The initial segment of the lineup for the 2026 edition of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass — which is, in fact, the 26th annual Hardly Strictly — was released Wednesday, along with an announcement about a benefit concert before the festival starts.

SF's beloved free fall music festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, will return to Golden Gate Park October 2 to October 4. And like last year, when organizers threw a tribute concert the night before the festival began honoring Hardly Strictly regular Emmylou Harris, this year there will be another benefit tribute, this time honoring the festival's other loyal regular performer, Steve Earle — who has performed at every edition of the festival since 2002. (Only Harris has him beat by one year, because she was also at the first-ever Hardly Strictly in 2001.)

"We can think of no better way to bookend our silver anniversary than celebrating 25 years of Steve Earle at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass," says Sheri Sternberg, executive producer of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, in a statement. "We are so fortunate to have legacy artists like Emmylou and Steve who have embraced our annual gathering since the beginning."

"An Evening Honoring Steve Earle" will be happening on October 1 at The Masonic, and Earle will be joined by his close friends and collaborators Buddy Miller, Elizabeth Cook, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Jackson Browne, and Hot Tuna, among possibly others. Proceeds from the concert will go to Sweetwater Spectrum, a nonprofit that supports adults with autism and similar disabilities.

For the 26th edition of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the first-released acts on the lineup are: AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Stacey Earle, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Hot Tuna, Hiss Golden Messenger, Elizabeth Cook, Kathleen Edwards, My Morning Jacket, Old Crow Medicine Show, El Khat, Tyler Ballgame, William Tyler & Yasmin Williams, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Molly Tuttle, Shawn Camp, Reckless Kelly, and John Craigie with The Coffis Brothers. And, of course, Emmylou Harris will be playing, likely headlining on Sunday per usual, and Steve Earle will be joined by the Hardly Strictly Dukes.

You can read more about the artists here. And more artists on the lineup will be released in the coming weeks.

Below, a little teaser interview with Molly Tuttle, and a performance, from CBS Mornings. In 2017, Tuttle became the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Award's Guitar Player of the Year, she has two Grammy Awards for Best Bluegrass Album, and this segment was done as she was promoting her 2025 album So Long Little Miss Sunshine.