Sierra Ferrell out, Bruce Hornsby in, at Clearwater Jazz Holiday

Over the last few years Clearwater Jazz Holiday has gotten really good at improvising when it comes to unexpectedly changing plans.

And today—a year after Buddy Guy pulled out of the 2023 lineup last minute , and following a few years in a temporary home at BayCare Ballpark—the 45-year-old nonprofit music festival announced another pivot.

Citing personal reasons, Saturday headliner and burgeoning roots music superstar Sierra Ferrell told fans she won’t be able to play Clearwater Jazz Holiday in October.

"It saddens me to share that due to unforeseen personal obligations, I will no longer be able to make it to Clearwater Jazz Holiday on October 19th. I am so sorry to let fans and the festival down. It’s a long and hard winding road out here… we will try our best to make it back in the future," Ferrell wrote on social media. "Sending all my love, and hope that everyone has a great festival… please take care of each other."

Jazz Holiday organizers wished the 36-year-old songwriter well—and hopes to host her at a future date—but shared the addition of genre-jumping composer and pianist Bruce Hornsby to the Saturday lineup.

Although Clearwater Jazz Holiday has a longtime policy stating that artists are subject to change and traditionally has not issued refunds, this time is different.

Festival CEO Steve Weinberger told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Jazz Holiday will offer refunds to anyone who bought a single-day ticket for Saturday or package purchasers that include Saturday. Those same ticket holders may also swap their Saturday ticket for another day or treat the ticket purchase as a donation to the Clearwater Jazz Holiday Foundation, which supports jazz and music education in the Bay area year-round.

“While we are heartbroken about her cancellation, we wish Sierra the best and look forward to welcoming her at CJH in the future," Weinberger added. "We are grateful Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers can join us. They are a really fun addition to our 45th anniversary celebration in October.”

The addition of Hornsby, 69, brings more jazz to a lineup that already includes big band (U.S. Air Force Falconaires, playing Saturday), plus Mavis Staples, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Cory Wong, Boney James, Tower of Power, and Galactic with Anjelika Jelly Joseph.

As previously reported, Clearwater Jazz Holiday is leaning heavily into its roots for its 45th anniversary by offering mainstage viewing areas and festival side stages that can be accessed at no-cost. The festival was free for 32 years thanks to corporate sponsors, grants and donations, and Weinberger called the 2024 format “a hybrid, and in a way, reminiscent of those years."

Ferrell, fresh off a breathtaking turn on the NPR Tiny Desk , last played the Bay area when she made a local debut in 2023 . The U.S. leg of her current tour is making its way through Texas this week; it includes a Sept. 22 date at St. Augustine’s Sing Out Loud Festival that is still on, and will wrap on Sept. 28. Ferrell’s fall dates in Australia have not been canceled.

Tickets to the 2024 Clearwater Jazz Holiday happening Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 17-20 at Coachman Park start at $45.

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