This year’s Dogwood Festival lineup is the living embodiment of “a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll.” Music lovers of Cumberland County will be able to boot scoot, head thrash and moonwalk with the best of them at Festival Park.

Saturday night will take the All-American City back to the halcyon days of early 2000 with California alternative rockers Lit at 7:45 p.m. and Buckcherry at 9 p.m.

Coming off the scuffed-Converse navel-gazing grunge which dominated the airwaves throughout the 90s, Lit, Buckcherry, and even the bubble-gum pop of their Billboard contemporaries were a welcome change to the post-grunge musical landscape as Y2K approached.

When Lit leaped onto the scene with their hit single “My Own Worst Enemy” in 1999, it was clear to anyone with access to MTV or a Discman that rock had gotten fun again. The song charted at number one, undoubtedly on the power of its accompanying video — a delightful homage to the cult film, “The Big Lebowski.” It stayed for 11 weeks, earning the band a Billboard Music Award. Their album, “A Place in the Sun,” spawned two more hits, “Ziploc” and “Miserable,” and went certified platinum.

In the intervening years, Lit, comprised of brothers Jeremy and A. Jay Popoff (lead guitar and vocals; lead vocals), Kevin Baldes (bass), and Taylor Carroll (drums) have gone through some lineup changes, most notably due to the cancer-related death of their drummer, Allen Shellenberger, in 2009. Since “A Place in the Sun,” the band has released five studio albums; the latest, “Tastes Like Gold,” was released in 2022.

Also on stage Saturday is rowdy party band Buckcherry, whose catchy hit single, “Crazy B—” held the public captive for a significant portion of the mid-2000s and garnered the band a Grammy nomination in 2006.
Buckcherry, whose current roster now hosts Josh Todd (lead vocals), Stevie D. (lead and rhythm guitar), Kelly LeMieux (bass), Francis Ruiz, and Billy Rowe (rhythm and lead guitar), has released 10 studio albums between 1999 and 2023 and continues to tour extensively.

Together, these two bands invite the audience back to a simpler time — a time just before smartphones and Tiktok. The slick guitar riffs and forever-young feel-good lyrics are sure to be the perfect punctuation to a day filled with good food, games, vendors and community.