Butler County music festival headliner Karen Waldrup differentiates weekend performances
Day 1 of the Boots and Grace Music Festival will feature headliner Karen Waldrup, backed by a six-piece band, in a performance the singer described as “having a good time and celebrating life and the community.”
Day 2 of the festival will see Waldrup take the energy to a quieter level, by playing acoustic tunes in a gospel style meant to be laid-back, but still be “an inspirational show.”
The inaugural Boots and Grace Music Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12 and 13, at the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company - First Responders Park, and both days feature Waldrup as the headliner.
A longtime touring musician in the country genre who is now based in Nashville, Waldrup gained publicity when she made the Top 5 cut on Season 25 of “The Voice,” which aired on NBC in 2024. She is releasing an album, “Just in Case,” later this year, but plans to play every song from the album this weekend, so the Saxonburg crowd will be some of the first to hear her new songs.
“We only released three of the songs from the record, so a lot of the people who come to the fest will be some of the first to hear the record,” Waldrup said. “I love touring, I love coming to a new community I’ve never been to.”
Gates open to the fest at 4 p.m. both days. Music on Saturday begins at 5 p.m., with Noble Hops, Doxavo and Gary Burk III scheduled to perform ahead of Waldrup’s 8 p.m. showtime. The show begins at 5 p.m. Sunday, with Cecilia Tomko kicking off the show alongside special guests. Waldrup will take the stage at 7 p.m.
Waldrup will sing alongside Burke on Saturday, and alongside Tomko on Sunday, and she said she enjoys meeting and jamming with people from the place she is performing in. Waldrup also said the event’s coordinator, Scott Docherty, helped make the festival a community event, which is also raising money for volunteer fire departments.
“I love to involve the community in any way I can,” Waldrup said. “Scott Docherty, he’s really, really spearheading this whole thing. I think that’s part of why it turned into such a community event.”
And while a majority of Waldrup’s performances will feature her original music, she said she sprinkles in some cover songs each set, and plans to include some Dolly Parton tunes in her full band set Saturday.
Waldrup is also selling Terrible Towels with her branding on them, which she said is a special merchandise item for Western Pennsylvania. She said she looks forward to playing in a new town.
“As far as playing in Saxonburg, this is a new community to me,” Waldrup said. “There’s nothing better than playing a place you’ve never been before and leaving with a new family.”
General admission to the festival is $20 per day, but people can also purchase two-day admission for $30. For tickets or for more information on the Boots and Grace Music Festival, visit its Facebook event page.
