The full line-up for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has been announced, and, as is often the case, featured among the performers are a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal, including Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, Conor Oberst, and Dan Auerbach. The free, annual outdoor music festival returns for the seventeenth year to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, in the Hellman Hollow (named after the festival's late founder, Warren Hellman), and will take place October 6–8, 2017.

Conor Oberst, continuing a tradition from past Hardly Strictly festivals, headlines a packed stage for a special set aptly titled Conor Oberst Brings Friends for Friday, featuring Mega Bog, Jesse Harris, Big Thief, the Felice Brothers, and First Aid Kit. Oberst is currently touring North America with the Felice Brothers as his backing band, performing songs from his new albums, Salutations and Ruminations.

Dan Auerbach will head to Hellman Hollow on Saturday. He released his second solo album, Waiting on a Song, the follow-up to 2009's Keep It Hid, on his new label, Easy Eye Sound, in June. He has several tour dates lined up with John Prine in September and November.

Randy Newman returns to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with a performance on Sunday. Newman begins his North American fall tour featuring music from his new album, Dark Matter, this Wednesday. Dark Matter is his first album of new material in nine years. The AP says he "is still at the top of his game."

Emmylou Harris is a Hardly Strictly Bluegrass mainstay, having performed at the festival each year. She returns to Hellman Hollow this year as part of the Lampedusa tour supporting refugees, featuring Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and Lucinda Williams, and to play a set of her own, both on the festival's closing day.

For more information on the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and the complete list of this year's artists, including Billy Bragg and T Bone Burnett, head to hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.