For nearly 30 years, the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL has served as an annual gathering place for fans and musicians alike. The park’s multiple yearly bluegrass and roots festivals have become time-honored traditions, ones which have developed into their own kind of close-knit family. With the 2025 Suwannee Spring Reunion coming up on March 20th–23rd, we thought it was time to crack open the photo album and take a look back at the storied history of the artists coming to reunite at the Suwannee [get tickets].
This year’s Spring Reunion will host top acts Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, Donna the Buffalo, Kitchen Dwellers, SCYTHIAN, Peter Rowan Walls of Time Band with Don Grant Reggaebilly, and Jim Lauderdale & The Game Changers, many of whom have been playing the park for decades. These artists have made the Live Oak, FL campground an annual destination through MagnoliaFest, SpringFest, Roots Revival, Spring Reunion, and many more Spirit of the Suwannee festivals over the years.
Sam Bush
Sam Bush has been an ever-present face at Suwannee since the turn of the century. The progressive bluegrass forefather and International Bluegrass Hall of Famer has made some memorable appearances over the years, including a smoking set at MagnoliaFest 2003, a sit-in with the budding Avett Brothers at SpringFest 2014, and back-to-back appearances at the Park for Roots Revival and SpringFest in 2016. When the live music world returned following the COVID pandemic, it was Sam Bush who headlined the first night of the first Suwannee Roots Revival post-lockdown. [Note: All clips courtesy of the meticulously archived dababe44 on YouTube.]
Sam Bush Band — MagnoliaFest — 10/18/03
The Infamous Stringdusters
Modern jamgrass fixtures The Infamous Stringdusters have been regular visitors to Suwannee since coming on the scene in the late 2000s. Early on in the Stringdusters’ Live Oak tenure, they got the nod to sit in with longtime Suwannee vet Jim Lauderdale on Flatt & Scruggs’ “Doin’ My Time” at SpringFest 2011. Four years later, The Infamous Stringdusters linked back up with Lauderdale for another sit-in at SpringFest 2015—hours after the band opened up the amphitheater stage with a bright-and-early morning performance. Through the years, The Stringdusters climbed the ranks of the lineups with lauded appearances at the final Springfest in 2016 and the sophomore edition of the Spring Reunion in 2018. Watch some clips of the band’s past Suwannee performances below.
Jim Lauderdale, The Infamous Stringdusters — “Doin’ My Time” (Flatt & Scruggs) — 10/23/11
Donna The Buffalo
Of all the acts at Suwannee Spring Reunion 2025, one of the most decorated Suwannee resumes belongs to Donna the Buffalo who played SSR predecessor SpringFest every year from the sophomore edition in 1998 to the final gathering in 2016. That dedication has carried over into this latest iteration of the spring bluegrass festival, with Donna the Buffalo playing at every installment of Suwannee Spring Reunion, as well. Over the years, Donna the Buffalo has crossed paths with many of this year’s fellow Suwannee Spring Reunion headliners, including Peter Rowan (at SpringFest 2001 and the one-off Suwannee Valley Flood Jam in 2012) and Jim Lauderdale (at MagnoliaFest 2014, Springest 2015, and others). Reach way back into the archives with the band’s set from MagnoliaFest 2000 below along with several other memorable appearances.
Donna The Buffalo — MagnoliaFest — 10/21/00 — Full Set
Kitchen Dwellers
Rising “galaxy grass” sensations Kitchen Dwellers are just beginning to write their Suwannee legacy. After making their Suwannee debut with a daytime set at Roots Revival in 2022, the band returned for a highly-coveted—and highly-spooky—late-night set at Spirit Lake at Hulaween 2023. As a group that mixes time-honored mountain music traditions with progressive bluegrass jamming and electric elements, Kitchen Dwellers are poised to develop a following regardless of what time of day they hit the stage at Suwannee Spring Reunion.
Kitchen Dwellers — Suwannee Roots Revival — 10/15/22 — Full Set
Kitchen Dwellers — Suwannee Hulaween — 10/26/23 — Full Audio
Peter Rowan
Barely edging out Donna the Buffalo’s Suwannee pedigree is newgrass forefather Peter Rowan, who has been playing at the park since 1997. He has since performed at every edition of SpringFest, MagnoliaFest, Spring Reunion, and Roots Revival at Suwannee. Rowan’s ever-shifting band lineups are among the most exciting elements of his regular visits to Live Oak. Over the years there’s been his Texas Trio with Tony Rice at MagnoliaFest 1998, a supergroup with Vassar Clements, David Grisman, and Bryn Davies at SpringFest 2001, Crucial Reggae at MagnoliaFest 2002, or his beloved solo sets. In more recent years, he’s brought Out of the Blue to the Suwannee Flood Jam in 2012, the Peter Rowan Band to the inaugural Spring Reunion in 2017, and the Free Mexican Airforce to Roots Revival 2021. For this year’s Spring Reunion, Rowan will bring along his Walls of Time Band with Don Grant Reggaebilly.
Peter Rowan’s Texas Trio, Tony Rice — MagnoliaFest — 10/16/98 — Partial Set
…& Many More
The rest of the 2025 Suwannee Spring Reunion lineup is filled with plenty of familiar faces from around Suwannee, including Jim Lauderdale, Jon Stickley Trio, Larry Keel, Jeff Mosier, Verlon Thompson, Joe Craven, The Grass is Dead, and more. Check them all out in archival videos from throughout the years.
Jim Lauderdale & Friends — MagnoliaFest — 10/24/04 — Full Set
On a more personal note, 2025 will mark the first Suwannee Spring Reunion since the death of Randy Judy, who co-created and produced SpringFest and MagnoliaFest alongside his partner Beth Judy. After Randy passed away on April 2nd, 2024, a memorial service was planned for Suwannee Roots Revival 2024 but was thwarted by Hurricane Helene’s devastation This year’s Spring Reunion will include a public memorial service for the Suwannee fixture, starting with Big Cosmo’s Sunshine Daydream Celebration of Life on Thursday afternoon before the festival opens. Tributes to Randy will abound throughout the weekend, and Beth will christen the hallowed Amphitheater Stage as Big Cosmo’s Amphitheater for every Spring Revival and Roots Reunion henceforth.
Suwannee Spring Reunion returns to the Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL from March 20th–23rd, 2025. Check out the full lineup below and pick up tickets here.