Watch in the video above our Stopover highlights of South Carolina band The High Divers.

Just over our southern border in the beautiful historic town of Savannah popped up a music festival in 2011 for bands to fine tune their shows on the way to South By Southwest, the biggest music conference around. Since then it’s grown to a three day festival featuring lots of great acts that you probably haven’t heard of yet, but will likely hear about later. Maybe you’ve heard of Julien Baker, or Lee Fields, but for the most part the majority of acts are still unknowns to the average listener. If you are familiar, then you’re ahead of the curve.

Each year the Savannah Stopover lineup looks better in hindsight. Last year we caught Diet Cig and Susto play to a relatively intimate crowd. We saw Porches sound perfect in Trinity United Methodist Church, the oldest church in Savannah. We caught Big Thief and Lucy Dacus upstairs in in a Wild Wing, both offering memorable performances whether it be for playing with a busted eardrum like Big Thief did or simply winning over new ears as Dacus continues to do. Each of these bands had a breakthrough year in 2016, and that’s only mentioning a few from last year’s lineup.

It’s hard to tell which of the bands on this year’s lineup that will be, but we can make some good guesses after taking a listen to each one. Maybe you heard Charly Bliss on All Songs Considered, or read one of the many great reviews of Allison Crutchfield’s latest record. Maybe you saw Half Waif open for Pinegrove on tour last year, as Nandi Rose Plunkett pulled double duty playing keys and singing backup in that band while opening the show with her main project. The buzz for many of these artists started building last year and Savannah Stopover always have their finger on the pulse of the right rising acts to book.