Switchyard at Mayfest: VIP Pass with 4 concerts

Switchyard VIP ticket includes:

• VIP Lounge Access
• All Session Access
• One (1) ticket to Waxahatchee Concert Wednesday, May 8 at 7pm, Cain's Ballroom
• One (1) ticket to Charles Wesley Godwin Thursday, May 9 at 7pm, Cain's Ballroom
• One (1) ticket to Morgan Wade, May 10 at 7pm, Cain's Ballroom
• One (1) ticket to The Great Divide Concert, May 11 at 7pm, Cain's Ballroom

More about Switchyard at Mayfest:

The University of Tulsa (TU), in collaboration with Magic City Books, announces Switchyard at Mayfest, May 9-11 in the Tulsa Arts District. This festival within a festival convenes writers and musicians featured in the latest issue of the award-winning Switchyard magazine to examine, celebrate and reimagine the future of rural America. Switchyard at Mayfest includes six events over three days with 15 speakers, including bestselling authors Bill McKibben, Monica Potts, and Jeff Sharlet, among others. Tickets begin at $10.

“Every election cycle, rural America is oversimplified and reduced to a set of easy cliches,” reflected Switchyard magazine Editor and University of Tulsa Presidential Professor Ted Genoways. “This issue of Switchyard-and accompanying talks at this festival-are intended to present a richer, more complex version of multiple rural Americas.”

Switchyard at Mayfest complements the latest issue of the magazine to present a multifaceted view of rural America that captures the dynamics and intricacies of this under-covered and often misrepresented region. Award-winning journalist C.J. Janovy describes coming of age as a lesbian in Nebraska. New York Times bestselling author Monica Potts documents the shortage of in-home health workers in Upstate New York. Jeff Sharlet, a finalist for this year’s National Book Critics’ Circle Award, explains how the hippie communes of rural Vermont became havens for conspiracy theory and hate. Bill McKibben, considered the leading voice on climate change, writes about how farmers and ranchers across the Farm Belt are joining the climate fight.

The alignment of the Switchyard magazine issue launch with Mayfest is no accident. University of Tulsa President Brad R. Carson said he welcomes the opportunity to bring new content to Tulsa’s beloved Mayfest tradition.

“Art, music, and literature are the soul of society; they reflect our deepest emotions, challenge our perceptions, and inspire our greatest achievements. At The University of Tulsa, we believe in providing a platform for writers and artists to share their unique voices with the world,” said Carson. “By fostering these opportunities, we not only enrich our cultural landscape but also empower individuals to contribute to a diverse and vibrant tapestry of human experience.”

Switchyard at Mayfest tickets range in price from $10 to $20 per talk, per person. TU offers an all-event VIP pass for $100, which also includes access to VIP areas of Mayfest as well as tickets to two concerts at Cain’s Ballroom: Waxahatchee on Wednesday, May 8, and The Great Divide on Saturday, May 11. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit switchyardmag.com/events or tulsamayfest.org.

Full Switchyard at Mayfest Schedule:

Wednesday, May 8, 7 p.m.

Cain's Ballroom, 423 N Main Street, Tulsa

Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, created by singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield. The band has released six albums, the most recent being I Walked with You a Ways, which released in October 2022. Waxahatchee is the receipiet of the 2021 Libera Award for Best Country Record for the album Saint Clouds.

Included with VIP passes or $27 per ticket.

Thursday, May 9, 6 p.m.

OKPOP Museum, 422 N Main Street, Tulsa

An evening with Bill McKibben and Andrea von Kampen-Switchyard at Mayfest kicks off with a night of music and conversation. Singer-songwriter Andrea von Kampen begins the evening with an acoustic performance of songs of climate concern from her new album, Sister Moon. Next, she will join renowned climate activist Bill McKibben and Switchyard magazine editor Ted Genoways for a lively conversation about how we can take action and engage rural America, in order to address the new era of climate change.

Thursday, May 9, 7 p.m.

Cain's Ballroom, 423 N Main Street, Tulsa

Charles Wesley Godwin is an American country-folk musician with three albums to his name, the most recent titled Family Ties (2023) which was released under Big Loud. Godwin has toured with Zach Bryan and collaborated on Bryans 2022 EP Summertime Blues. His work is featured in The Hunger Games: The Ballads of Songbirds & Snakes soundtrack – “Winter’s Come and Gone.” Seneca reports that “Godwin’s singing is natural and effortless due to the intimacy he has with the subject matter, but he’s also simply gifted with a compelling tone, a slight warble for texture, and the years of experience that so many country and roots artists receive while growing up in West Virginia where music remains such a valued priority in hearth and home.”

Included with $150 VIP Pass or $27 per ticket.

Friday, May 10, 12 p.m.

OKPOP Museum, 422 N Main Street, Tulsa

A Screening of “No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas”-Screening of No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas (Runtime: 56:46) and a Q/A with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott and author C.J. Janovy. Light bites and drinks.

Friday, May 10, 2 p.m.

OKPOP Museum, 422 N Main Street, Tulsa

Lost Promise and Resilience in Rural America- Monica Potts, New York TImes bestselling author of The Forgotten Girls, sits down with Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, Guggenheim Award-winning author of The Overlooked Americans, for a conversation with Switchyard magazine editor Ted Genoways about the hardships facing small towns in rural America and the sources of hope for the future.

Friday, May 10, 6 p.m.

OKPOP Museum, 422 N Main Street, Tulsa

Exposing the Ku Klux Klan in America- Join Switchyard at Mayfest for an evening of conversation between Timothy Egan, author of "A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them," and Kevin Willmott, director and Academy Award-winning screenwriter for Spike Lee’s "Blackkklansman." Book signing to follow.

Friday, May 10, 7 p.m.

Cain's Ballroom, 423 N Main Street, Tulsa

Morgan Wade is an American country music signer who has two albums – 2018’s Puppets with My Heart (2018) and Reckless (2021). According to Rolling Stones, “Her debut album … carries the ragged edge of a singer-songwriter who’s been putting her nose to the grindstone for some time. In a voice like worn leather, Wade describes desperate, spontaneous relationships that feel the strongest when they’re at their breaking point.” She was nominated for the 2022 Americana Music Honors & Awards for Emerging Act of the Year and the 2023 Academy of Country Music Award for New Feamle Artist of the Year.

Included with $150 VIP Pass or $27 per ticket.

Saturday, May 11, 10 a.m.

Cain’s Event Room, 423 N Main Street, Tulsa

A Journey into the Heart of America- New York Times bestselling author and journalist Jeff Sharlet sits down with author and award-winning political activist Jane Kleeb for a lively discussion of how Americans are reckoning with the precarious political divide that has led to a maelstrom of hate and violence across the nation, and how some courageous citizens are mapping a different path toward a positive future in rural America where neighbors put down their arms and join hands.

Saturday, May 11, 1 p.m.

Cain’s Event Room, 423 N Main Street, Tulsa

Thrilling Tales from Rural America- Switchyard at Mayfest concludes with an edge-of-your-seat writers’ salon. One of America’s hottest crime fiction writers S.A. Cosby and bestselling Rocky Mountain gothic fiction writer Kali Fajardo-Anstine will read from their most recent novels and then join award-winning fiction writer and translator Jenny Croft, and American Studies academic Karen Roybal for a riveting roundtable discussion about rural crime, gothic fiction, and class, race, religion, and sex in rural America.

Saturday, May 11, 7 p.m.

Cain's Ballroom, 423 N Main Street, Tulsa

The Great Divide is an American Red Dirt music group from Stillwater, Oklahoma, comprising of Mike McClure, Scott Lester, Kelley Green, J. J. Lester, Bryce Conway. The band has 9 albums to their name, the most recent being Providence (2022), and has won the 2023 Texas Music Association Award for Country Band fo the Year and the 2023 Good Side-Texas Music Association Award for Single of the Year. McClure left The Great Divide in 2003 to pursue a personal career (releasing nine albums on his own), and Micah Aills took over as singer though the band broke up in 2005 after releasing Under Your Own Sun. The original members reunited August 26, 2011, and are still touring today.

Included with VIP passes or $27 per ticket.

Magic City Books Pop-Up at OKPOP will be open 1 hour before each event held at OKPOP during Switchyard at Mayfest with selections from the featured authors.

See switchyardmag.com/events for more information.