the event with his sister Nina, confirmed by phone that Blame My Roots was being retired.

He acknowledged that organizers were unable to secure a headline act for the show that had been planned for July 2024.

He said acts were simply choosing to perform at larger concerts where they would reach more fans and sell more merchandise. He said this was the case even when BMR was competitive in the bidding process.

The news came after the 2023 show was “postponed” in September 2022. The festival had its third installment in July 2022 on a family-owned property known as Valley View Campgrounds. The site is located across U.S. 40 from the former JITH venue and had hosted campers attending Jamboree for about three decades.

In 2022, a press release stated the BMR festival had formed a partnership with a Nashville-based booking agency. Still, the lineup for a 2024 show was never announced.

Dutton has said the festival held in 2022 had about 12,000 attendees over the course of its three-day run. The headliners that year included Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBryde, David Lee Murphy, The Russell Sisters and Stevie Lynn.

The announcement of the festival’s retirement was greeted with a wide variety of responses on social media, ranging from disappointment to well-wishes for the Dutton family.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today