Bonnaroo Buzz Tour Takes Festival on the Road With Grace Potter

Launching at the famed Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J. on May 17, the Bonnaroo Buzz Tour will hit about a dozen cities leading up to the main event on June 9 - 11. Headlined by Bonnaroo vets Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, the outreach program aims to build steam for a number of the buzz bands and emerging artists that Bonnaroo has taken under its wing. If you recall, by virtue of its booking practices and ability to put new artists in front of a virtual sea of eager music aficionados, the festival has historically given turbo boosts to the careers of such bands as My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, the Black Keys, Matisyahu and the list goes on. Ten years into it, the same people that put those bands on the stages at Bonnaroo, before they broke, are now taking the next-generation to venues near you.

Potter, of course, is already a marquee name; she's built so much buzz over the years that it appears she has, finally, reached the tipping point and is poised for a major breakthrough. She'll anchor a lineup that also features rising acts Futurebirds (pun not intended?), Gary Clark Jr., the Black Box Revelation and comedian Julian McCullough. If you haven't heard of all these artists yet, that's kinda the idea. Check back in a year and the point will be driven home. And since the tour is named after the festival's exclusive Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, we could even postulate that the point might just be served with a cherry on top.

To peep the deets and save the dates, check out the official Bonnaroo Buzz Tour website.