The Muddy Roots Festival celebrated its 14th year of diverse music and culture on August 29 through September 1 this year. Hippies and punks alike stomped in the mud for a 3-day festival following a pre- show on Thursday 8/29). One of the organizers of The Muddy Roots Festival is Milton Chavez who was thankful that Cookeville had the rainy weekend of the festival after high-temperature days before. Chavez thought many of the bands were memorable such as Gogol Bordello, Tejon Street Corner Thieves and Belushi Speedball.

The festival has evolved from a folksy nature when Jason Galaz launched it in 2010. Chavez and his wife Delane Chavez, who also owns Grace & Glory Tattoo in Murfreesboro, became organizers of Muddy Roots in 2016. “Me and Delaine, we came on when we moved out here in 2016,” Milton Chavez said. He continued “You know, kind of converted into what it is today because it was a lot smaller, and it had less punk and metal and hardcore and all the other stuff … So, to try and match the more genres in there, you know, we got to keep it growing. You know, we don’t want to just keep it stagnant.”

Eddie Bridges is an artist known for creating physical media. He says he’s inspired by pop culture references and dad jokes. He is one of the merchants who occupy vendor row. He has been in business for two years and describes his being part of the festival as “perennial”. They plan their vacation time around the festival and are very committed. His social media presence reflects his work and he uses the handle “One Bridges.” His booth can be found under the name Arts and Crafts, One Bridges, Microscopy. Drug addiction is seen as an illness and not to be ostracized by the people of Muddy Roots. This was also addressed when the band Triangle of Fire played and handed out drug test strips, Narcan and condoms. One booth in front of the vendor row is named Punk Rock Saves Lives and provides these resources and other needs for harm reduction. Their goal is to take care of each of in the punk community and get the community together as a safe space providing mental health resources as well. Their message is that “It’s all about picking each other up when we fall down and making sure we all have better lives.”

Not long after the festival is over, organizers will begin asking what bands are wanted to be seen next year to the festival goers who have persistently followed The Muddy Roots festival on social media. Milton Chaves searches local scenes for up-and-coming bands. The organizers also love getting input by listening to attendees and asking questions on the Facebook page Muddy Roots Camping Festival. Their engagement with attendees makes Muddy Roots a collaborative DIY festival.

“He gets a lot of support from the local scene and loves seeing all the punks camping every year.” Chavez said. Bologna Pogna is a former member of last year’s Muddy Roots Festival. Scout Red is one of the punks from Murfreesboro who treats the festival as a special place for them. “Muddy Roots is an amazing festival purely because you can show up alone and know the field is going to be at least 40 punks deep of people you know regardless of what you have planned. There’s always gonna be some studded crusty mother fucker around to help you feel at home,” Red said.

Rami Atiyeh loves the frame of mind of the festival and its community. When performing, he puts a lot of energy into playing and hopes to share that energy with the audience. Atiyeh played drums for Weedeater Friday night. “I love it because it’s a DIY thing, it’s self-funded and it’s like everybody here,” Atiyeh said. “The motto was, don’t be a dick. So, that right there tells you it’s an awesome place where people get along and just a good vibe.” Crazy and the Brains also performed for the first time at Muddy Roots Saturday afternoon. Singer Christopher Urban also joined Golgol Bordello on stage Saturday night. Urban is grateful for getting invited to play and would love to come back in the future. The festival gave Urban what he would describe as a “hippy vibe” like Woodstock. “Yeah, man, this is my first time and I’ve heard nothing but good things.” He continued “I’m from the city, you know. So, this type of like atmosphere is like, a little fun to me. I’ve never been camping, like ever, but this was so welcoming and fun.” The land is ideal for camping, encircled by colorful scenery. A shuttle transports festival goers to Waterloo to experience a waterfall and other wildlife. Following the rain on the last night of festival, it gave an enchanting fog to peer through. Josh Robieson plays bagpipes and mandolin for the Celtic Punk band Flatfoot 56. Robieson was taken by Roots’ beautiful landscapes and the wilderness.

“The fact is there’s all these beautiful hills and this rain, it just it feels a little more naturey. It was raining today and the dirt’s has this red tinge to it.” Robieson continued “so that’s different. Being from Illinois and in a northern state, you know, it just feels like we’re on a little bit of a different planet.” Erica Sutherland, lead singer and banjo player for Little Foot, was in his second year performing at the festival. Sutherland has a tender heart that often leaves at least someone crying at shows. He highlights the supportive community and overall positivity of the festival’s residents. “It’s 100% of people. It’s the positivity, it’s the community here” Sutherland said. He continued, “Just walking around and all the positivity and the friendly people that are here, it takes that all the way onto the stage and it’s just great.” This festival is completely produced, planned and organized without big-money sponsors. They don’t even use Ticketmaster; hard copy tickets are mailed out from the back of the tattoo shop.

There was a slight decrease in attendees this year, however, it was not enough to take away from the excitement. Zack Pine, another past performer from group IV and the Strange Band, enjoyed immersing himself into the Muddy Roots experience for some of the weekend. “My Muddy Roots experience is pretty fun.” Said Pine. “I had a lot more fun last year because I actually got to camp and I actually got to spend the whole time at the festival. But the music was really good this year and it’s not as crowded as it was last year, which is also cool.” There is a welcoming aspect at many of the camps in the field. Two of the well-known camps are Camp Malört and Camp Jello. Malört is a type of alcohol from Chicago, known for tasting heinous. They say it will make you fight your dad. These camps are just a few of many campers sharing Malört and for some reason, everyone keeps knocking it back. Camp Jello has been coming to the field since 2018. Each year they bring a banner to sign and ask people where they are from. They offer Jello shots that are either non-alcoholic, vodka, or even Malört. Momma Jello said “if you’re brave.”

Article & pix by I’m Music Magazine Contributing Writer Matthew Olson