Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville will host the fourth annual Cabin Fever Festival this Saturday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. Chicago alt-country forerunners Freakwater, the event headliner, will be joined by Cotton Jones, Tim Easton, Dolfish and more.

Freakwater was formed by Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin in 1989, and were among the top names during the fleeting “alt.country scare” of the ’90s. Unlike many of their contemporaries, however, they stuck with it, and are still playing alternative country music today.

Following two records on Amoeba Records, the duo signed to Thrill Jockey in 1993 for “Feels Like the Third Time,” which was reissued on vinyl for Record Store Day 2012. The release said the group expanded their sound on “End Time,” adding a drum kit, an organ and strings on several songs. Freakwater is going on tour this month, which will be its first in four years, according to the release.

The music of Cotton Jones speaks of transition: the passage from one form, state of mind, style or place to another. The release said Cotton Jones’ new album, “Tall Hours in the Glowstream,” features songs that were tracked in Northern states, while the majority were recorded and mixed in Winterville, Ga., as players, thinkers and singers hung out in the band’s living room studio. The resulting sounds are rich and lo-fi, and full of vivid imagery and vocal harmony, the release added.

Critically acclaimed songwriter Tim Easton has made some changes in 2012, moving his family and three dogs from their home in Joshua Tree, Calif., to Nashville, Tenn., and earning his credentials with highly acclaimed releases and worldwide touring, according to the release. With eight solo releases, the release said Tim Easton has shared stages with artists Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Glenn Hansard, M. Ward and more. Tim will be teaming up with former label New West for a release this fall, “Before The Revolution: The Best of Tim Easton 1998-2011.”

Easton got his start in the Columbus music scene, playing with the alt.country band, the Haynes Boys.

Dolfish is the moniker of 23-year-old Cleveland-born songwriter Max Sollisch. According to the release, Sollisch’s debut EP, “Your Love is Bummin’ Me Out,” was released on vinyl last December by Minneapolis-based Afternoon Records and has gained comparisons to Daniel Johnston, John Darnielle and Neil Young, while its songwriting yielded comparisons to Ohio-based rockers Guided By Voices and Times New Viking. Sollisch enlisted Patrick Tape Fleming of The Poison Control Center to produce the album in the living room of an apartment, where it was tracked live with little overdubbing. Because these songs were rarely rehearsed more than a handful of times, the release said it gives the record spontaneity rarely achieved on a studio album.