Jack Johnson
Former pro surfer from Oahu's North Shore whose unhurried acoustic songs, 'Better Together' and 'Banana Pancakes' among them, made beach-day folk a mainstream sound.
High Water 2027 Lineup
Two days on the Cooper River in North Charleston: two alternating stages, a shaded food garden under the live oaks, and a bill of songwriters and indie folk-rock.
Find the acts you'll love at High Water
Name a few bands you love and we'll scout all 20 acts on the High Water bill for the ones you shouldn't miss.
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About High Water 2027
High Water is North Charleston's spring music festival, started in 2017 by the Charleston duo Shovels & Rope and held at Riverfront Park on the Cooper River. The 2027 edition runs Saturday April 17 and Sunday April 18. Two stages alternate rather than overlap, so in principle you can see every set of the weekend, and The Refuge, a shaded stretch under hundred-year-old live oaks, is where the local food and breweries are.
Jack Johnson headlines Saturday ahead of Death Cab for Cutie and The Revivalists; Mt. Joy closes Sunday, with Rainbow Kitten Surprise and The Head and the Heart underneath. The undercard leans young and on the way up: Alyssa Grace, whose 'bloodstream' reached the Hot 100 this year, Austin's West 22nd, Finn Wolfhard, and Charleston's own Congress the Band.
Tickets go on sale with a presale on Thursday October 15 at 10am ET, through a passcode the festival hands out on its signup page, with two-day and single-day passes in GA, GA+, VIP and Platinum. Kids 8 and under get in free with a ticketed adult. The 2027 poster says the festival is presented by and benefits Rock N Roll Rescue.
Expect indie rock, alternative, singer-songwriter and folk across 20 acts.
High Water 2027 lineup & schedule: all 20 acts
Star the acts you want now. When set times drop, your schedule is already built.Browse all 20 acts →
Star the acts you want now. When set times drop, your schedule is already built.
Philly folk-rockers grown into amphitheater singalongs — warm, road-tested, communal, with 'Silver Lining' as the nightly high-water mark.
Indie rock's tender institution — twenty-five years of songs that hurt nicely, from 'Transatlanticism' devastation to elder-statesman grace.
New Orleans-rooted eight-piece with pedal steel and horns folded into big-tent rock — 'Wish I Knew You' and a jam band's appetite for stretching out.
Genre-fluid Boone collective — rapid-fire folk-rock with communal fervor, harmonies stacked high and crowds louder still.
Seattle indie-folk harmonies — 'Rivers and Roads' will wreck you on a beach at dusk, exactly as designed.
Angela Autumn
Pennsylvania-raised, Nashville-based songwriter on guitar and clawhammer banjo, playing Appalachian-rooted Americana since her 2021 debut 'Frontiers Woman'.
Gravel-and-honey soul-folk — 'Walk With Me' warmth, stomp-and-clap swells built for arms-around-strangers moments, gospel-warm and stadium-ready.
Hazlett
Australian-born, Sweden-based songwriter Mitchell Hazlett Lewis, whose hushed indie folk was recorded partly in an off-grid cabin on the Swedish coast.
Mat Kearney
Oregon-raised, Nashville-based songwriter who half-raps his verses over bright piano pop, the voice behind 'Nothing Left to Lose' and 'Ships in the Night'.
Mo Lowda & the Humble
Self-produced Philadelphia trio with a psychedelic streak, touring ninety-odd nights a year; their fifth album, 'Tailing the Ghost', was cut mostly live on the road.
Ole 60
Kentucky band named for the highway between its founders' hometowns, mixing country, Southern rock and grunge-era guitars since 'Smoke and a Light' broke out of their 2023 debut EP.
Penelope Road
Atlanta group that came together in 2022, working a guitar-led strain of indie rock.
Alyssa Grace
Teenage songwriter from Torrance whose cracking voice over acoustic guitar took 'bloodstream' onto the Billboard Hot 100 in 2026, months after her first single.
Ax and the Hatchetmen
Chicago six-piece formed in 2018, jazz-trained players with trumpet and sax riding on top of lively, upbeat rock.
Southern rock grit on the undercard.
Yes, that Finn Wolfhard — scrappy, sincere indie rock beyond the Stranger Things shadow, garage-band instincts played without celebrity gloss.
Redlands, California singer and multi-instrumentalist folding psychedelic textures, R&B and jazz-leaning guitar into soulful indie rock.
Austin-bred indie pop — 'Cowboys Cry Too' era momentum, wry heartbreak with a country shadow and a pen sharp enough to draw blood.
West 22nd
Austin four-piece named for the West Campus street where they started as University of Texas students, best known for the single 'Sunburns'.
The headliners
Mt. Joy · Philly folk-rockers grown into amphitheater singalongs — warm, road-tested, communal, with 'Silver Lining' as the nightly high-water mark.
Up-and-comers to catch early
Congress the Band · The Charleston band on the bill, named for a street downtown.
Other acts worth planning around
Death Cab for Cutie · Twenty-plus years of Ben Gibbard's careful heartbreak, sung back by the whole field.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise · Boone, North Carolina's genre-hopping folk-rock, tightly wound and loud.
The Head and the Heart · Seattle harmonies built for a crowd that knows the words.
The lineup by day
Saturday lineup (April 17)
Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, The Revivalists, Ole 60, Mat Kearney, Goldford + 4 more
Sunday lineup (April 18)
Mt. Joy, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, The Head and the Heart, Congress the Band, Finn Wolfhard, West 22nd + 4 more
High Water 2027 lineup FAQ
When is High Water 2027?
Saturday April 17 and Sunday April 18, 2027, at Riverfront Park in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Who is playing High Water 2027?
Jack Johnson headlines Saturday with Death Cab for Cutie and The Revivalists; Mt. Joy headlines Sunday with Rainbow Kitten Surprise and The Head and the Heart. Twenty acts in all, ten each day.
When do High Water 2027 tickets go on sale?
A presale opens Thursday October 15, 2026 at 10am ET, with a passcode from the festival's signup page. Two-day and one-day passes come in GA, GA+, VIP and Platinum, and kids 8 and under get in free with a ticketed adult.
Do the stages overlap?
No. High Water runs two stages that alternate, so one set ends as the next begins on the other stage.
How do I find the acts I'd like?
Type a few artists you love into the finder at the top of this page. It matches them against this lineup and explains each pick.
Who plays Saturday at High Water 2027?
Saturday, April 17: Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, The Revivalists, Ole 60, Mat Kearney, Goldford, plus 4 more acts.
Who plays Sunday at High Water 2027?
Sunday, April 18: Mt. Joy, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, The Head and the Heart, Congress the Band, Finn Wolfhard, West 22nd, plus 4 more acts.
Are High Water 2027 set times out yet?
Not yet. The lineup is split by day below, and set times are still to come. The alert on this page emails you the day they drop.
Going to High Water 2027? Get tickets ↗
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