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HEADLINERS 2 0 2 5 O I B F P R O G R A M OKLAHOMA’ S INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
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Split Lip Rayfield
DELIVER HIGH SPEED HYBRID FROM KANSAS
by JOE MACK
S plit Lip Rayfield will make their OIBF debut this year, which will naturally have many attendees unfamiliar with the band’ s music doing a little research.
If you Google‘ Split Lip Rayfield’ the top results pin them as a vocal group. If you break it down to describe them as‘ vocal’ and‘ a group’, I’ d say we’ re getting warmer.
Their website, stitchgiver. com, named after a oneof-a-kind gas tank bass, won’ t tell you a whole lot about them either, but you’ ll find plenty of merchandise options, much of which is handmade by the band in their bassist’ s screen printing shop. Yes, you read that correctly: a gas tank bass- made from a 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis gas tank, fitted with hickory outposts and strung with weedeater cord.
For 30 years now, the three men – Eric Mardis( banjo, guitar, vocals), Jeff Eaton( Stitchgiver, vocals), and Wayne Gottstine( mandolin, guitar, vocals) have been maintaining a D-I-Y career, navigating the tragic loss of a founding band member, and bouncing back from hiatus to commemorate this special moment in time.
“ I’ ve learned a lot about patience … patience for myself and others,” Gottstine told OIBF in a recent interview.“ You also learn a lot about people, which ones to look out for and which ones to trust. Split Lip doesn’ t have the biggest fan base necessarily, but the fans we do have are rabid about it.”
SLR formed and took flight in the mid-1990s in Wichita, KS, after Mardis, Eaton, and guitarist Kirk Rundstrom found common ground at the Walnut Valley Festival in nearby Winfield, KS, and rapidly developed an up tempo style that influences the“ Stage 5 Sound” to this day. This trio with Rundstrom released the self-titled debut in 1998, and Gottstine formally joined the lineup in 1999, filling out the quartet’ s sound found on In The Mud.
After the turn of the century, Split Lip’ s trademark sound, which does feature some amazingly tight harmonies placed atop a spicy string band soufflé, would reach more audiences with nationwide tours and more records, including Never Make It Home and Should Have Seen It Coming. Gottstine left the band for personal reasons in 2005, but returned in 2006 after a discovery that would change the band forever.
According to Wikipedia, Rundstrom had been experiencing extreme pain in his throat and upper chest area, and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of esophageal cancer, and underwent immediate heavy treatment to stop the spread of the disease. With grit and determination, Rundstrom returned to touring with SLR, but those performances would mark the band’ s outings as a
OKLAHOMA’ S INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 2025 / 3