Amanda Shires joins Treeline Music Fest lineup

One of the true originals in modern roots music, Amanda Shires has been added to the Treeline Music Fest lineup. Shires will be there opening night, Sept. 29, to play the MU Health Care Stage, according to a post on the festival's social media accounts.

A singer, songwriter and remarkable violinist, Shires is a veteran of the festival formerly known as Roots N Blues, having graced its stage several times with her band. On one particularly memorable afternoon, Shires' husband, singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, backed her on guitar to trade licks and good-natured barbs.

Friday night's lineup includes headliners Muna and Robert Cray as well as Ethel Cain, Lonesome Companions and Columbia's own "LGBTQAA-Zcommunity chorus," The Quorus.

Shires' "To the Sunset" was the Tribune's favorite album of 2018, an effort that "took her brilliant, earthy songwriting in a different direction, painting with every emotional and musical color a recording studio allows." She followed that effort with last year's "Take It Like a Man."

"She's made a striking, deeply satisfying album that follows no rules other than what her muse has chosen, and it's inarguably her finest work to date," AllMusic's Mark Deming wrote in a review.

In addition to recordings under her name, and her work with Isbell's band The 400 Unit, the native Texan has worked alongside Matchbox Twenty, the late John Prine, Luke Combs and, on this year's "Loving You," the late Bobbie Nelson.

Treeline runs Sept. 29-Oct. 1. One final headliner for the Saturday slate is still to be announced. See the full festival lineup and learn more about ticket options 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.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Amanda Shires joins Treeline Music Fest lineup