WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 is gathering 1,500 of its closest friends and fellow music lovers for its annual fundraising music festival, “Roots on the Rivers,” set for Saturday, June 3, at Nashville’s Two Rivers Mansion.

The single-day family-friendly event is welcoming up to 1,500 ticketholders “so we can get you close up to the music!” says WMOT Executive Director Val Hoeppner.

General admission tickets are $45 each at https://bit.ly/WMOT2023RootsRiversTickets, and kids 14 and under can attend free. WMOT members will get a $10 discount with promo codes they’ll receive.

Gates will open at 11 a.m., and performances are set from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., rain or shine, June 3. Lawn chairs are welcome, but umbrellas and coolers won’t be permitted.

Concertgoers will have plenty of room on the historic grounds at 3130 McGavock Pike to enjoy two stages of live roots music, a beer garden, craft cocktails and food trucks. They can also purchase the wares of local artisans and WMOT and artist merchandise, plus visit with and learn more about Nashville-area nonprofits.

All funds raised will support WMOT programming, operations and community events.

The festival, now in its second year, also will feature its first “Family String Band Circle,” where kids and adults can be part of the music and try out a variety of instruments.

The day’s music lineup includes Langhorne Slim, Tommy Stinson’s Cowboys in the Campfire, Cordovas, Alison Brown, The Shootouts, Bee Taylor, Steve Cropper and Emily McGill, Laura Cantrell, Cruz Contreras of the Black Lillies, Kashena Sampson. Stevie Redstone, Mark Thornton, and Ben de la Cour.

Their performances will also stream live on both www.WMOT.org and https://LiveSessions.NPR.org.

Two Rivers Mansion was built in 1859 between the Stones and Cumberland Rivers in Nashville’s Donelson community. It was home to the McGavock family until 1965, when Metro Nashville government purchased it for use as a public park and golf course.

WMOT, a charter member of National Public Radio and part of the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University, will mark its 54th anniversary on May 28.

WMOT is the Nashville region’s only 100,000-watt Americana music channel and broadcasts from the Center for Innovation in Media inside MTSU’s Bragg Media and Entertainment Building.

The station also reaches a growing national and international audience via its website, www.WMOT.org.

WMOT features original American roots programming and is dedicated to the music most connected to Music City’s legacy: old-school country music, bluegrass, singer/songwriters, folk, soul, R&B and rock ’n’ roll.

The station also offers its award-winning jazz programming on secondary radio channels 89.5HD2, 92.3 FM inside Rutherford County and 104.9 FM inside neighboring Williamson County.

For more information about WMOT and the Roots on the Rivers music festival, visit www.WMOT.org.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)