Willi Carlisle

Saturday at the festival happens to be June 27, which is also the day Willi Carlisle releases Winged Victory, his fourth and most self‑determined studio album.

Carlisle’s music has always been a dance between absurdity, spectacle, and philosophy. He is a folksinger in the old, big sense of the word: someone who carries traditional songs alongside originals, who plays for the whole room and not just the people who think they came for him, who holds tight to the conviction that love is bigger than hate and no one is expendable. The songs on Winged Victory, including a take on Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing” alongside originals and a few traditional covers, extend the world Carlisle has been building for three records: a big tent where everybody gets in.

For Arkansas, where Carlisle lives, this is both a release‑day celebration and the kind of intimate, raucous, generous performance he is known for. Bring people you love.