DOWAGIAC — For the first time, the strum of a steel guitar and twangy harmonies will be featured at the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, as the festival will be showcasing a country music group for the first time in the festival’s long history.

“One past member [of the Dogwood board] said it would be a cold day in hell before there was country,” said Dogwood festival chair Jim Benedix. “Well, it just got chilly here. … We want to keep trying new things.”

Sweet Tea Trio, an up-and-coming Alabama-based country music group, will perform at the festival at 7:30 p.m. May 12 at the Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center. Tickets to the event range in price from $20 to $30.

The group has toured with Kid Rock, opened for Bon Jovi and performed at the Country Music Awards.

“We are very excited to have them come to the festival,” Benedix said. “A lot of industry people are saying that [the Sweet Tea Trio is] going to become big. I think we are catching them at the beginning of their rise.

Though Benedix is not personally a fan of country music, he said that he has enjoyed the music he has heard from the group and that he believes others will as well.

“I’m more of a jazz fan,” he said. “But I’ve really enjoyed the pieces [from the Sweet Tea Trio] that I have listened to so far. They are very ear catching songs.”

Benedix’s reaction to the Sweet Tea Trio is how Dogwood Fine Arts Festival Board anticipated most people would react to the group. In fact, the board was banking on Dowagiac residents responding well to artists when the group was booked.

Though country music is a departure for the festival, Benedix said that he believes it will bring in more people to the festival.

“Country music is huge here. It’s just a very popular art form in this area,” he said. “We want to be sure that we are serving our community.”

Adding a country music group to the Dogwood lineup adds diversity to the festival, which Benedix feels is important.

“If we just did more classical music, that would attract just people of a certain age and socioeconomic status. This will bring more people in,” he said. “We are dedicated to providing a variety of different music and arts for the event.”

Benedix said that he would encourage Dowagiac residents, whether or not they are country fans, to purchase tickets to the show.

“We are excited about this,” Benedix said. “This is going to be a great event. I think tickets are going to go fast.”

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit dogwoodfinearts.org.

A full list of Dogwood Fine Arts Festival events:

May 3: Starfish Circus, 7:30 p.m., Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, 57028 Riverside Dr., Dowagiac.

May 4: Starfish Circus, 7:30 p.m., Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, 57028 Riverside Dr., Dowagiac.

May 10: Fischoff Soiree, 7:30 p.m., Dowagiac Train Depot, 200 Depot Dr. Dowagiac.

May 10: Klassics for Kids, 1 p.m., Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, 57028 Riverside Dr., Dowagiac.

May 11: Fischoff Soiree, 7:30 p.m., Dowagiac History Museum, 201 E. Division St., Dowagiac.

May 12: Sweet Tea Trio, 7:30 p.m., Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, 57028 Riverside Dr., Dowagiac.

May 15: Storytelling Master Class: 7 to 9 p.m., COA Front Street Crossing, 227 Front St., Dowagiac.

May 16: Storytelling with Ed Stivender, 7:30 p.m., Southwestern Michigan College, 58900 Cherry Grove Road, Dowagiac.

May 17: Youth Fine Arts Night, 6 p.m., Dowagiac Union High School, 701 W. Prairie Ronde St., Dowagiac.

May 18: Karen Dionne, 7 p.m., Southwestern Michigan College, 58900 Cherry Grove Road, Dowagiac.

May 19: Harp Twins, 7:30 p.m., Southwestern Michigan College, 58900 Cherry Grove Road, Dowagiac.