5 artists you'll want to sing along with at this fall's Treeline Music Fest

Thrusting yourself into the middle of a music festival comes with related yet seemingly divergent joys.

There's something to discovering a new favorite artist, to feeling as though you're enjoying music for the first time all over again. And yet there's catharsis in the familiar; to moving your fist through air and singing out to a lyric that has kept you good company over the years.

Those experiences don't have to stay separate. With Treeline Music Fest's (formerly Roots N Blues) major artist announcement this month, a vision for the fall spectacular is coming into relief. Naturally, some acts will be known to festgoers and some won't. But you can make up any distance right here and now.

Ahead of the fest, here are five artists you'll absolutely want to sing along to. If you don't know them yet, we've bookmarked three songs — and at least one lyric — to absorb.

Internalize them now. Then, this fall, enjoy experiencing these artists live for the first time — and living vicariously through their anthems.

Muna

Who they are: University of Southern California college pals Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson formed a trio serious about pop hooks and sweeping soundscapes. Across its trio of records, Muna keeps raising the stakes — and the world keeps responding. The band has played tours with Taylor Swift, Lorde, Harry Styles and Kacey Musgraves, reaching a wide audience.

What they sound like: The Muna sound is massive yet knowing, as if delivering on that old rock 'n' roll fantasy about voices reaching, then rearranging the life of just one person in a stadium crowd. Their most recent record "ooz(es) with enough conviction to fuel a rocket to the moon and back," The Line of Best Fit observed.

Three songs to know: The band's current single "One That Got Away"; the Phoebe Bridgers collaboration "Silk Chiffon" from last year's self-titled record; and "I Know a Place" from the 2017 album "About U"

One lyric to sing at the top of your lungs: "I know a place we can go / Where everyone gonna lay down their weapon / Lay down their weapon / Don't you be afraid of love and affection" from "I Know a Place"

More: Treeline Music Fest announces nearly 20 artists, including Muna, Sierra Ferrell, Noah Cyrus

Ethel Cain

Who they are: The Florida-born songwriter, known as "Mother Cain" to devout fans, lives out the title of her 2022 breakthrough, "Preacher's Daughter," crafting music that deals with the unshakeable and fraught aspects of religion while wading through those baptismal waves and breakers as a trans woman.

What they sound like: Not unlike her peers in bands like Boygenius, Cain exhibits a remarkable knack for internalizing the anthemic sounds of forebears such as Bruce Springsteen, then unspooling that music in her own voice, which prizes atmosphere and mood. Cain makes a noise that is beautiful and subversive, as interior as it is exterior.

Three songs to know: "Michelle Pfeiffer" (featuring Lil Aaron) from 2021's "Inbred"; "American Teenager" and "Strangers," from "Preacher's Daughter"

One lyric to sing at the top of your lungs: "Say what you want, but say it like you mean it / With your fists for once / A long cold war / With your kids at the front" from "American Teenager"

Devon Gilfillian

Who they are: The Pennsylvania-born, Nashville-based artist delivers a depth of soul and pursues "a genre-encompassing vibe," AllMusic notes. Gilfillian has placed himself in the lineage of greats like Marvin Gaye with a 2020 track-for-track rendering of "What's Going On" and taken his sound to America's great festivals and its late-night TV screens.

What they sound like: Gilfillian's sound is both unforced and multifaceted, his downy voice gliding above, around and through gritty guitars, gospel organs and propulsive rhythm sections. You can hear — and delineate — the great R&B and rock influences, but nothing in his music sounds retro. It's all relevant, all in for this moment.

Three songs to know: "All I Really Wanna Do" from this year's "Love You Anyway"; "Here and Now" and "High" from 2020's "Black Hole Rainbow"

One lyric to sing at the top of your lungs: "Let's take the long way / Don't care if I'm late / As long as I'm next to you, I'll wait / And we'll roll up when we roll up" from "High"

Olivia Jean

Who they are: The Detroit-area native first crossed many listeners' radars as part of the "garage goth" girl group Black Belles. Her guitar-forward, retro-leaning sound has found a home on Jack White's Third Man Records label; and, last year, Olivia Jean married the rock icon.

What they sound like: Somewhere between the spareness of garage rock and a darker, more atmospheric palette bands like Joy Division and The Cure perfected sits Olivia Jean's music, which will always feature serious guitar work and wonderful, moody digressions.

Three songs to know: "Raving Ghost," "Trouble" and "I Need You" from this year's "Raving Ghost"

One lyric to sing at the top of your lungs: "I need you so / Please do not go," from "I Need You"

More: Salt-N-Pepa, Robert Cray and Japanese Breakfast form half of Treeline fest's headliners

Sasha Alex Sloan

Who they are: Raised near Boston, Sloan has stretched out to cover a remarkable amount of pop territory. She has made several records under her own name, recorded with the likes of Charlie Puth, Sam Hunt and Kygo, and written for and with everyone from Katy Perry to Tinashe and Charli XCX.

What they sound like: Sloan fulfills the promise of pop music in 2023, her ravishing and relatable voice selling both anthems and ballads, uniting electronic and acoustic elements. On her best songs, lyrics and production work together to insist on a hearing, burrowing into listeners' lives to empathize and console.

Three songs to know: "I Blame the World" and "Adult" from last year's "I Blame the World"; "Lie" from 2020's "Only Child"

One lyric to sing at the top of your lungs: "Being an adult is f--king hard / I'm still holding on to my mom's credit card / No one ever told me growing up is kinda lonely / Being an adult is f--king hard" from "Adult"

Learn more about this year's festival, which will run Sept. 29-Oct. 1, at https://www.treelinemusicfest.com/.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 5 Treeline Music Fest artists you'll want to sing along to