This year, the three-day family-friendly festival begins on Thursday, June 20, with a great performance lineup for festival goers. This year there will be 24 performers and over 40 hours of music. As always there will be children’s activities, and a vendor midway.

The full performance schedule for the event can be found on their website, smokedcountryjam.com/schedule/

The first festival took place in McElhattan in 2004 as a benefit for Teresa, the wife of festival founder Ron Kodish. She had been diagnosed in 2002 with Systemic Lupus, an incurable autoimmune disease.

Not only did the festival help raise awareness for the disease, but has also raised $47,000 for the Lupus Foundation.

Since 2011, the festival has taken place at Quiet Oaks Campground just outside of Cross Fork — the 100 acre campground, owned by Dave and Carla Flack is also the site of the Kettle Creek Music Festival, held annually in August.

What began as a traditional bluegrass festival has evolved over the years to include more old time, roots and Americana music.

“We have had drums, organs, trombones and accordions. As a roots to branches bluegrass festival we want to showcase all the beautiful music on the bluegrass tree,” said Kodish.

Kodish believes a resurgence of bluegrass, or bluegrass-like music, can be traced to the tremendous popularity of a number of performers and how they play their “bluegrass” — citing artists such as Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, The Billy Strings Band, Bela Fleck, Greensky Bluegrass, Trampled By Turtles and Yonder Mountain String Band.

“(They) have all the traditional bluegrass instruments, but play them with much more flair than traditional bluegrass performers. Today’s performers play with more emotion and movement, special lighting and sound reinforcement, which makes shows more appealing to today’s festival goers,” said Kodish.

The “roots to branches” festival appeals to a wider audience regardless of one’s thoughts on preserving traditional bluegrass, providing a little something for everyone who attends.

“Is it still bluegrass? To each his or her own to decide. Like trees, music will grow in many directions. But it is the strength of the roots that keeps it all together,” said Kodish.

The “Featured Performers” for 2024 include:

— Fireside Collective – This year’s headliner, a band from Asheville, N.C. They are a quintet who cheerfully disregard every kind of one-dimensional label that might be attached to their music. They have drawn on folk, blues, funk and a wide variety of bluegrass sounds to create a distinctive body of work that is all their own.

— Dave Adkins & Mountain Soul – This band comes to Smoked Country Jam from Elkhorn City, Ky. There is no mistaking the raw and powerful vocals by singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Adkins. During his impressive career, Adkins has achieved an extensive list of awards and nominations in bluegrass, country and gospel music along with achievements for his songwriting. His extraordinary vocal talents are evident from his significant chart success and stellar live performances.

— Troy Engle & Southern Skies – They are a Pennsylvania bluegrass gem from Glen Rock. His sideman resume reads like a who’s who of bluegrass and country music. Engle has played everywhere from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to bluegrass festivals all across North America. The band specializes in original, traditional bluegrass with a modern flair. They bring honest, heartfelt, traditional bluegrass music to fans of all ages.

— The Fly Birds – This band comes to Smoked Country Jam from Winchester Va. They are ana ward winning musical embodiment of Alternative Bluegrass and Appalachia; described as free-range mountain sirens whose voices and melodies have soared to new heights as they have navigated the music industry together for six years.

— The Brothers Blue – Hailing from Buffalo, N.Y., this band plays music rooted in the fertile tradition of old-time fiddle music. They have grown a sound that is all their own, offering a hybrid that unites fresh, original songwriting with elements from country, bluegrass, Cajun and Irish music. Their music weaves three-part harmonies through a rich tapestry of fiddle, banjo and guitar.

According to Kodish, the backbone of Smoked Country Jam has been the “core bands” that have performed at the festival for many years and whose fanbases have helped the festival grow.

Some of these “core bands” include:

— The Hillbilly Biscuits – Formerly known as the Hillbilly Gypsies, they have played every Smoked Country Jam festival. This West Virginia band has a huge following, and wows the crowd every year with their single-mic performances of Old-Timey music! For many years they have closed the festival, inviting all the festival performers on stage to play a few well-known traditional bluegrass tunes and sing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

— Mama Corn – A band hailing from Blair County who played their first Smoked Country Jam in 2008. They have played in every festival after that, though they’ve retired after 2023. Mama Corn was a much loved band whose star burned bright in the years they were performing. They wrote the song “Smoked Country Jam-O” and dedicated it to Teresa and Ron Kodish, which will forever be their anthem.

— Van Wagner – A lifelong Danville resident who has played all but two festivals. His music is centered around Pennsylvania history, folklore and tradition. An Environmental teacher by profession, Wagner is a prolific songwriter who has written and produced 33 albums since 1995.

— Colebrook Road – Originally from the Harrisburg area, they have played at the festival every year since 2012. They are now touring nationally with The Rockwood Agency and are a Mountain Fever Records recording artist. A 2020 IBMA Momentum Band Award nominee, two of their albums have been in the top 10 of the Billboard Music Chart.

— Bug Tussle – From the Binghampton, N.Y. area, Bug Tussle has been preforming at the festival since year two, only missing 4 years in that time.

— The Lockport Drifters – A local group who has played all but one festival. Their old-time bluegrass sets reflect over 150 years of combined performing experience.

This year, along with performances by their featured and core performers, festival coordinators want people who have never attended before to realize that on top of the incredible music, Smoked Country Jam has so much more to offer.

Because the festival is pet-friendly, many dogs attend the event with their owners every year. This year, coordinators have added a friendly competition where 25 entered dogs will be voted on throughout the festival, with the top 12 dogs receiving a page in their new “2025 Dogs of Smoked Country Jam” calendar. Calendars will go on sale later this summer, with proceeds donated to The Lupus Foundation.

On Thursday, they will be holding a free Team Quizzo game. Teams vying for prizes and showing off their knowledge of trivia and Smoked Country Jam.

On Friday and Saturday during the event there will be a cornhole tournament with cash prizes to be awarded to the winning teams. A portion of each entry will go towards the festival’s donation to the Lupus Foundation.

The Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Contest (PHSC), started by Lock Haven native Dave Pinelli around 16 years ago, is held In conjunction with Smoked Country Jam, allowing songwriters to submit songs with a Pennsylvania theme. The top three judged songs will receive monetary awards and an opportunity to perform their song at Smoked Country Jam.

For the first time this year, the Craig “Bubba” Bowman Scholarship Award will be presented to a graduating senior from Central Mountain High School. It is an annual award of $500 granted to a student who is being recognized for a propensity or passion in folk, roots or Americana music.

“We want Smoked Country Jam to be an event that people mark on their calendars every year. We want (it) to be not only about the music, but the whole experience. We want folks looking forward to seeing their festival friend every year (and the event) to be three days of peaceful, easy feelings and a lifetime of wonderful memories,” said Kodish.

For festival tips, tricks, updates and rules, check out their Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass Festival Facebook page at www.facebook.com/smokedcountry/